Women have been serving in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) for decades, but being “allowed in the room” is not the same as having a room designed for you.
With the Government of Canada committing $81.8 billion in Budget 2025 to increase their investments in defence and the CAF currently aiming to increase women’s representation to 25% across all trades Femtech Canada convened a roundtable to explore a critical frontier: the health of women in uniform.
Moderated by Elyse Banham (Manager, Health Strategy, Deloitte), the panel featured Lieutenant General (Ret.) Lise Bourgon, Dr. Nour Shehata (Section Head for Women and Diversity Health, Directorate of Force Health Protection Department of National Defence), and Andrea Galindo (CEO of Baüne), the conversation focused on how to move from identifying gaps to building systems that work for women in practice.
Progress in women’s health is often framed as a civilian challenge, defined by gaps in clinical data or limited investment in innovation. But when that same lens is applied to one of the most demanding environments, a different picture emerges. The issue is not only what we don’t know, but how existing systems continue to overlook and underdeliver for women, even when the insights are already there.
Beyond gaps: a system not built for women
A central theme of the discussion was that women’s health in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has historically not been a primary consideration in how research is conducted, equipment is designed or care delivered. While Canada was a trailblazer in opening all military roles to women, the infrastructure to support them, from equipment to clinical research, has not evolved at the same pace.
In practice, this shows up in how research is conducted, how equipment is tested, and how solutions are deployed. Women are still not consistently centered in these processes, Lieutenant General (Ret.) Lise Bourgon reflected on this directly “We were not good at doing research centered on women,” pointing to a long-standing pattern of underrepresentation in data and decision-making.
The result is not just a knowledge gap, but a misalignment between healthcare systems and the people they are meant to support.
The reality of women’s health in uniform
Dr. Nour Shehata emphasized that the top three reasons for medical visits among women in the CAF, mental health, chronic pain, and musculoskeletal injuries, mirror those in the civilian population. The tendency to focus narrowly on reproductive health risks missing the broader picture.
“Women have all the same organs as men,” she noted. “We need to ensure every piece of equipment and policy considers the female lens from the planning phase.”
In a military context, these health challenges are intensified by environmental and operational conditions. Limited access to care, heat, and sustained physical strain can turn manageable issues into serious risks.
Dr. Shehata shared a simple but powerful example. Without access to pelvic health support, women may drink less water to help manage symptoms, ultimately increasing their risk of heat-related illness.
This underscores a critical point. Women’s health in defence is not a niche issue. It is directly tied to performance, readiness, and safety.
Innovation is already here but not where it’s needed
Across the discussion, one theme consistently surfaced. This is not an innovation gap. It’s a systemic gap; a gap in how these solutions move through procurement processes, testing environments to become real world solutions.
While solutions exist, they are often slowed by fragmented data, complex procurement processes, and limited opportunities for real-world testing.
From an innovation perspective, Andrea Galindo pointed to a different challenge; not building new technologies but creating the conditions for existing ones to be used. She highlighted the lack of testing environments and long approval timelines, where “by the time you are ready to deploy, sometimes the technology is already obsolete.”
At the same time, a gap remains between those developing solutions and those experiencing problems. As Bourgon noted, “If we don’t know what you’re working on, and you don’t realize what our problems are, then we’re going nowhere.”
Without stronger collaboration between innovators and institutions, progress remains slow, even when the tools already exist.
From gaps to systems and a signal beyond defence
According to the discussion, advancing women’s health in defence is not about a single breakthrough, but about alignment. It requires connecting researchers, innovators, clinicians, and institutions around a shared understanding of the problem, while building capacity through infrastructure, including data, procurement pathways, and testing environments, that allows solutions to move.
The patterns seen within the Canadian Armed Forces reflect broader challenges across women’s health. These include underrepresentation in research, fragmented data, and slow adoption of innovation. In defence, where constraints are more visible, these gaps are harder to ignore and more urgent to address.
The opportunity extends beyond the sector. Solutions designed for extreme, resource-constrained environments have the potential to improve care far more broadly.
Ultimately, the question is no longer whether solutions exist, but whether our systems are ready to evolve fast enough to use them.
At Femtech Canada, we are focused on cross-sector collaboration that can accelerate progress in women’s health. Stay connected for more insights from across the ecosystem.