March 8, 2026 marks the 115th International Women\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n
The International Women\u2019s Day Toronto organization held its annual rally and march Saturday. This year\u2019s theme was \u201cRise and Resist: Uniting for a New World.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking at OISE Auditorium, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said it\u2019s important to recognize the work so many women on the front-lines do across the city every single day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to appreciate all the public servants that have delegated their time, their hard work, that served the City of Toronto,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Chow added while Toronto is \u201cleading the way\u201d to close the gender pay gap, more work lies ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s so important that we have equal work for equal value,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s something that we need to continue to push for together.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to its website, International Women\u2019s Day Toronto has held the largest event in North America recognizing the day for over 40 years. The organizing committee works alongside a variety of labour, social and gender justice activists to put on the event.<\/p>\n
Alisha Alam, who attended Saturday with the South Asian Women and Immigrants’ Services, said the \u201cconstant attacks\u201d on women\u2019s rights are \u201cfrustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will resist and we will unite across communities, across issues to ensure that women across Canada, women across the world are able to live their life with dignity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Alam added it\u2019s about time it is recognized that regardless of the kind of work one is in, they should be able to afford a decent living arrangement, childcare and basic life necessities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a feasible system. This is not [a] sustainable system. We need to be working towards strengthening our public safety net,\u201d she said. \u201cEspecially in the midst of a worsening affordability crisis, especially in the midst of growing inequities in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
President of the Toronto Public Library Workers\u2019 Union Local 4948 Brandon Haynes said over 75 per cent of library workers identify as women. This year\u2019s theme is two-fold for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cRising means that we have to celebrate the accomplishments that we have accomplished over the years, but also reflect on the challenges and the work that’s needed going ahead,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m happy to stand here as an ally.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 8, 2026 marks the 115th International Women\u2019s Day. The International Women\u2019s Day Toronto organization held its annual…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,87424,205420,126948,115732,3302],"class_list":["post-522358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-gender-pay-gap","tag-international-womens-day","tag-olivia-chow","tag-south-asian-women","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}