Though Most Canadians Feel Achieving Gender Equality Is Important to Them, Gender and Age Gaps in Opinion Persist

The majority of Canadians consider achieving gender equality a personal priority. However, nearly half recognize tension between men and women today. Although over four in ten self-identify as a feminist, a similar proportion say that efforts to promote women’s equality have resulted in discriminating against men. Around one-third say that things have gone far enough in giving women equal rights and that men are expected to do too much to support equality, both below the average of 30 countries worldwide.

A slim majority (38%) of Canadians say that attempts to give equal opportunities to women have not gone far enough in Canada, while three in ten (29%) feel things have been about right and just under one in five (17%) say they have gone too far. While over half of Canadians (53%) say young women will have a better life than women in their parent’s generation, just 32% believe that there will be significant progress towards gender equality in the next five years.

Younger Canadians, despite being the most likely to self-identify as feminists, appear to also hold some of the most conservative views on gender equality. Nearly two-thirds of Canadians aged 35 and under say that things would improve if more women held leadership positions. However, they are also the most likely to think that a man who stays home to look after his children is less of a man and that things have gone far enough on gender equality.

The majority of Canadian men and women under 35 acknowledge the tension between genders, and they appear to be the most divided on their perspectives regarding gender equality. For example, three-quarters of young women agree that things would work better if more women held positions of responsibility in government and business, whereas less than half of young men say the same. One-quarter of men under 35 feel stay-at-home fathers are less of a man compared to 10% of women under 35.

These are the results of a 30-country survey conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform and, in India, on its IndiaBus platform, between Friday, December 20, 2024, and Friday, January 3, 2025. For this survey, Ipsos interviewed a total of 23,765 adults aged 18 years and older in India, 18- 74 in Canada, Republic of Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Türkiye, and the United States, 20-74 in Thailand, 21-74 in Indonesia and Singapore, and 16-74 in all other countries. The sample consists of approximately 2,000 individuals in Japan, 1,000 individuals each in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 individuals each in Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, and Türkiye. The sample in India consists of approximately 2,200 individuals, of whom approximately 1,800 were interviewed face-to-face and 400 were interviewed online. 

The “30-country average” reflects the average result for all the countries and markets where the survey was conducted. It has not been adjusted to the population size of each country or market and is not intended to suggest a total result. The precision of Ipsos online polls is calculated using a credibility interval with a poll of 1,000 accurate to +/- 3.8 percentage points and of 500 accurate to +/- 5.0 percentage points. Percentages cited may not always add to 100% or to the sum of each value due to the effects of rounding.

For full methodological details on the study, please refer to the full International Women’s Day Global Report.

For more information on this release, please contact:
Sanyam Sethi
Vice President,
Ipsos Public Affairs Canada
[email protected]

Meghan Miller
Senior Account Manager,
Ipsos Public Affairs Canada  
[email protected]

Jennie Choi
Research Analyst,
Ipsos Public Affairs Canada  
[email protected]

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