Participation of Women in the Canadian Energy Sector

Women have always been underrepresented in the Canadian energy sector; even though there

have been attempts over the years to deal with this disparity and gap that exists between the

number of men and women in the Canadian energy industry, the disparity is still very much

visible today. According to a report by Corporate Knights, the energy industry in Canada is the

least accessible industry for women in the country. (Hughes, L. 2022)

According to the results of a survey by the global equal by 30 campaign, women accounted for

less than 1/3 of the global employment in the energy sector in the year 2020. This report also

further revealed that women made up to 32% of global employment in the energy sector, and of

that portion, 39% of the roles are at the entry-level, and 26% are executive leaders. In Canada,

the energy sector remains imbalanced gender-wise, with women making up just 24% of the

workforce in the energy sector, and women's representation in clean energy is only slightly

higher at 25%, which is why the Canadian government is committed to addressing the gender

imbalance in our energy sector. (Government of Canada, 2021)

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of information that truly reflects the status of women's

participation in the Canadian energy sector today, as there's not a lot of research or concrete data

available when it comes to assessing the situation. Yes, it is obvious that there's a gap, but where

are we now or what's the status now after several of the programs such as the International Clean

Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) Initiative initiated by stakeholders such as the

Canadian government, private individuals and even bodies to shorten or encourage the

participation of women in the Canadian energy structure have been in implemented or even on

the process of implementation. So far, not enough research has been done to find out how

effective those plans have been.

According to the PEMBINA Institute's report on women in Alberta's energy transition, The five

key barriers to women's participation in the energy sector are lack of access to opportunity, lack

of good jobs, inability to advance, income gap, and industry culture. (PEMBINA Institute, 2021).

However, the report was quick to point out that this list of barriers is in no way exhaustive.

According to the report on the Profile of Women Working in the Clean Energy Sector in Canada,

some of the factors that create a barrier when it comes to women participating in the Canadian

renewable energy sector are as follows:

Limited awareness about the breadth of opportunity that is available to them and visible and

recognizable role models: The lack of role models might be attributed to the fact that a lot of

women do not visibly have a seat at the table, so young girls coming up do not know that they

have an opportunity to explore working in such an industry or area.

The second challenge is the attempt by players in the industry to preserve the culture and the

status quo. Women often lose out on opportunities that they qualify for because of attempts by

certain players in the industry to maintain the way things have always been done before; women

are also often shut out of the industry because of the misconception that women are unable to

perform excellently at certain tasks. Unfortunately, this belief has been perpetuated over the

years. According to some participants that were consulted whilst writing the paper, women were

at times passed over by male colleagues or senior management without even confirming that they

were unable to take up a certain role or even a certain task which is why women are often given

administrative roles to take up.

Lack of proper work-life balance is a huge barrier for women who carry the responsibility of

working whilst taking care of a family. Unfortunately, the energy industry in Canada still has a
long way to go when it comes to flexibility of job roles available in the industry. (Electricity

Human Resources Canada, 2017)

References

Hughes, L. (2022). Gender Inequity Problems Are Flying Under the Radar in Alberta’s Energy

Sector.

https://www.corporateknights.com/energy/gender-inequity-problems-are-flying-under-

the-radar-in-albertas-energy-sector/

Government of Canada. (2021, March 8). Equal by 30 Survey Reveals Women Under-

Represented in Global Energy Sector.

https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resources-canada/news/2021/03/equal-by-30-survey-

reveals-women-under-represented-in-global-energy-sector.html

PEMBINA Institute. (2021, October 15). Traditional Energy Industry Gender Gaps Avoidable in

New Energy Economy, Analysis Finds.

https://www.pembina.org/media-release/traditional-energy-industry-gender-gaps-

avoidable

Electricity Human Resources Canada. (2017, June 1). Profile Of Women Working in The Clean

Energy Sector in Canada.

https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/energy/energy-resources/

Profile_of_Women_Working_in_the_Clean_Energy_Sector_in_Canada_compressed.pdf