There is no country in the world where gender equality truly exists. Not yet.

In Canada, women’s full-time employment levels have stagnated over the past 20 years and their representation in leadership is still well below that of men, despite having now surpassed men in the average level of education. Blocked by systemic barriers at each step of their working lives, women continue to be overrepresented in low-wage jobs, currently making up 59% of minimum wage workers. Unconscious bias among business leaders, work place harassment and violence, pay inequity and lack of employable skills are some of the challenges women face in the workforce.

In Good company is a two-year project funded by the RBC Foundation aimed to address these challenges. Implemented by YWCA Canada, Plan Canada, Canadian Women’s Foundation and Catalyst, it focuses on women’s economic empowerment, helping to move them towards a sustainable livelihood.

Five YWCAs are participating in this program:

• Y des Femmes de Montréal
• YWCA Calgary
• YWCA Toronto
• YWCA Metro Vancouver
• YWCA Halifax

In addition, young women from across the country will access powerful online leadership training as part of the YWCA’s Think Big! Lead Now! YWCA’s National Young Women’s Leadership Program.

The three main focus areas of the program include:

1. Preparing young women and women to be job ready through training and capacity building
2. Building community awareness around changing attitudes and addressing barriers for women and young women, particularly around entering the workforce
3. Changing attitudes of business leaders and decision makers

In Good Company will directly reach more than 11,000 people through our partners’ network. It will send a strong message of recognizing the inherent power of women and girls towards building a more equal and prosperous Canada.

We’re starting a conversation about gender inequality in the workplace. Change remains slow, and although it is evolving, women still face challenges in advancement and everyday discrimination at work.  We encourage you to watch this video through and comment on how your workplace is working towards gender equality.

To learn more about key actions that can help move your workplace toward gender equality visit IGCompany.ca

What YWCA Participants are saying about the program:

“Without the Step Ahead Program (YWCA Halifax), I don’t know where I would be. This program was exactly what I needed to gain confidence and skills for finding work and re-entering the workplace.”

“My YWCA instructor was the best teacher I had met in my life, she was calm, she was patient, she was tolerant and I don’t think I have seen any other teacher that teaches like that.”

‘My journey in Canada started in 2009, but overtime I met people and I realized that who brought me here wasn’t willing to give the information that I needed. As I started meeting other people and gathering more information, I learnt a lot.”

For more information about the program, please contact YWCA Canada at info@igcompany.ca.