They also encourage greater participation by women and girls in non-traditional disciplines such as mathematics, science and technology. Since 1985, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, part of Canada's Constitution, has guaranteed equal rights to women and men as well as special measures to correct past discrimination on the basis of sex. Discrimination is also prohibited in the human rights acts of the federal government and all 10 provinces. Canada is also committed to several international agreements, especially the 1985 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies. Women are increasingly becoming active in politics at all levels.
Women have extensive representation at the municipal level on city councils and school boards.
The achievement of basic political rights in the early part of this century set the stage for the much larger, more organized women's movement of today. In the 1960s, individual women and women's organizations convinced the federal government to establish the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. The Commission's landmark report, published in 1970, was a blueprint for policy and legislation to ensure equality for Canadian women. There are almost 70 national women's organizations in Canada and thousands of provincial, regional and local women's groups. Looking Ahead Progress has been made.