Finding the right job in Canada, or the right woman for your open role, takes more than a generic job board search. WomenAtWork.ca was built as a dedicated space where Canadian employers and women seeking work can meet with less noise and more relevance.
Quick takeaways
- WomenAtWork.ca is a Canada-focused job board connecting employers to women seeking employment, career changes, or a return to work.
- Employers can post roles, including federally regulated positions, return-to-work programs, and trades and STEM openings.
- Job seekers can browse listings and build a profile at WomenAtWork.ca for job seekers.
- The site is shaped by Canadian hiring context, including the framework set out in the Employment Equity Act.
- Provincial pages help narrow the search to a specific region of the country.
What WomenAtWork.ca is and who it serves
WomenAtWork.ca exists because the standard job board search does not always surface the roles or the candidates that matter most to women building a career in Canada. Some employers are actively working to grow the number of women in their workforce, whether that means closing a gender gap in a technical department, meeting reporting obligations tied to federal contracts, or simply widening a hiring pool that has been too narrow for too long. Job seekers, meanwhile, are often looking for something more specific than "any job": a return-to-work opportunity after parental leave, an entry point into a trade, or a company that has clearly signaled it wants women on its team.
This is a brand-anchor page, which means it does double duty. Employers land here to understand what the platform offers them. Job seekers land here to understand how to use it. Both groups are welcome, and both are addressed directly in the sections below.
For employers
If you are a hiring manager, HR lead, or business owner, WomenAtWork.ca gives you a channel to reach women who are specifically looking for opportunities like yours. This matters for a few practical reasons:
- Federally regulated employers (banking, telecommunications, interprovincial transportation, and similar sectors) operate under employment equity reporting requirements, and a job board that reaches women candidates directly supports that work.
- Return-to-work programs aimed at parents, especially mothers re-entering the workforce after leave, tend to perform better when posted somewhere candidates are already looking for that kind of role.
- Trades and STEM employers trying to diversify their applicant pool benefit from a job board where the audience is already self-selected.
For job seekers
If you are looking for work, a career change, or a way back into the workforce after time away, WomenAtWork.ca is built around your search. Postings span office and professional roles, skilled trades, technology and engineering positions, and return-to-work programs designed with re-entry in mind. You can search by province, filter by role type, and create a profile that employers can find directly.
Federally regulated employer postings
Federally regulated sectors in Canada, including banks, airlines, railways, telecommunications companies, and some Crown corporations, fall under distinct employment rules and reporting expectations compared to provincially regulated employers. Part of that landscape includes employment equity considerations for designated groups, which includes women.
For a job seeker, this context is useful background: federally regulated employers are often further along in structured hiring programs aimed at improving representation, which can translate into clearer application processes and dedicated recruiting contacts. For an employer in one of these sectors, posting on a platform where the audience already includes women actively job hunting is a direct way to support hiring goals tied to equity reporting.
WomenAtWork.ca does not provide compliance or legal advice on employment equity obligations. Employers with specific reporting questions should consult their own HR or legal counsel. What the platform does provide is a channel: a place where the right postings reach the right candidates without extra translation work on either side.
Return-to-work roles
Stepping back into paid work after parental leave, caregiving responsibilities, or an extended career break is one of the most common reasons women use a job board like this one. The challenge is rarely a lack of skill. It is more often a mismatch between how job postings are written and what a returning candidate actually needs to know: is this role flexible, is there a ramp-up period, does the employer have any track record of hiring people back into the workforce.
What a strong return-to-work posting looks like
Employers who want to attract returning talent tend to be explicit about a few things in the posting itself: whether hybrid or remote arrangements are available, whether the role includes any onboarding support for someone who has been out of the paid workforce for a period of time, and whether prior experience gaps are treated as a red flag or simply a normal part of a career.
How to search as a returning candidate
If you are coming back to work after time away, search WomenAtWork.ca using both your target job title and broader terms like "return to work" or "flexible schedule." Building a profile lets employers who specifically want to reach returning candidates find you, rather than relying only on you finding them.
