National Opinion Poll & Report on the Status of Girls in Canada Today

In this revealing report, Girls Action Foundation presents results of an exclusive national survey conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion, plus research on girls’ lives. Startling barriers and disparities exist for today’s girls, including high rates of depression, harassment in schools, and over-sexualized images of young women.

Read the full report.

National Poll Results - Highlights

• Over 9 in 10 Canadians (93%) agree that “the belief that girls and boys should have equal rights and privileges is fundamental to what it means to be Canadian.”
• 86% of Canadians agree that it is important to have equal representation of men and women in leadership roles.

Despite these beliefs favouring equity, startling disparities between men and women continue to exist. For example, men outnumber women 4 to 1 among Canada's elected representatives (Equal Voice) and2/3 of minimum wage workers are women (Statistics Canada).

The poll also reveals significant public concern about the specific challenges faced by girls in Canada.

• 46% of high school girls report being the target of unwanted sexual comments or gestures (CAMH). This fact that concerns 9 in 10 Canadians (87%), the poll found.
• Teenage girls are 3 times as likely as boys to suffer from depression (Leischield et al). 85% of Canadians believe this should be a concern for the entire country, according to the Angus Reid poll.
• 87% of Canadians surveyed think that media advertising puts too much emphasis on young women being sexy and not enough on their abilities and intelligence.

Want more facts on girls? Read the full report: Girls in Canada Today.

About the Survey

From January 30 to January 31, 2011, on behalf of the Girls Action Foundation, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,016 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada.