Organizations sound alarm as gender equality department faces 81% budget cut

OTTAWA — Organizations working to advancing gender equality are sounding the alarm as the federal department for women and gender equality, WAGE, faces a potential budget cut of just over 80 per cent.

As outlined in its latest departmental plan, WAGE’s planned spending is expected to drop from $407 million in 2025-26 to $76 million in 2027-28.

Over the same time period, the department’s number of full-time employees is expected to decrease from 444 to 254.

The plan document says the decrease in funding is mainly due to the planned end of time-limited funding.

A coalition of organizations that includes the Canadian Centre for Policy Initiatives and the Canadian Women’s Foundation sent an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney expressing concerns about the cuts.

The letter says the massive budget cut would effectively “gut the entire department” and make it impossible for WAGE to fulfill its mandate.

A spokesperson for Women and Gender Equality Canada said in an email that “no funding cuts have been made” and that departmental plans are “routine” and released annually as part of a commitment to transparency and accountability.

“The figures in the Departmental Plan do not represent any current or planned cuts to Women and Gender Equality Canada; rather, it reflects the currently planned expiry of certain time-limited program funding,” the spokesperson said. “Any funding decisions will be shared in due course.”

Carney faced criticism in March after he failed to name a minister responsible for women and gender equality. He later reinstated the role when naming his second cabinet.

The open letter said the federal government’s actions are again raising “serious concerns” about whether it values “equality, human rights, and the significant contributions of women, trans, two-spirit, non-binary people to the economy and the country.”

“The government appears comfortable abandoning equality and marginalized people,” the letter says. “With these cuts, women and gender-diverse people are taking a disproportionate hit of the austerity measures and the fiscal tightening.”

Most federal departments and agencies have been tasked with finding savings of up to 15 per cent over the next three years.

The letter says an 80 per cent budget reduction amounts to “a decimation of life-saving and life-changing programs, advancing gender-based analysis, and promoting systemic change for women’s rights and gender equality.”

“With these drastic cuts, the department will, in effect, only exist as a shell,” the letter says, adding that the impacts will be felt far beyond the department.

“The proposed cuts will severely undermine national and local feminist organizations, shelters, sexual assault services, and victim services.”

The groups called for the proposed cuts to be walked back and said they would like to see a continued commitment in the fall budget “and beyond.”

The groups also called for an urgent meeting with Carney and his office, which has not responded to a request for comment from The Canadian Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2025.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press