Women Serving in the Canadian Armed Forces: Strengthening Military Capabilities and Operational Effectiveness

In this article authors examine how the The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) can serve as a viable and important career option for women. The CAF has a mandate to increase the representation of women to 25.1% by the year 2026. With the current rate at 15.5%, attempting to increase the representation of women remains an important goal.There are several principal reasons why attracting more women to join the CAF remains an important objective for the Canadian military. As women make up slightly over 50% of the Canadian population, they represent a large resource of highly qualified and skilled people who would benefit the CAF. Furthermore, diverse ideas and perspectives can foster new and different ways of thinking. At the core, attracting and retaining women to join the CAF goes beyond politics and employment equity: it is about strengthening military capabilities and operational effectiveness. [Authors]