30.2% in the House of Commons

Despite the fact that women make up over 50% of the Canadian population, only 102 of Canada’s 338 seats in the House of Commons are held by women. That’s only 30.2% — and we all need to do better.

There are many reasons why women may not run or get involved in politics— including the lack of female representation in the first place, lack of financial support, the threat of physical or sexual violence or bullying, or the all-too-frequent focus on women’s physical attributes rather than their experience and political platform². Some research suggests that a woman is 50% less likely than a man to consider herself a potential candidate for elected office³.

The first step to increasing participation of women is to create space where they can feel safe, empowered, and encouraged to do so. The Liberal government has taken several steps in this regard, including putting more women in positions of power in government (Canada’s first gender-balanced cabinet) and in political leadership (the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff and senior staff throughout the Liberal team), tabling new legislation to address gender-based violence, establishing more flexible options for parental leave, applying gender-based analysis to government decisions, and protecting trans women by adding gender identity and expression to the Canadian Human Rights Act.

The Liberal Party is also taking important steps. New rules for the 2019 Nomination process meant that unheld ridings must have demonstrated a thorough search for potential women candidates and other candidates who reflect the demographics of the community. And in the 2021 campaign we made sure that 49% of new Liberal Party candidates were women. We continue to promote the inclusion of women as candidates, campaign managers, party staff, and volunteer leaders through initiatives like #InviteHerToRun and the Judy Lamarsh Fund.