The Gap Is Growing: Closing the Gender Gap in Tech and Marketing

Recorded live at SocialWest 2026 in Calgary, Jessica Lortie, Head of Marketing at Toast, joins host Lindsay Smith to dig into one of the most persistent and underreported gaps in the Canadian tech and marketing industries.

Toast is a tech HR firm dedicated to closing gender gaps in the sector, working with organizations to diversify their hiring pipelines and running a community platform that gives women in tech the belonging, sponsorship, and psychological safety that workplaces often fail to provide.

Jessica shares the data behind a pay gap that tripled between 2016 and 2024, why masculine-coded job titles are quietly filtering women out before they even apply, how Toast's Champions Program is training men to advocate for women in the workplace, and why community might be the most underrated career acceleration tool available to women in tech right now.

The gap is real. The data is clear. And the playbook for closing it is already being written.

What is Marketing News Canada?

Marketing News Canada spotlights the people, ideas, and innovations redefining Canadian marketing. Produced by SocialNext, Canada’s largest independent marketing conference series, we bring you candid conversations with marketers, founders, creators, and industry leaders shaping the future of the industry.

Recorded live at SocialNext events and through in-depth interviews from coast to coast, each episode dives into the ideas, bold campaigns, and community-driven strategies defining the Canadian marketing landscape. If you care about Canadian creativity, innovation, and the people behind the work, you’re in the right place.

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