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Gender Equity
Gender equity in cycling is a growing concern not just in Ontario and Canada, but globally. Statistics from United Nations indicate a significant underrepresentation of women cyclists worldwide, with three to four times more men cycling on roads. (Addressing the Gender Gap in Cycling).
In Ontario, the able-bodied cyclists demographic split between self-identified males and females, is 70-30 – with many of our sports seeing less women every year wanting to participate in organized events. Representation of gender queer folks in cycling is even more stark, with little to no data on riders cycling frequency or participation outside of gender binary (female and male). Further, Transgender cyclists, specifically trans women, face exclusionary and harmfully invasive policies to their participation in cycling events governed by the world cycling body (UCI). Despite these wide-reaching exclusionary policies, there is little to no research or data on gender diverse folks’ participation or experience in cycling to date (Hardwicke, et. al., 2024).
Ontario Cycling takes gender equity seriously and has been working to create community connections. Some of these connections include
Expanding our annual women’s week to a monthly showcase of cyclist across all disciplines, ages and skills
Sharing and promoting clubs who feature rides for anyone who identifies as female.
Collaborating with community members on creating resources and guidelines for clubs to create inclusive activities and events.
We cannot solve this on our own, so we have created a Gender Equity Advisory Committee which consists of staff, community leaders, volunteers, coaches and cyclists, to work on initiatives to help promote cycling in our communities.
For more information, please visit our Women & Girls in Cycling page.
Gender Equity Resources:
LGBTQI2S
