Canada cannot meet its ambitions with only part of its talent fully engaged.
Canada is navigating one of the most consequential periods in recent memory. Democratic strain. Geopolitical tension. Energy transformation. Technological acceleration. Trade uncertainty. Institutional pressure.
Meeting the scale of this moment requires more than policy and capital. It requires institutional capacity. And institutional capacity depends, in no small part, on how leadership is structured, sustained, and renewed.
Across Canada’s strategic sectors — defence and security, infrastructure and construction, energy and resources, science and technology — women remain underrepresented across the pipeline, from entry-level roles to executive decision-making tables.
The question is not whether women belong. Many exceptional leaders are already there, leading teams, allocating capital, negotiating complexity, shaping outcomes. The question is whether Canada is intentional about scaling and sustaining women’s leadership as a strategic asset.
Strengthening the talent pipeline is not about optics. It is about expanding leadership capacity to meet the ambition of the moment. And right now, the data shows that institutions need to do more to attract, retain, advance, and renew women’s leadership over time and at every level.
If Canada is to meet the ambitions of the coming decade — economic resilience, strategic autonomy, innovation and prosperity — it must deliberately scale women’s authority inside the sectors where capital is allocated, risk is managed, and national direction is set.
Leadership culture is not a soft variable. It is a strategic asset — one that shapes how effectively institutions translate capital, policy, and political will into long-term national advantage. Strengthening it requires more than awareness. It requires frank examination — by those operating inside these systems — of the structural frictions that limit progression, and bold thinking to redefine how authority is recognized, exercised, and rewarded.
That is the premise behind Power Shift — Women Redefining Leadership in Canada — a national platform convening senior and emerging women in serious, intergenerational dialogue about how leadership must evolve for the decade ahead.
Beginning in 2026, the series will convene senior and emerging women leaders from the sectors at the heart of Canada’s economic and strategic future to have these conversations and carry solutions forward.
Canada has long prided itself on pragmatic institution-building. At another hinge moment in our history, strengthening leadership culture and accelerating women’s participation and leadership across the sectors that determine our resilience, is part of that same nation-building tradition.
If Canada intends to execute on its ambitions, it must treat leadership culture as part of national strategy — deliberately cultivating and scaling women’s authority across its most consequential sectors.
That work cannot be deferred.
That is the purpose of Power Shift.
Frédérique Tsai-Klassen & Emily Feairs
Co-founders, The Power Shift Series
The Pearson Centre is proud to support the Power Shift Series.
Join us for the launch event: