Since coming to power in 2015 and declaring its feminist ambitions, the Trudeau government has made gender equality and feminist approaches a whole-of-government priority, albeit with admittedly less fanfare and resourcing in recent years.

This year’s scorecard shows how the government continues to make substantial progress in many priority areas, such as building a national $10-a-day child care system, working with provinces to strengthen services to address gender-based violence, and advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights. Important new federal programs for dental care and pharmacare are being rolled out, which will benefit millions of low-income people and make contraceptives accessible to all.

However, other areas of the government’s feminist agenda appear to have stalled. Low-income households in Canada are struggling to survive with spiking rent and grocery bills. Indigenous women’s organizations report little progress being made on closing the social and economic gaps faced by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit women, gender diverse, and Two-Spirit people. The 2023 federal budget scaled back international assistance by ending pandemic response funding.

Policy areas are rated using a traffic light system — red, yellow, green — indicating very little, some, or significant progress. Each of the policy areas includes an analysis of where the government got it right and where it missed the mark and provides recommendations for the way forward. The Feminist Scorecard 2023 focuses on policy initiatives made by the Canadian government between March 2023 and March 2024 only.