a month after a strike, an agreement in principle reached for the financing of the Canadian women’s team

Almost a month after its strike action, the Canadian women’s football team has won its first victory. The Canadian Federation announced, Thursday, March 2, an agreement in principle for the financing of the national women’s team, in the hope of ending accusations of gender inequality that led to a crisis and the departure of its president, Monday, February 27. Modeled on a similar deal with the men’s team, the interim deal includes per-game bonuses and results-based pay, the federation said in a statement.

“It’s about respect, dignity and leveling the competitive environment in a world that is fundamentally unequal,” said Earl Cochrane, General Secretary of Canada Soccer. “We have been consistent and public about the need for pay equity and equal pay as pillars of any new deal,” he added.

A collective agreement involving the two teams still under negotiation

According to the emblematic captain of the team, Christine Sinclair, the federation granted in 2021 more than 11 million Canadian dollars (just over 7 million euros) to the men’s team, compared to around 5 million Canadian dollars to the women’s team, while the previous year, the expenses devoted by the federation were almost identical: a little more than 3 million dollars for the men, and 2.8 million for the women.

The Federation clarified that a new comprehensive collective agreement involving the two teams was still being negotiated, and that the interim agreement announced on Thursday was therefore subject to change.

On Wednesday, former Olympic athletics champion Charmaine Crooks was named interim head of the Canadian federation, after the sudden resignation of its president Nick Bontis. In early February, the national women’s team announced a strike to denounce gender inequalities and the lack of funding, an approach supported by the men’s team. The movement had been halted due to the threat of legal action against it by the federation.