‘We want to challenge employers to provide support for women where it actually matters’
Ahead of International Women's Day (IWD), a majority of Canadian women claim that employers’ actions to mark the day need serious adjustment.
Nearly two-thirds of Canadian women believe their employers treat the event more as a celebration than as an opportunity to assess how they support women, according to a survey from Benchmark Benefits.
While 57% of women agree IWD initiatives can have a meaningful impact in the workplace, 64% say employers use the day primarily as a celebration rather than a moment for accountability. Three in four (75%) say companies should be open about how they are actually supporting women employees.
For 83% of women surveyed, workplace benefits and policies matter more than how employers mark the day itself.
“International Women’s Day should be a checkpoint, not a checkbox,” says Gisela Carere, President of Benchmark Benefits. “Our findings show women can tell the difference between celebration and real support. We want to challenge employers to provide support for women where it actually matters.”
IWD – celebrated annually on March 8 – is a global day honouring the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women while advocating for accelerated gender equality.
The gender wage gap in Canada has narrowed considerably over the past four decades, but full equality remains out of reach, according to a previous report from Statistics Canada (StatCan).
What do women want in a ‘standard’ benefits package?
Among women with benefits, 40% say they are not satisfied with their current benefits package, and 47% report they have delayed or avoided health care because they did not have adequate benefits, according to Benchmark Benefits’ survey of 1,502 Canadian adults, including 770 women, conducted Feb. 9–11, 2026.
Here are the things women consider as essential elements of a standard workplace benefits package, according to the Benchmark Benefits survey:
- Comprehensive mental health services (91%)
- Coverage for women’s preventative health (87%)
- Caregiving support for elder or dependent care (87%)
- Flexible or reduced work schedules (82%)
- Menopause assessment, treatment and hormone therapy coverage (79%)
- Employer-paid parental leave top-up (78%)
“These results make it clear that the benefits women value most aren’t perks, they’re foundational,” Carere says. “Mental health support, caregiving resources and menopause coverage reflect real life. When employers invest in these areas, they’re not just enhancing a package, they’re building a workplace that meaningfully recognizes how women move through the world.”
The findings show that “celebration alone [is] no longer enough” and urge employers to measure the impact of their support for women, not just their participation in IWD campaigns, according to the benefits firm.
Challenges of menopause for women at work
Women are experiencing an earnings reduction of up to 10% years following a menopause diagnosis, according to a previous study.
Here’s how employers and HR professionals can better support women in their workforce, according to Lean In Canada – a women’s organisation supported by the Canadian federal government:
- Create spaces for career transitions — not only advancement: Support women through moments of change, uncertainty, and re-entry.
- Build leadership communities that grow with women over time: Design spaces that evolve across early, mid, and later career stages.
- Make identity and intersectionality the anchor — not an add-on: Design leadership and community spaces around lived experience from the start.
- Build clear pathways to community — before, during, and after participation: Ensure women can enter, stay connected, step back, and re-engage without friction.
- Recognize invisible labour as leadership work: Name, value, and resource the invisible work – e.g., relational and coordinating labour – that sustains teams and communities.
Nearly nine in 10 (86.6%) working women have experienced “Tall Poppy Syndrome” – where people are attacked, resented, disliked, criticized, or cut down because of their achievements or success, according to a previous report from Women of Influence+.
“Progress requires more than awareness. It requires shared responsibility,” says Juliet Turpin, President of Lean In Canada. “By providing clear direction on what women are looking for and the actions that need to be taken by Canadian organisations, we are inviting women and organisations alike to move from intention to impact.”
