Most Canadians See a Role for Themselves in Promoting Gender Equality
Toronto, ON, March 15, 2024 - Looking back on International Women’s Day, most Canadians agree that there are actions they can personally take to help promote gender equality. Four in ten Canadians self-identify as a feminist, which is in line with the overall average across 31 other countries. While there are setbacks on the progress towards gender equality, Canadians appear to be more supportive of gender equality: only around a third of Canadians say things have gone far enough when it comes to gender equality, 19 points below the 31-country average.
Six in ten agree that women won’t achieve equality in Canada unless men take action to support women’s rights too, though four in ten think we have gone so far in promoting equality that we are discriminating against men. Just over one-third of Canadians think men are expected to do too much. Although this sits 17 points below the 31-country average, belief that men are expected to do too much is up seven points since 2019, perhaps indicating slow withdrawal of support on the issue.
Almost two-thirds of Canadian women say they won’t achieve equality in Canada unless men take actions to support women’s rights too, eight points higher than among men. Men are more likely to think things have gone far enough in giving women equal rights with men. Almost half of men think we have gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we are discriminating against men (17 points higher than among women) and the same proportion think men are expected to do too much (21 points higher than women). A quarter of women think men are expected to do too much to support equality (vs. just under half of men).
Younger Canadians appear to be the group with the most conservative views on gender equality, despite being the most likely to self-identify as a feminist. Almost two thirds of young Canadians aged under 35 agree there are actions they can take to promote equality between men and women. However, they are also the most likely to think men are being expected to do too much to support equality. By contrast, older Canadians aged 50 and over are the least likely to think they have an individual role to play in promoting gender equality, but they are also the least likely to feel efforts on gender equality discriminate against men, or that men are expected to do too much. Those aged 35-49 are the least likely to define themselves as a feminist and the most likely to feel we are discriminating against men.
About the Study
These are the results of a 31-country survey conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform and, in India, on its IndiaBus platform, between Friday, December 22, 2023, and Friday, January 5, 2024. For this survey, Ipsos interviewed a total of 24,269 adults aged 18 years and older in India, 18- 74 in Canada, Republic of Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Turkey, 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, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 individuals each in Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, and Turkey. 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 “31-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 +/- 3.5 percentage points and of 500 accurate to +/- 5.0 percentage points.
For full methodological details on the study, please download the full International Women’s Day Global Report below.
For more information on this release, please contact:
Galini Pantelidou
Senior Account Manager,
Ipsos Public Affairs Canada
[email protected]
Meghan Miller
Senior Account Manager,
Ipsos Public Affairs Canada
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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