About

Women in the House hones leadership skills and opens doors

The Women in the House program is Canada’s first and only experiential for-credit undergraduate and graduate course that equips participants with both a theoretical and practical understanding of women in Canadian politics and intersectional policymaking processes. The centrepiece of the program is the opportunity to shadow a woman MP and her staff in Ottawa, seeing first-hand what it means to be a woman leader. The program is multi-partisan and engages with all main political parties in Ottawa.

We prepare students for this visit and future opportunities with academic learning and leadership skill-building workshops and networking events with women community leaders, parliamentary journalists and political activists.

Women in the House encourages young women or non-binary – especially from Black, Indigenous, People of Colour and/or 2SLGBTQ+ communities – to learn more about the role of gender and intersectionality in politics and the current political climate. The program also introduces them to the possibility of becoming a political leader, highlighting the lack of gender parity in local, provincial and national legislatures in Canada and across the world.

Women in the House is helping change representation in Canada

Representation matters. Despite making up half of the population of Canada, women currently account for only 30% of our federal elected representatives – and women with intersectional identities account for only a fraction of that already small group.

This same imbalance is reflected in other leadership roles across sectors, reinforcing the need to equip more young women with the skills they will need to succeed as professionals and agents of change in our society.

Women in the House thanks our external and internal donors for their continued support

External donors, UNIFOR  (external link)  and AMAPCEO (external link) 

Internal donors, Faculty of Arts , the Department of Politics and Public Administration, and the Master of Public Policy and Administration Program