Every year, March 8 is recognized as International Women’s Day. It is a time to celebrate the progress that has been made toward gender equity and an opportunity to rally around the work that still needs to be done to achieve gender equity in this lifetime.
The UN has estimated that at the current rate of progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, it could take close to 300 years to achieve full gender equality around the world. In 2019, the Canadian Professional Planners National Compensation & Benefits Survey found that the gender wage gap is on average $12,500 within the planning profession. The Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) is committed to more equitable planning, together by elevating the voices of women and gender-diverse planning professionals and learning from their experiences in this country on this day–and beyond. The global pandemic and its lasting effects have disproportionately impacted women and gender diverse people over the last three years. Shifts in the gender wage gap in the planning profession is one of the many things that CIP will look to identify in the next national compensation and benefits survey.
CIP is also committed to strengthening our policy efforts in climate change and healthy communities, as well as a new commitment to housing. We recognize that these are complex issues that require gender-sensitive approaches and integrated actions. For example, a recent report from the Women’s National Housing & Homelessness Network found that 90% of families using emergency shelters are headed by single women and 69% of gender-diverse people reported being unable to find or maintain housing due to affordability, in addition to 41% who reported feeling unsafe in their home or neighbourhood.
We encourage our members, allies, and partners to learn more about gender equity, its intersections with the planning profession, and the current work being done to develop safe and inclusive spaces for all community members.
We recognize that planning professionals play an important role in serving a variety of communities and there is an opportunity to work more inclusively in the public interest. We believe that listening to women and gender-diverse voices is fundamental to advancing the planning profession and transforming decision-making processes and practices.
We are committed to including diverse perspectives in all of our work, and ensuring that the planning profession plays a leadership role in creating more inclusive communities, networks, and systems that will benefit all people now and for generations to come.
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Media contact:
Lauren Murray (she/her/elle)
Manager, Communications | Gérante, communications
613.237.7526 x 207 │ 800.207.2138 x 207
communications@cip-icu.ca
The Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) works on behalf of over 8,000 diverse planning professionals and has served as the voice of Canada’s planning community since 1919. Planners safeguard the health and well-being of urban and rural communities, by addressing the use of land, resources, facilities, and services with consideration to physical, economic, and social efficiency.