Despite the progress made, equality between men and women in the business world is not for tomorrow, and not even for this century, notes a report from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce published Tuesday.
The bad news is that Canada lags behind half of the member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which brings together the best-off countries, in the proportion of women in positions of management.
The good news is that Quebec is, along with the Atlantic provinces, a province where women are most represented in management professions.
Women make up 48% of the total workforce, but only hold 35% of management positions.
“If current trends persist, national parity will not be achieved in this century,” says the report, titled Timid progress, slow progress for women in the world of business and entrepreneurship.
Pay gaps
The study also shows that pay gaps persist between business men and women. Even though women’s wages have increased faster than men’s in recent years, women earn less than men in 2023, or 88 cents for every dollar of wages paid to men in management positions in Canada.
Here again, Quebec is doing well. Quebec women are getting closer to pay parity in management positions, at 95 cents on the dollar, while Alberta women have the most catching up to do.
Women remain underrepresented among business owners, also notes Marwa Abdou, lead author of the report and senior director of research at the Business Data Laboratory of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
“Women in Canada face not just one glass ceiling, but many, and not just one broken rung on the promotion ladder, but multitudes, hindering their rise to true equality,” she summarized in a press release.
In boardrooms, women’s progress is slow, and parity is still far away. The proportion of women on boards of directors increased from 18% to 21% in Canada between 2016 and 2020, notes the study. In 2022, this proportion was still 21% on average.
Quebec, with 21% female presence on company boards, all sectors combined, equals the Canadian average, but Ontario does better with 23%.
Consult the study by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Shy progress