Challenge Statement

The Department of National Defence (DND) needs to develop recommendations on how the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) can increase the recruitment and retention of women, including in non-traditional occupations in which women are under-represented.

Background and Context

The CAF have made a commitment to recruit and retain women in order to achieve 25% woman representation by 2026. However, the level of interest among Canadian women in military employment makes this a significant challenge. Extensive CAF research on the recruitment and employment of women has identified a number of real and perceived barriers for women to serve in the military. These barriers include, but are not limited to, concerns about work-life balance, separation from friends and family, potential marginalization in a male-dominated work environment, and the perception that it is not possible to pursue a preferred career field in the military.

Currently, 50% of women in the CAF Regular Force are found in eight occupations (i.e. Human Resources Administrator, Supply Technician, Logistics, Financial Services Administrator, Medical Technician, Cook, Nursing, and Mobile Support Equipment Operator). However, these eight occupations make up only 18% of the CAF population. Increasing growth in the representation of women in the CAF will require attracting more women to a wider range of occupations. How can the CAF achieve this? In the Canadian society, occupations are gender-related with clear patterns of male and woman representation, as noted in the 2017 Statistics Canada report “Women and Paid Work”. Thus, this challenge is not unique to the CAF, but it is certainly exacerbated by the nature of military service.

Outcomes and Considerations

The desired outcome is an innovative approach for recruiting and retaining women into non-traditional CAF occupations, as well as recommend approaches best suited to the unique context of the CAF. These recommendations must build upon research across a broad range of organizational types (i.e. private, public, non-profit, other). Novel methodologies and tools for the interest, recruitment, and retention of women are also sought, as are recommendations on how the CAF can address and change real and perceived barriers to woman recruitment and retention.