The gender equity sector is panicking after Women and Gender Equality Canada released projections that suggest steep funding declines, triggering alarm bells across the ecosystem. Against a backdrop of regressive gender politics in the United States, the Hockey Canada acquittal, and the popularity of toxic influencers like Andrew Tate, the panic might feel warranted.

But the forecast isn’t actually new. It’s business as usual.

Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) typically only reports confirmed funding. This year’s numbers follow the same pattern as the last three years: a modest short-term allocation, followed by dramatic drop-offs in out-years. In every case (2022, 2023, and 2024) new federal funding eventually came through, increasing WAGE’s annual spending envelope by approximately $120-million, $160-million, and $113-million respectively. Yet this year’s projection triggered alarm. Why?

Because we’ve watched what happened in the U.S. After a wave of investment in equity and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, it all unraveled with U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term. Now, DEI is politically toxic. It’s natural to fear the same fate in Canada, especially as polarization creeps north.

But fear can be blinding.

When we panic, we lose perspective. We lean harder into moral high ground, silo ourselves in echo chambers, and stop finding language that resonates across the aisle. We forget the bigger picture. Gender equity isn’t just a moral issue. It’s an economic one.

Workplace gender inequality and underrepresentation costs Canada’s households $18-billion according to the Information And Communications Technology Council’s 2025 report. Research is clear: when women are equally represented, especially in leadership, our economy grows. In a time of inflation, tariffs, and housing pressure, we need every lever to drive economic performance.

This isn’t a funding crisis. It’s a design flaw. WAGE’s piecemeal, year-to-year structure forces short-term thinking, stifles impact, and undermines the sector’s ability to demonstrate real value. You don’t drive national systems change with short-cycle program grants. You drive burnout.

Meanwhile, nonprofits bear the brunt of public-sector scandals like ArriveCan or Phoenix. Ottawa’s overcorrections lead to excessive reporting demands. That may be appropriate for multimillion-dollar vendors, but for $500,000 grants stretched over three years, it borders on the absurd.

At Women in Communications and Technology (WCT), we’ve spent 30 years trying to do more with less. Our programs support women, equip employers, and measure real progress.

The gender leadership gap in corporate Canada directly constrains innovation, competitiveness, and national economic growth. Closing this gap means transforming how women experience work. And no organization, or group of organizations, can truly impact this at a systems-change level with limited, often programmatic-only funding.

While our corporate partners are committed to inclusive hiring, they’re mostly large enterprises. In reality, Canada’s information and communication technology sector is dominated by small businesses. Nearly 40,000 of them have fewer than 10 employees. These companies want to do better, but they simply don’t have the capacity.

This is where government must step in, with serious investment in inclusive economic growth. We’re not the U.S. Our policy environment has been more stable, and we can still choose to scale equity intentionally.

But WAGE can’t build that future when it’s stuck chasing annual scraps.

It’s time to fix the funding model, not just pad next year’s budget. The gender equity sector must zoom out, stop reacting to fear, and push for a complete overhaul of how funding is structured. 

If we don’t, we’ll be right back here next year, sounding the same alarm. Not because the sky is falling, but because we never fixed the roof.

Rebecca Bailey is the CEO of Women in Communications & Technology. Sarah Hashem is the vice-president of corporate partnerships at WCT.

The Hill Times