This blog is the third in a series exploring the five demands of the 2025 Global Days of Action on Tax Justice for Women’s Rights.

By: Erica Shiner, Canadians for Tax Fairness (C4TF)

In Canada and around the world, women bear the brunt of inequitable tax policies. From international tax dodging to loopholes for the wealthy, money funnelled to the rich at the expense of the public purse has a pronounced negative impact on women. Lost tax revenue draws government resources away from public services like education and childcare. Women are left to pick up the slack with free labour.

Without robust paid maternity leave, public childcare, and a well-funded healthcare system, women pay more – with both their time and their labour – because the rich are paying less. Women disproportionately spend more on caring for others; investing in public services like pharmacare and affordable housing is an investment in gender equity.

Yes, these investments cost billions. But the money is there – it’s just going into the wrong hands. When we fix our unfair tax system, we can afford to take care of each other.

Comprehensive progressive taxation is one of the most reliable, fair, and sustainable ways of raising finance to address women’s rights and needs. So how do we do it? There are so many ways to create real tax justice in Canada and internationally.

With overwhelming public support across party lines, a wealth tax on the super-rich is more urgent than ever. Our joint report with the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives clearly outlines how the wealthy pay substantially less in tax than the middle class. A wealth tax on the super-rich would have a profound impact on addressing this.

Canada’s corporate tax rate has been alarmingly low for decades. Our recent report revealed that corporate profits are going to investors instead of back into the economy. The gender divide is clear: the vast majority of wealthy investors benefiting from low corporate tax rates are men. We need to raise the corporate income tax rate.

The profits of large corporations have reached record heights in Canada over the past four years. Our most recent report outlines the case for an excess profits tax as the outsized profits generated over the more acute phase of the pandemic have never come down. We could generate billions towards the social programs people, and especially women, need; it’s long overdue that we create an excess profits tax across all industries.

Canada also must work to advance international coordination on taxation to help stop the international race to the bottom on taxing the wealthy. At the UN, a historic initiative championed by the African Group and G77 countries has begun negotiations for a global tax convention. This initiative would address tax evasion and avoidance of high-net-worth individuals and ensure fair taxation of multinationals. But while Canada has been dragging its feet on domestic progressive tax policy, it has been even more resistant to recent efforts at the UN to introduce equity into our tax systems.

Canada needs to get on board with supporting tax fairness for everyone, from everyday Canadians to all peoples around the world. Tax justice is a key component of gender justice and a crucial pathway to real gender equity for all.