The path to gender equality in Canada’s peacekeeping contributions has hit a troubling roadside. New data shows female representation in our UN peacekeeping forces has fallen to its lowest point in years, raising questions about the Liberal government’s commitment to its feminist foreign policy agenda.
Last month, Canada’s contingent of women in UN peacekeeping operations dropped to just 12 individuals – representing a mere 8.5% of our total peacekeeping personnel. This marks the lowest percentage since the Trudeau government launched its Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations back in 2017.
The decline comes despite repeated promises from Ottawa to increase women’s participation in peace operations. During the 2016 UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial conference in Vancouver, Prime Minister Trudeau personally pledged that Canada would lead by example on gender integration.
“When women play an active role in conflict resolution and peace processes, peace is more enduring,” Trudeau told attendees then. His government followed with a $15 million commitment to boost women’s participation globally.
Yet six years later, our actions tell a different story than our diplomatic rhetoric.
Walter Dorn, president of the Canadian Peace Research Association and professor at the Royal Military College, calls the current numbers “disappointing but not surprising.”
“There’s been a pattern of Canada making bold statements about peacekeeping priorities without matching operational commitments,” Dorn told me during a phone interview. “The gender representation issue is just one symptom of a broader retreat from UN operations.”
Defence Department spokesperson Daniel Le Bouthillier confirmed the figures but emphasized that Canada’s contribution should be viewed in context of broader international security efforts. “While UN peacekeeping remains important, Canada maintains substantial female representation in NATO operations and other multilateral security initiatives,” he said.
But critics point out that the government specifically highlighted UN peacekeeping in its feminist foreign policy framework. Monique Cuillerier from the World Federalist Movement-Canada suggests the disconnect reveals a credibility problem.
“You can’t position yourself as a global leader on women in peacekeeping when your actual deployment numbers are moving in the opposite direction,” Cuillerier explained. “The international community notices these contradictions.”
The timing is particularly awkward. Just last year, Canada co-hosted the 2022 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial in Seoul, where Minister of National Defence Anita Anand reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to increasing women’s participation in peace operations.
What’s behind this troubling trend? Several factors appear to be at play.
First, Canada’s overall peacekeeping contribution remains modest – currently at 141 personnel across various missions. This small base makes achieving representative gender balance more challenging, as even small personnel changes can dramatically affect percentages.
Second, structural barriers persist within the Canadian Armed Forces. While women now comprise about 16.3% of military personnel according to recent CAF statistics, they remain underrepresented in combat roles that typically form the backbone of peacekeeping operations.
Colonel (retired) Nishika Jardine, who now serves as the CAF/DND Sexual Misconduct Response Centre’s executive director, points to ongoing cultural challenges. “The peacekeeping environment often involves deployment to regions with significant security concerns. We still face both institutional and societal perceptions about women serving in these high-risk environments,” she noted.
Perhaps most significantly, the Trudeau government’s peacekeeping priorities have repeatedly shifted. After promising up to 600 military personnel and 150 police officers for UN operations in 2016, actual deployments have never approached those targets.
The recent pivot toward the NATO mission in Latvia and other European security commitments following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has further diverted resources from UN operations in Africa and elsewhere where Canadian peacekeepers might make meaningful contributions.
Sarah Taylor, director of the Women, Peace and Security program at the International Peace Institute, sees a broader pattern. “Canada isn’t alone in struggling to align its feminist foreign policy rhetoric with operational realities,” she said. “But given how prominently gender equality figures in Canada’s international branding, the gap between words and action is particularly noticeable.”
The decline also raises questions about Canada’s influence in multilateral institutions at a critical time. With competition for key UN leadership positions intensifying, our credibility on peacekeeping affects our broader diplomatic standing.
For women in conflict zones, the issue extends beyond statistics. Evidence consistently shows that diverse peacekeeping forces better protect civilian populations, particularly women and girls. Female peacekeepers often access communities and gather intelligence in ways their male counterparts cannot, especially in socially conservative regions.
A 2021 study by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security found that higher proportions of women in peacekeeping missions correlated with improved mission effectiveness and reduced instances of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers.
In Parliament, the issue has drawn cross-party concern. Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong noted that “this government repeatedly makes international commitments without concrete implementation plans,” while NDP defence critic Lindsay Mathyssen called the decline “deeply troubling” and urged immediate corrective action.
Looking ahead, reversing this trend will require more than rhetorical commitments. Real progress demands specific recruitment targets, career pathway adjustments for women in the CAF, and renewed operational commitments to UN peacekeeping missions.
For everyday Canadians watching our international contributions, the question becomes one of values alignment. Do we want our peacekeeping footprint to reflect the diversity we celebrate domestically?
As I’ve covered Canada’s involvement in peace operations over the years, one thing becomes clear: our international reputation isn’t built on what we say at UN podiums, but on what we actually do in the field. Right now, that gap is widening in ways that should concern anyone who believes in Canada’s potential as a constructive global actor.
The peacekeeping community will be watching closely to see if Canada’s renewed focus on international security translates into meaningful progress on gender representation – or if this downward trend continues to undermine our feminist foreign policy aspirations.
