Mapping a Path to Equity

Change takes time— and nowhere more than in the fight for gender equity. Get to know the players and the events that lead to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women and their historic report

1961

On December 14, the President’s Commission on the Status of Women is created in the United States and chaired by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt until her death in 1962. Its report, American Women, is released on October 11, 1963, and recommends substantial reforms that inspire activists in the Canadian women’s movement.

1963

Judy Lamarsh becomes minister of national health and welfare. She is the second female cabinet minister in Canadian history and the sole woman in Lester B. Pearson’s cabinet. She immediately alerts the prime minister to the need for a federal public inquiry similar to the American one.

1893

The federal advocacy group National Council of Women of Canada (ncwc) forms in 1893 with the goal of becoming a “parliament of women.” It lays the groundwork for the formation of other women’s rights groups well into the twentieth century.

1966

On April 18, the president of the Canadian Federation of University Women, Laura Sabia, sends a letter to women’s organizations across Canada inviting them to a meeting to examine the status of women.

1929

The Persons case is successfully appealed, establishing women as “persons” under the law. This means they can no longer be denied the same rights as men and can work for reforms within the federal government.

1966

On May 3, thirty-two women’s organizations send fifty representatives to Sabia’s meeting in Toronto. They form the Committee on the Equality of Women in Canada (cew), and pressure the federal government to launch a commission.

1966

On November 10, cew presents the government with a brief demanding the appointment of a royal commission. With support from Lamarsh, who continues to pressure the prime minister, the cew’s demands are met, and the government agrees to launch a formal inquiry.

1971

The cew takes a new name, the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, and resolves to hold the government accountable for following through on the report’s recommendations.

1967

Pearson establishes the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada “to inquire into and report upon the status of women in Canada, and to recommend what steps might be taken by the Federal Government to ensure for women equal opportunities with men in all aspects of Canadian society”.

1971

The Office of the Coordinator, Status of Women— as well as a corresponding cabinet position— is created. It becomes a federal departmental agency in 1976. In December 2018, the federal government’s Department for Women and Gender Equality is established.

1968

The commission begins their work, holding public hearings across the country. They distribute brochures in supermarkets and libraries, and hold the events at times and in locations that are accessible for women. At the hearings, nearly 900 witnesses give testimony.

1973

Provinces and territories begin to create their own advisory bodies on women’s issues, modelled on the federal office. Every province currently has a minister responsible for the status of women.

1970

The Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada is tabled in Parliament on December 7. Its 167 recommendations tackle a wide range of issues, including pay equity, maternity leave, child care, birth control, abortion rights, and equal access to education.

1980s

Many of the report’s recommendations are either partially or fully carried out by this decade’s end. Despite this progress, however, significant problems identified by the report still have not been resolved. Advocacy efforts continue, as certain crucial recommendations have yet to be implemented in 2020.