Minister Morneau Attends Summit on Importance of Empowering Women; Announces New Role as International Gender Champion

June 29, 2018 – Paris, France – Department of Finance Canada

Giving everyone an equal and fair chance at success—including the world’s talented, ambitious and hard-working women—isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau today spoke at the iW50 Summit, in Paris, France. The event recognized 50 years of gender diversity at INSEAD, a world-renowned business school. Minister Morneau made the business case for empowering women—more opportunities for women can lead to better decisions, greater profits, and stronger economic growth—and underscored the important role that gender budgeting plays in supporting women and girls. In his remarks, he highlighted steps Canada is taking to break down barriers to gender equality in employment and entrepreneurship, so that more women can participate in, and contribute to, Canada’s growing economy.

In addition to work being done to empower women and girls in Canada, Minister Morneau talked about Canada’s efforts to better support women and girls around the world. At the recent G7 Leaders’ Summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, along with the European Union, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the World Bank, announced an investment of almost $3.8 billion (CAD) to help give women and girls equal access to education. This represented the single largest investment in education for women and girls in crisis and conflict situations, and will make a difference in the lives of millions of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Minister Morneau also announced that he has agreed to become an International Gender Champion, joining a network of senior international leaders working together to break down gender barriers and make gender equality a working reality in their spheres of influence. The first Finance Minister to become an International Gender Champion, he is making concrete commitments to advance gender equality in international finance, and help to build a world where gender differences do not prevent individuals from achieving their potential. As part of Canada’s G7 2018 Presidency, Minister Morneau is inviting his G7 counterparts to join him in becoming International Gender Champions.