P ART O NE

The Centres of Excellence have a federal mandate to investigate aspects of women’s health and healthy living, and to advise on policy and programming, on all levels, that can lead to improvements in the health of women and girls. [...] Part One provides background to the overall study, including a brief description of the status of women in Canada and a critical analysis of the discourse of healthy living through the lens of SGBA. [...] In our demographic profile of women in Canada we illustrate the diversity of the population and explore various aspects of women’s lives including their engagement in the political and economic spheres, both of which are important to understanding women’s ability to participate fully in society. [...] While many of the strategies note the importance of factoring in the determinants of health – which include sex and gender – most do not make provisions to address sex and gender as determinants of health, in the measurement of and reporting on progress, or in the formulation of policies and programs. [...] Although the largest proportion of Aboriginal females lives in the three Territories, the Prairie Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) have the greatest proportions of Aboriginal females in their populations south of the territories; the greatest number of Aboriginal women and girls lives in Ontario.