As in most countries, the condition of women makes a significant impact on the levels of poverty in Canada both in the short and the long term.

The first issue is that single mothers form a disproportionately high percentage of the poor people in Canada. If women take a career break to raise children, they lose the ability to catch up to men or child-free women in their age bracket in terms of salary or career progress. This is further exacerbated by lack of free or affordable day care which makes it more difficult for women to get back on a full time career path.

Gender discrimination has meant that historically feminized jobs (receptionist vs. security guard, house cleaner vs. maintenance person) pay substantially less than equivalent male jobs, women will have less net worth, fewer savings, and be more vulnerable to dropping into poverty.