Canadian women have increased their share of all jobs to 46.2 percent in 2001 compared to under 44 percent at the end of the 80s. Some of these gains reflect the effects of a recession in the early 90s when men accounted for 95 percent of the laid-off workers, but women continued to make gains even when the economy recovered and their male counterparts went back to work. Job growth for women occured in a broad range of occupations, including the blue-collar jobs typically held by men.
See "It's true: Women are gaining ground in every job category", Bruce Little, The Globe and Mail, March 3, 2002