A Gendered Analysis of Employment and Skills in the Large-Scale-Mining Sector: Canada

The report analyzes the status of women in the Canadian large-scale mining sector, finding that they are persistently underrepresented at approximately 16% of the workforce. While women in mining are often highly educated and concentrated in professional or exploration roles, they face systemic barriers including gender pay gaps, limited access to support networks, and higher rates of unresolved discrimination and harassment. The document recommends that governments mandate disaggregated data reporting and integrate psychological safety into occupational health and safety legislation to improve workplace culture and equity.

• Women are persistently underrepresented in the Canadian mining workforce, accounting for approximately 16% of employees, with little to no change in this share over a 10-year period based on census data.
• Women in the mining sector are generally more highly educated than their male counterparts, which contributed to lower unemployment rates for them during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to women in other sectors.
• Gender representation varies by mining activity; women are most represented in exploration and least represented in manufacturing and fabrication.
• A significant gender pay gap persists in Canadian mining; between 2010 and 2020, women earned an average of $3.1 per hour less than men, resulting in weekly earnings that were 14.8% lower than men's.
• Women in mining are underrepresented across nearly all skill levels compared to other Canadian industries, though they have the highest representation in professional (23%) and management (21%) roles.
• Women in Canadian mining experience higher rates of workplace bullying and sexual harassment than men, and these incidents are frequently underreported or left unresolved.
• Board diversity in the Canadian mining industry lags behind other TSX-listed companies, although board representation for women is higher than their representation in the general mining workforce.
• Technological advancements and automation pose a higher risk to workers in administrative roles, which are often filled by women, and manual labour roles, often filled by Indigenous people.

APA

Peltier-Huntley, J. (2022). A Gendered Analysis of Employment and Skills in the Large-Scale-Mining Sector: Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-04/women-mine-of-the-future-canada.pdf

Chicago

Peltier-Huntley, Jocelyn. A Gendered Analysis of Employment and Skills in the Large-Scale-Mining Sector: Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2022. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-04/women-mine-of-the-future-canada.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Peltier-Huntley |first1=Jocelyn |title=A Gendered Analysis of Employment and Skills in the Large-Scale-Mining Sector: Canada |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=August 2022 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-04/women-mine-of-the-future-canada.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{peltierhuntley2022gendered, author = {Peltier-Huntley, Jocelyn}, title = {{A Gendered Analysis of Employment and Skills in the Large-Scale-Mining Sector: Canada}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2022}, month = aug, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-04/women-mine-of-the-future-canada.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }