“I wouldn’t describe our foreign policy as feminist foreign policy,” declared Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the 2025 G20 Summit in Johannesburg. His statement marked a sharp departure from his predecessor’s emphasis on Canada’s commitment to progressive and gender-inclusive policymaking. 

Immediately after this death knell announcement, Carney attempted to reaffirm that Canada remains committed to many of the same gender-conscious policies established under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ‘feminist foreign policy’. While some of us may hope that this turn of phrase is merely superficial, it nevertheless invites us to take stock of the gender-inclusive policies that Canada has cultivated over the past decade, and what the likelihood is of continuing on a ‘feminist’ path that the government is now unwilling to name as such.

A Decade of Gender-Inclusive Policy

Feminist foreign policy in Canada is linked to the 2017 release of the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), updated in 2021, to advance gender equality and empower women and girls through international assistance programs. The FIAP addresses issues including poverty reduction, inclusive growth, governance, climate action, and peace and security. However, the FIAP is not the only source of gender-sensitive foreign policy. In tandem with other countries that championed the United Nations Women, Peace, and Security Agenda (WPS), Canada implemented a series of WPS national action plans, starting in 2011, along with other initiatives aimed at promoting gender sensitivity and feminist values across its foreign policy. Such initiatives include gender chapters in trade agreements, statements in the 2019 (Strong, Secure, and Engaged) and 2024 (Our North, Strong, and Free) defence policies, the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations, and the 2019 appointment of a WPS ambassador. Taken together, these initiatives show Canada’s foreign policy institutions’ wide-ranging outward commitment to promote gender equality and feminist values.

Despite this breadth, these policies often blur the line between gender equality and women’s empowerment (thus ignoring issues of gender equity), neglect intersectional forms of discrimination (such as race, age, disability, sexuality, and class), and support a neoliberal........

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