When Priya*, a 38-year-old consultant at a mid-sized professional services firm, realized the timing wasn’t right to have children, she began exploring egg freezing as a way to preserve her options. Like many women balancing career goals, personal circumstances and the realities of fertility, she saw it as a proactive step towards building the future […]
South Asian women remain one of the most educated yet under-utilized groups in Canada’s workforce, facing persistent barriers to progression despite record immigration levels. Canada’s immigration levels more than doubled in recent years to 1.4 million annually and while South Asians made up the largest share of newcomers, they face uneven workforce integration, particularly women, […]
More than eight in 10 (80 per cent) women in today’s workforce are in roles highly exposed to generative artificial intelligence, but they’re adopting these tools at a rate 25 per cent lower than men, according to a recent report by Abacus Data. “The biggest risk is economic exclusion,” said Sarah Stockdale, founder and chief […]
Gender differences in mental health manifest through biology, gender roles and cultural expectations, according to Carmen Bellows, registered psychologist and director of mental health solutions at Sun Life Financial Inc., during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Mental Health Summit. Taking all mental-health disorders into account, she said there are no gender differences in the […]
Mood, anxiety and related disorders are some of the most common conditions that arise in pregnancy and in the year after childbirth, according to Dr. Archana Vidyasankar, perinatal psychiatrist and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology in the faculty of medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland, during a session supported by Biogen Canada […]
Women’s mental health has historically been underfunded and under-researched, with just three per cent of neuroscience and psychiatry studies between 2009 and 2019 conducted exclusively in females, compared to about 30 per cent in males, according to research cited by Manulife Canada’s Georgia Pomaki during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Mental Health Summit. Yet, […]
The group insurance industry saw a rapid rise in claims related to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder during the coronavirus pandemic, particularly among women over age 40, said Catherine Biermann (pictured left), manager of digital products, solutions and partnerships at Medavie Blue Cross, moderating a Q&A session with two medical experts at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Mental Health Summit. […]
Three years ago, I wrote an editorial for our inaugural DEI Issue heralding the overdue and rising attention that was being bestowed on diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace — but in such a short period of time, the tide is already turning. The rhetoric demonizing DEI began to gain momentum after a ruling […]
Five years after the coronavirus pandemic normalized the concept of remote working, academic and union thought leaders agree there’s no evidence supporting return-to-office mandates. Mark Ma, associate professor of business administration, University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business In our research, which examined consequences of return-to-office mandates for S&P 500 firms from 2020 to […]
At Metrolinx, diversity, equity and inclusion are more than just initiatives, they’re woven into the fabric of how the Ontario transportation agency operates. “We know that fostering an inclusive culture isn’t a one-time effort, it’s an ongoing commitment that requires action, accountability and continuous learning,” says Ramneet Aujla, the organization’s chief human resources officer. “And […]