By Canadian Press

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

Jul 30, 2025 | 11:40 AM

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

As outlined in its latest departmental plan, WAGE’s planned spending is expected to drop from $407,142,146 in 2025-26 to $76,266,802 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 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 their concerns about the cuts.

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

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

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press