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

This report provides a baseline gendered analysis of employment and skills within Canada's large-scale mining sector. It examines the underrepresentation of women, gender pay gaps, and systemic barriers such as discrimination and harassment, while offering policy recommendations to increase the representation and retention of women in the industry.

• Women are persistently underrepresented in the Canadian mining workforce, accounting for approximately 16% of employees. While employment in the broader mining, quarrying, and oil and gas industries (NAIC 21) rose from 15% in 1987 to 19% in 2020, the share of women in mining and quarrying specifically (NAIC 212) showed little to no change over a 10-year period between 2006 and 2016.
• Women in the Canadian mining sector are generally more highly educated than their male counterparts, which contributed to lower unemployment rates for women in mining compared to women in other sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Women are underrepresented across nearly all skill levels in mining compared to other Canadian industries. Their highest representation is found in professional (23%) and management (21%) roles, which typically require university education.
• A significant gender pay gap exists in the Canadian mining and quarrying sector. Between 2010 and 2020, women working full-time earned an average of $3.1/hour (CAD) less than men (a 9% hourly difference), resulting in women earning 14.8% less per week than men over that decade.
• Women in Canadian mining experience higher rates of workplace bullying and sexual harassment than men. A report indicated that 27.1% of women experienced sexual harassment compared to 5.0% of men, and many of these incidents are not reported or resolved.
• Women's representation in mining varies by activity, with the highest involvement in exploration and the lowest in manufacturing and fabrication. Geographically, British Columbia's mining and quarrying sectors had the highest average representation of women at 16% from 2010 to 2021.
• Corporate 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. Boards also lack significant representation from other equity-seeking groups, with Indigenous Peoples and persons with disabilities filling only 0.5% of seats.
• Technological advancements and automation pose a higher risk to workers with low levels of education and skills, specifically those in manual labour roles (often filled by Indigenous people) and administrative roles (often filled by women).
• The report recommends that governments and stock exchanges mandate the reporting of disaggregated data tables by region and equity-seeking group to better analyze policy impacts. It also suggests integrating discrimination and harassment management into occupational health and safety legislation.

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} }