Environmental Careers Organization of Canada

Published purpose

Through this 32-month systemic change project, Environmental Careers Organization Of Canada (ECO) will scale the Women Reclaiming Leadership in Environmental and Engineering Industry project to Canada’s Occean and Agriculture/Agri-food sectors. The project aims to address systemic barriers and promote women's representation in leadership and decision-making roles within these industries. To do so, the project will leverage the lessons and resources from its previous success, creating an advisory committee and conducting comprehensive baseline reviews and surveys to establish evidence-based best practices. An employer resource toolkit will be developed to assist organizations in implementing diversity and inclusion programs to support women's leadership aspirations. To foster networking and sponsorship, ECO will launch a campaign promoting sponsorships and peer support for women in these sectors. Additionally, an outreach campaign will challenge perceptions around women in leadership, encourage participation, and share success stories from participating organizations. The project will feature networking events, workshops, digital outreach campaigns and women-focused groups. With the supplemental funds and extension provided in early 2026, ECO will introduce new activities designed to deepen and institutionalize the outcomes of the Advancing Women in Leadership Roles in Ocean, Agriculture & Agri-Food Sectors in Canada initiative. The extension builds on the existing initiative while deepening systemic change and expanding sector-wide accountability mechanisms to advance women’s economic leadership in Canada. New activities including the establishment of a gender leadership implementation lab; launch of an executive sponsorship and decision-making reform framework; development of a National gender leadership accountability snapshot; and introduction of a gender-responsive employer recognition initiative will expand the scale and depth of systemic change by embedding measurable reform tools within participating organizations while strengthening transparency and accountability across the broader sector. Through this, they will further advance Gender Equality.