Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

Raison d’être

The Office of the Co-ordinator, Status of Women, known as Status of Women Canada (SWC)^{Footnote 1} , is the primary federal agency responsible for mobilizing partners and promoting equality between women and men by increasing women’s access to, and opportunities in, political and public life. Its mandate is "to coordinate policy with respect to the status of women and administer related programs" (1976).

Mandate and role

The Office of the Coordinator, Status of Women, was initially established in the Privy Council Office in response to a recommendation contained in the report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in 1970, which identified the need for a federal representative for women. Status of Women Canada was established as a departmental agency of the federal government in 1976 by Order-in-Council to “coordinate policy with respect to the Status of Women and administer related programs” (1976-779).

Led by a full-time Minister since 2015 and a full Deputy Minister since 2017, Status of Women Canada was responsible for mobilizing partners and promoting equality between women and men by proactively engaging with individuals and institutions and with international, local and national partners. Status of Women Canada worked to advance equality for women by focusing its efforts in three areas: increasing women's economic security and prosperity; encouraging women's leadership and democratic participation; and ending violence against women and girls.

In December 2018, new legislation created the Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE), transforming the former Status of Women Canada into an official department of the Government of Canada. This change modernized and formalized, in law, the roles of the Minister and the Department. WAGE’s new mandate is to advance equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression through the inclusion of people of all genders, including women, in Canada’s economic, social, and political life. WAGE promotes a greater understanding of the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors that include race, national and ethnic origin, Indigenous origin or identity, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic condition, place of residence and disability. WAGE also raises public awareness through outreach and serves as a central point for sharing expertise, across Canada and with international partners, and uses this knowledge to inform and support Canada’s gender equality priorities.

WAGE works within the context of a number of federal and international instruments that support the principle of gender equality such as: the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Human Rights Act, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

WAGE’s responsibilities include the following:

• leading Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-based Violence;
• leading the implementation of Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) across the federal government;
• providing expert advice and strategic support to federal departments and agencies in the development of policies, programs and legislation related to gender equality;
• sharing research and policy expertise with the organizations and other levels of governments that have the levers to address gender equality issues;
• providing grants and contributions to projects that are designed to bring some degree of systemic change in the underlying factors that perpetuate gender inequality;
• supporting Canada’s efforts to meet international obligations; and
• promoting commemorative dates related to gender equality.

For more information on the Department’s organizational mandate letter commitments, see the Minister’s mandate letter.