Why Gender Equality in Canada is BS: It Benefits Some While Undermining Others

The idea of gender equality in Canada is often portrayed as an ideal—a utopian vision where all genders are treated equally, with opportunities accessible to everyone regardless of sex. The reality, however, is far more complicated. In truth, the way gender equality plays out in Canada disproportionately benefits a specific group—predominantly white, middle-class women—while failing to address the needs and concerns of others, including men, racialized individuals, and those in lower-income brackets. In many instances, it undermines men, particularly in the workplace, and fails to deliver on the promise of true equality for everyone.

The Unequal Reality: Gender Equality Benefits a Specific Group

When you hear about gender equality in Canada, it's often framed around equal opportunity, equal pay, and equal representation—but these concepts don’t take into account who truly benefits from these supposed advances. For the most part, gender equality policies benefit white women of a certain socioeconomic standing, leaving men and racialized women at the bottom of the ladder.

Take affirmative action policies, for example. While they may have been created with good intentions, they often focus on elevating women in the workplace, particularly in traditionally male-dominated fields like business and politics. However, this focus ignores intersectionality, leaving out the needs of women of color, Indigenous women, and women in low-income jobs. These groups often face unique barriers to success that aren't addressed by simply pushing more white women into leadership positions.

For example, racialized women in Canada face additional layers of discrimination, both due to their gender and race, which isn’t solved by merely implementing gender equality policies designed for white women. So, while a white woman in a corporate job might benefit from a diversity hiring initiative, an Indigenous woman or a Black woman in the same sector may still struggle to even get an interview due to deeper systemic inequalities. Gender equality in Canada does not adequately address these issues, reinforcing that these policies were designed to benefit a very specific demographic.

Men: The Unspoken Casualties of Gender Equality Policies

While many gender equality initiatives in Canada may appear to help women, particularly in terms of workplace representation or access to parental leave, men are often overlooked in these discussions. Traditional masculinity is still celebrated in most Canadian workplaces, while men are pushed into roles that demand hard physical labor, leadership, and assertiveness, often at the expense of their emotional or psychological well-being.

Men are often excluded from the conversation when it comes to parental leave, mental health support, or even workplace flexibility. For instance, men who might want to take paternity leave or reduce their work hours to spend time with their children are often stigmatized for doing so. In many cases, employers and society expect them to be the ones who "bring home the bacon", sidelining their emotional or family needs. Women, on the other hand, are often given more freedom to balance family life and career, even in industries where the labor is physically demanding.

Moreover, while many women are entering traditionally male-dominated fields, men in labor-intensive industries—like construction, mining, and manufacturing—are rarely given the same amount of support or recognition for the work they do. These are the kinds of jobs that require heavy lifting—both physically and metaphorically—and are often overlooked in discussions about equality.

Where is the conversation about making these jobs more accessible or safe for men, or ensuring that men aren't expected to sacrifice their health and well-being for the sake of the job? How often do we talk about men’s mental health in the workplace, particularly in industries that require manual labor? The truth is that much of the gender equality agenda doesn’t address these issues or even acknowledge the unique challenges men face in their work lives.

Women Aren’t Doing the Heavy Lifting

Another key point in the conversation about gender equality in Canada is the narrative that women do most of the heavy lifting in workplaces, particularly in terms of emotional labor or household responsibilities. This may be true in certain contexts, but in the physical, high-demand sectors, it's often men who are doing the hard, physical work that keeps the country running.

When you think of sectors like construction, mining, and oil extraction, men make up the vast majority of the workforce. These are industries where physical strength, resilience, and long hours are required—and yet, women in these fields rarely get equal representation. It’s often assumed that men can handle the rough, gritty jobs, while women are pushed into jobs that are more “nurturing”—like in education, healthcare, and administration. But even in these fields, it’s the women of a certain class who are celebrated and elevated, while working-class women or racialized women continue to face systemic barriers to advancement.

In many cases, women might be celebrated for their ability to juggle work and family life or for taking on emotional labor within their households, but those who do the actual physical labor—who move mountains, literally, in terms of the construction and manual work that fuels the economy—rarely get the recognition they deserve. This is particularly true for men in physically demanding industries, and it’s ignored in many of the gender equality discussions happening in Canada.

The Real “Gender Equality” Problem: An Outdated Narrative

The core issue with Canada’s gender equality agenda is that it operates on a narrative that’s outdated and fails to reflect reality. While gender equality is often framed as a progressive, inclusive ideal, the policies and discussions surrounding it are often one-dimensional. They are designed primarily to elevate women, often at the expense of men, racialized women, and low-income families.

If the goal of gender equality is truly to create a fairer society for everyone, then we must rethink what equality looks like and who benefits from it. It’s not enough to simply focus on representation or quotas in the workplace. Real equality means ensuring that everyone, regardless of gender, gets a fair shot at success, recognition, and support—whether that means pushing for better workplace safety for men in physically demanding jobs, creating real, accessible mental health support for all genders, or addressing the specific barriers racialized and Indigenous women face when trying to enter the workforce.

At the end of the day, gender equality in Canada is far from a one-size-fits-all issue. It benefits some—but the system as it stands still leaves many behind, particularly those in lower-income brackets, men in blue-collar jobs, and racialized communities. It’s time to question the narrative and demand policies that truly reflect equal opportunity for everyone—not just a select few.

Until we do, the concept of gender equality in Canada remains nothing more than a half-hearted attempt to fix a deeply broken system. It’s time to recognize that real equality is more than just a slogan. It’s about making sure that everyone, regardless of gender, race, or socioeconomic status, is given an equal shot at success and respect. www.gerardking.dev