2025 Women’s Forum

The Let’s Talk Veterans consultation for the 2025 Women’s Forum was created in response to the report by the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, Invisible No More: The Experiences of Canadian Women Veterans and the guiding principle of "nothing for us, without us." This initiative sought to amplify the voices of women Veterans and women serving in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), ensuring their feedback directly informed the Forum agenda.

Between October 28 and November 20, 2024, we asked women Veterans and women serving in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to share their feedback on the topics and activities they want to see included in the 2025 Women’s Forum.

The consultation focused on:

• Predefined Topics and Activities: Participants were asked to select from a list of topics and activities they felt were most important for the Forum.
• Additional Suggestions: An open-ended question invited participants to share other topics and activities they believed should be included.

This consultation was promoted through a Let’s Talk Veterans invitation email, social media, and stakeholder networks to ensure broad participation and engagement.

We received 499 responses, including Veterans and currently serving CAF and RCMP members . Of the responses, 480 were submitted in English and 19 in French.

Participants prioritized the following topics for the Forum agenda:

• Progress update from Veterans Affairs Canada, CAF, and RCMP;
• Panel discussion led by the Champions of women’s health;
• Overview of women-specific research plans; and
• Women specific peer-support programs.

Open-ended feedback highlighted additional priorities, including women’s health (with a focus on menopause), transition to post-service life, and mental health.

Your feedback is valuable and will guide the development of the 2025 Women’s Forum agenda. We will share the results of this consultation with the Women Veterans Council (The Council). The Council will review the feedback and provide their thoughts to build a Forum agenda that reflects the priorities of women Veterans.

We wish to thank all those who participated for their feedback. Your insights are helping to shape a meaningful and inclusive forum, and we look forward to your participation in future consultations.