Trades and STEM pipelines
Skilled trades and STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math) remain areas where women are underrepresented across much of the Canadian labor market, even as employer demand for tradespeople and technical staff continues. WomenAtWork.ca includes postings in construction trades, manufacturing, electrical and mechanical work, software and IT roles, and engineering positions, alongside more traditional office and professional listings.
Why this matters for employers
A construction company, utility, or manufacturer trying to build a pipeline of women apprentices and journeypersons faces a straightforward problem: the candidates exist, but they are not always looking in the same places as the general applicant pool. The same is true in software and engineering, where many women in technical fields report that they respond more to postings on platforms explicitly built around inclusive hiring.
Why this matters for job seekers
If you are considering a trade or a technical career, or you are already qualified and looking for your next role, a Canada-focused board built around this audience can surface apprenticeship programs, entry-level technical roles, and senior technical positions in one place, rather than requiring a separate search on general trade-specific sites.
Provincial signposts
Canada's job market varies significantly by province, from resource and trades demand in Alberta and Saskatchewan, to manufacturing and professional services concentrated in Ontario and Quebec, to a mix of tourism, trades, and public sector roles across Atlantic Canada and British Columbia. WomenAtWork.ca is structured to let you narrow your search to the province where you are located or where you are willing to relocate, rather than sorting through a national feed of roles that do not apply to your region.
Employers benefit from this structure too: a posting tagged to a specific province reaches candidates who have already indicated interest in that region, cutting down on out-of-market applications that do not lead anywhere.
The Employment Equity Act and Canadian hiring context
The Employment Equity Act is a federal law that applies to federally regulated private-sector employers and to the federal public service. It requires covered employers to identify and remove barriers in employment practices affecting designated groups, which includes women, and to implement positive policies and practices to improve representation over time.
This is background context, not legal advice. If you are an employer trying to understand your specific obligations under the Act, or a job seeker curious about how it might apply to a company you are considering, the right next step is a conversation with your own legal or HR advisor, or a review of the current guidance from the federal government. What WomenAtWork.ca offers is a hiring channel that fits naturally into this broader landscape: a place where employers building toward equity goals and women pursuing career opportunities can find each other directly.
How to get started on WomenAtWork.ca
Getting started looks different depending on which side of the market you are on.
If you are hiring
Review your options and post a role directly through WomenAtWork.ca for employers. Write your posting with the specifics that matter to candidates: location, flexibility, whether the role fits a return-to-work candidate, and what makes your workplace a place where women want to build a career.
If you are job hunting
Create a profile, upload your resume, and set up search alerts for the role types and provinces that match your goals at WomenAtWork.ca for job seekers. Check back regularly, since new postings from federally regulated employers, return-to-work programs, and trades and STEM employers are added on an ongoing basis.
FAQ
Is WomenAtWork.ca only for certain industries?
No. Postings span office and professional roles, skilled trades, technology and engineering, federally regulated sectors, and return-to-work programs. The common thread is that employers are specifically looking to reach women candidates.
Do I need experience to use the return-to-work listings?
Most return-to-work postings are aimed at candidates with prior experience who have taken time away from paid work, whether for parental leave, caregiving, or another reason. Read each posting for its specific requirements, since employers vary in how much of a gap they expect to bridge with onboarding support.
Can employers outside federally regulated sectors post on WomenAtWork.ca?
Yes. Federally regulated employers are one part of the audience, but provincially regulated employers of any size, in any province, can post roles as well.
Does WomenAtWork.ca provide legal advice about the Employment Equity Act?
No. The platform is a hiring channel, not a legal advisory service. Employers with specific compliance questions should speak with their own legal or HR counsel.
How do I search by province on WomenAtWork.ca?
Use the province filter when searching listings, or look for the provincial hub pages linked from the main search page to narrow results to a specific region.
Is there a cost to post a job as an employer?
Pricing details are available directly on the employer page. Visit WomenAtWork.ca for employers to review current options before posting.
Ready to connect
Whether you are hiring or job hunting, WomenAtWork.ca serves both sides of the market. Employers can review pricing and post a role at https://womenatwork.ca/employers. Job seekers can browse openings and create a profile at https://womenatwork.ca/job-seekers.