Women around the world celebrated female empowerment on International Women's Day Friday, but experts suggest Windsor still has a long way to go when it comes to gender equality.
A new report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives looks at the gender gap in Canada's 26 largest-cities — rating the best and worst cities to be a woman.
The Best and Worst Places to be a Woman in Canada 2019 analyzes the gaps between men and women when it comes to economic and personal security, education, health, and positions of leadership. Windsor ranks 20th on a list where there's only a 7% difference between first and last place.
Janice Kaffer is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, Kaffer tells CTV Windsor she's not surprised.
"Eighty-two per cent of the healthcare workforce is made up of women. Only 30% of women achieve the CEO position, so I am a minority," she says.
Kaffer completed her undergraduate degree while raising two children, but it was eight years of hard work. She says society doesn't make things easy for women.
"I remember when the kids went to bed a night, I was exhausted but I still had papers to write and research to do," says Kaffer. "I remember so many times wanting to just quit, it was so hard."
The largest gender gap with men was in leadership and political empowerment — women currently make up only 23% of elected officials in Windsor — the CPPA says the national average is 34%.
Hilda MacDonald and Nelson Santos addressed the Leamington District Chamber of Commerce's annual "Mayors' Breakfast" at Colosanti's on January 11, 2019 (Photo by AM800's Teresinha Medeiros)
Hilda MacDonald is proud to be Mayor of Leamington after 13-years in politics and says promoting confidence is the key for future generations to excel.
"There has been progress, obviously not record pacing. We need to teach our daughters and granddaughters it's ok to take on jobs like this," she says. "If we keep on instilling that in our younger people, we will see those numbers change."
According to the study, Kingston is the best place to live for women, while Barrie ranks last out of the 26 cities studied with populations over 150,000.
— with files from CTV Windsor's Stefanie Masotti.