Operating context and key risks

Operating context

SWC works with federal departments and agencies, provincial/territorial governments, as well as private and civil society organizations that have the levers to advance equality for women through policy, programs and organizational practices. Canada has made significant progress in many areas that support greater gender equality, such as education and workforce participation; however, women in Canada continue to face challenges in achieving full equality. Women are under-represented in politics and leadership roles, earn less than men, on average, and continue to experience high rates of gender-based violence (GBV):

• Higher levels of educational attainment have translated into higher wages for women, but gaps remain in both workforce participation and earnings.
• Disparities persist in women’s labour force participation rate—82% in 2014 compared with 91% for men—and the gender wage gap—women in Canada earned $0.87 for every dollar earned by men in 2017, based on average hourly earnings.
• Canada still experiences a high degree of academic and therefore occupational gender segregation (e.g., Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates, 72% are male, 28% female in 2015).
• Women comprise 60% of single, low-income seniors. Additionally, one in three single mothers is poor, which negatively affects their children’s health and outcomes in school, and often leads to lasting effects across generations. This is particularly true for Indigenous women, who are more likely to be single mothers.

Movements such as Me Too and Time’s Up, as well as the global Women’s Marches, have shone a spotlight on the ongoing challenges faced by survivors of GBV, as well as the systemic inequalities that continue to hold back women and men. They have also given women a powerful voice in speaking out against GBV and advocating for changes in our social and cultural norms as well as our approach to gender equality.

The way in which the justice systems respond to GBV is often seen as inadequate in meeting the needs of victims. This has led to negative feelings towards the police and other justice system professionals, which increases the survivors’ trauma and discourages others from reporting such crimes. Low reporting rates of sexual assault across Canada continues to be a serious issue. The Government of Canada continues to support efforts to improve the level of reporting in these cases including the efforts of law enforcement and community groups to work together to better support survivors of sexual violence.

Addressing these persistent gender inequalities requires the active and sustained engagement of all – citizens, communities, different levels of government and key stakeholders – and cannot be achieved by SWC alone. As such, SWC is reliant on the efforts of a wide range of partners, with gender equality sometimes being only one among their priorities. Such interdependence creates a potential risk for the Agency’s achievement of its planned outcomes. To mitigate this risk, the Agency continually engages key players, facilitates collaboration and leverages strategic partnerships with other federal departments, other levels of government, and civil society organizations working on gender equality. SWC also focuses its efforts on key priority areas where there is a clear federal role, and where the federal government can make a difference.

Increased public attention and the federal government’s prioritization of gender equality issues have created an evolving and dynamic internal environment for SWC, characterized by rapid growth. To effectively manage changes resulting from this growth, SWC has focused on building and strengthening its organizational structure and internal processes and continues to build the capacity of its workforce for program delivery, data collection, research, analysis, policy development, performance measurement, and evaluation to deliver on its initiatives and demonstrate their impact and effectiveness.

Key risks

In 2017–18, the risks identified below were deemed to have the potential to impact SWC’s ability to achieve results and contribute to the advancement of gender equality in Canada. The Agency responded with strategies designed to limit those risks and the effectiveness of those strategies was assessed and adjusted throughout the year.

The following table summarizes the Agency’s key risks and risk response strategies for 2017–18, as they were identified in the 2017–18 Departmental Plan. However, as part of its approach to strengthening its management practices, SWC updated its Corporate Risk Profile over the past year. The updated Corporate Risk Profile will be used in future reporting exercises.

Key risks

Risk - Initiatives are collaborative: To achieve its objectives, SWC depends on its ability to influence federal organizations, provincial/territorial governments, as well as private and civil society organizations that have the levers to advance equality for women through policy, programs and organizational practices. Given that SWC relies on effectively influencing others, there is a risk that SWC will be challenged to fulfill its priorities, particularly a comprehensive gender-based violence strategy.

Risk - Social change can be difficult to measure: SWC seeks to fulfill economic and social objectives in broad public policy areas related to gender equality, such as reducing the wage gap between men and women, increasing the number of women in leadership positions, and ending gender-based violence. Consequently, results can be a challenge to measure, to attribute to SWC and to report to Canadians. As a result, there is a risk that the effectiveness of the SWC’s program, policy and communications interventions would not be well demonstrated.

Date modified:

2018-11-20