Program Resources

Nova Scotia Advisory Council members are women from across Nova Scotia who have demonstrated interest and involvement in women's issues in their communities.

(Available in original language)

The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) represents Alberta's 284 urban municipalities. AUMA´s Women in Municipal Government Committee works to raise awareness of the importance of women in governance and to strengthen the participation of women in the democratic process. Priorities for this Committee in 2009 included increasing communication of issues and initiatives related to women in municipal politics to the broader AUMA membership and identifying and providing input to the Board of Directors on any emerging issues. 

The Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women´s Clubs (BPW Canada) develops the professional and leadership potential of women in Canada through education, awareness, advocacy and mentoring within a supportive network. 

The Canadian Women Voters Congress is a non-partisan, grassroots charitable organization, dedicated to encouraging Canadian women to become strong, effective voices at all levels of government. They aim to educate women about political and organizational systems; encourage women of all backgrounds and political persuasions to participate in the political process; and inspire women to assume leadership roles. 

Equal voice is a multi-partisan organization dedicated to electing more women in Canada. The organization offers a wide range of networking and learning activities.

Getting to the Gate, an Equal Voice online tool for women interested in getting into politics.

The Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities has developed a specific Women in Local Government project. The project aims to identify the opportunities to better involve women as citizens and as politicians in municipal government; recommend measures to involve women in all their diversity in consultation and engagement activities of municipal government; recommend measures for recruiting and retaining women in municipal electoral politics; and have women represent at least 30 per cent of municipal elected officials across Nova Scotia.

Women's Network PEI is a not-for-profit organization that works to strengthen and support the efforts of Prince Edward Island women to improve the status of women in our society. The organization promotes equality through feminist analysis and practice in our project work, to address issues affecting women in our community. They also act as a referral service to help women find programs and services they may need.

(Available in original language)

This booklet has been developed to support the implementation of tools and resources to promote strong, effective and accountable municipal government

The overall goal of the program is to make women feel inspired and familiar with the job of a municipal councillor so they may consider running for elected office and help increase women’s participation in municipal government.

Based on the experiences of municipal politicians across the country, the toolkit gives women considering running for municipal office an understanding of the job, provides tips and strategies for running a campaign and includes a comprehensive listing of other sources that can be consulted and a list of relevant legislation and provincial contacts.

This Local Government Participatory Practices Manual is designed to contribute to the ability of municipal officials and staff to initiate or strengthen participatory practices in their own communities.

This guide was designed by local government stakeholders to provide a practical tool to assess where your municipality currently stands and to suggest steps that Local Government Authorities (LGAs) and stakeholders can take to promote gender equality in LGA operations and interactions in collaboration with citizens.

Judge your city's performance – and what you still need to do...

In Nova Scotia, women are under-represented in municipal government. Women make up more than 50 per cent of Nova Scotia’s population yet only 21.7 per cent of municipal councillors (the third lowest in Canada), seven per cent of wardens and mayors and only 14.5 per cent of chief administrators (the lowest in Canada).

This summary report presents an overview of the project findings and recommends a national strategy to strengthen women’s involvement in public participation and bridge the current gender gap in Canadian municipal processes.