Statistics Canada says that, as advances are made in artificial intelligence, automation of job tasks may affect women more than men. And, the COVID-19 pandemic may accelerate the implementation of new technology as firms might look to make production and delivery of goods and services more resilient. A new study says that in 2016, women and men were equally likely to face a high risk of automation-related job transformation at about 11 per cent. However women were more likely than men to face a moderate to high risk. Stats Canada says the gap may indicate than men and women perform different tasks that are not taken into account in the data.

Previous research has shown that women were more likely than men in the same occupation to report performing repetitive tasks, and this could put them at greater risk of automation-related job transformation.

In terms of age, 33.9 per cent of men aged 55 or older faced a moderate to high risk while their female counterparts saw that percentage rocket to 58.6 per cent.

Women who reported having a disability, who were not in a union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement, or who worked in a firm with 10 or fewer employees, were also more likely than their male counterparts to face a moderate to high risk of automation-related job transformation.