Operating context and key risks

• As of February 2019, women comprised 31.7% of the total membership of both Chambers of Parliament. Women also currently represented 33% of all provincial and territorial legislators and 18% of mayors across Canada.^{Footnote 1} 
• In 2018, women accounted for 33% of persons employed in senior management occupations in the private sector.^{Footnote 2}  When considering the number of women on boards of directors across both public and private corporations, less than 20% of all leadership roles in corporations conducting business in Canada were held by women in 2016.^{Footnote 3} 
• When comparing average hourly wages of women and men (aged 15+) working full-time and part-time in 2018, women earned 87 cents for every dollar earned by men, suggesting a gap of 13%.^{Footnote 4} 
• A 2019 study from the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship found that women in Canadian tech jobs, with a bachelor’s degree or higher, earned nearly $20,000 less a year than their male counterparts in 2016 (with women averaging $75,500 a year, compared with $95,100 for men)^{Footnote 5} 
• The 2017 rate of police reported violent crime in Canada was higher for girls and young women aged 24 and younger than their male counterparts (1,394 versus 1,030 per 100,000 population).^{Footnote 6}  Also, police reported data for the same period, shows that the homicide rate for Indigenous women and girls was nearly six times higher than that of their non-Indigenous counterparts (4.22 per 100,000 population versus 0.75 respectively).^{Footnote 7} 

Certain groups of women and members of the LGBTQ2 community are more likely to be affected by these challenges, including Indigenous women and girls, immigrant women, racialized women rural women, disabled women, queer and trans-gender people. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls have drawn greater public attention on these challenges. Sustained and heightened attention of gender equality issues has resulted in higher demands on the organization to assist, and provide guidance and feedback to other departments on their priorities, as well as address new and emerging departmental priorities. 

In December 2018, new legislation created Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE), transforming the former Status of Women Canada into an official department of the Government of Canada. This change modernizes and formalizes, in law, the roles of the Minister and the Department. While WAGE continues to work towards more equitable economic, political and social outcomes for women and girls in Canada, its expanded mandate establishes WAGE as a center of expertise that leads and mobilizes federal activities to advance equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, recognizing intersections between sex, gender and other identity factors.

However, there are still important data gaps that limit our understanding of existing gender inequalities, particularly how they impact vulnerable groups. WAGE is funding and sharing important research to fill knowledge gaps on issues relevant to gender equality. This helps support policymakers and service providers at all levels use evidence to inform their decisions and practices.

WAGE’s internal environment is characterized by rapid growth as it continues to establish the corporate structure necessary to deliver on Government priorities and support a full department. To effectively manage the changes resulting from this growth, WAGE has renewed its focus on building and strengthening its organizational structure and internal processes. This includes strengthening the Human Resources function to accommodate the need to grow teams and onboard new personnel, provide improved organizational and leadership structures for more effective work functions and people management, implementing workplace health and wellness initiatives, as well as proactive employee communication and engagement. These changes will be implemented with a view to creating more effective business processes and enhancing the planning function which will become integral to identifying and delivering on key priorities.

Key risks

In 2017–18, Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE), then called Status of Women Canada, undertook a process to update its Corporate Risk Profile (CRP) as part of its approach to strengthen management practices. The CRP is a tool intended to support a continuous, proactive and systematic process to understand, manage and communicate risk from an organization-wide perspective. The CRP is used to reinforce senior management accountability by integrating risk considerations into business planning, decision-making and organizational processes to minimize negative impacts and maximize opportunities across WAGE’s operations. The CRP is reviewed on an annual basis to assess the organization’s risk exposure prior to establishing annual plans.

The creation of Women and Gender Equality Canada in December 2018 modernized and formalized in law the roles of the Minister and the Department. The new legislation also expanded the organization’s mandate and responsibilities. The CRP was reviewed in March 2019 to reflect these contextual changes.

For 2018–19, two key risks were deemed to have the potential to impact the organization’s ability to achieve objectives and results. The following table describes these risks, presents the risk response strategies put in place to mitigate them, and their effectiveness over the reporting period.