Only 26% of the country’s residents think women and men in Canada are paid the same salary when working the same job.
Vancouver, BC [November 10, 2023] – Most Canadians believe more should be done to attain full gender equality in the country, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 57% of Canadians—and 62% of women—think that, in developed nations such as Canada, there is still a long way to go in order to achieve full gender equality.
Only 26% of Canadians—and 33% of men—believe developed nations such as Canada have already achieved full gender equality.
More than two-in-five Canadians (44%) believe the federal government should be doing more to improve gender equality in the country—a proportion that rises to 50% among women and 52% among Canadians aged 18-to-34.
Just over half of Canadians (53%) think that, compared to 20 years ago, the overall situation of women in Canada is better. Just over three-in-ten (31%) think there has been no change, while 11% claim the situation has worsened.
“Practically three-in-five men in Canada (59%) believe there has been progress on gender equality in the past two decades,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Fewer than half of women in Canada (46%) concur.”
Just over one-in-four Canadians (26%) think women and men in Canada are paid the same salary when working the same job, while more than three-in-five (61%) disagree.
While one third of men (33%) believe gender pay equity already exists in Canada, only 19% of women share the same point of view.
Sizeable majorities of Canadians believe women generally have the same opportunities as men to get a university degree (86%) and be financially independent (74%). Agreement is lower on two other activities: becoming elected politicians (64%) and becoming CEOs of private companies or corporations (52%).
Just over one-in-twenty Canadians (6%) say that, generally speaking, they are less likely to vote for a woman running for political office. More than seven-in-ten (72%) say this fact would have no impact on their vote, while 15% are more likely to vote for female candidates.
Half of Canadians (50%) support establishing quotas so that a minimum mandatory number of women occupy seats in the House of Commons and the Senate, while 38% are opposed to this idea and 12% are undecided.
Support for gender quotas in Parliament is highest among women (58%), Canadians aged 18-to-34 (also 58%) and residents of Atlantic Canada (56%).
More than four-in-five Canadians (82%) support implementing policies to allow both mothers and fathers to take paid parental leave when having a child.
Methodology: Results are based on an online study conducted from October 20 to October 22, 2023, among 1,000 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error – which measures sample variability – is +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca