TODAY: Toronto’s 2025 International Women’s Day March and Rally will draw crowds in Toronto, raising voices and galvanizing resistance in a time of uncertainty

/EIN News/ -- TORONTO, March 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Saturday, March 8 is International Women’s Day and, for the 47th year, Toronto’s International Women’s Day March and Rally will bring crowds to the streets of Toronto, as supporters raise their voices for gender equality and social justice. (The United Steelworkers union is a participating organization.)

“This year’s rally theme is ‘Fighting for Our Lives. Building Our Resistance’ because, with the multiple crises facing us right now, it is essential that we all come together to build solidarity,” said rally organizer Ana Liu.

Starting at 11 a.m. (ET), the annual rally will highlight both domestic and international issues, including the cost of living crisis, the rise of the right, and the struggles against colonialism facing Indigenous, Sudanese and Palestinian peoples. The rally will feature a line-up of powerhouse speakers, including:

• Judy Rebick, renowned writer, journalist, abortion activist and member of Independent Jewish Voices
• US labour and human rights activist Virginia Rodino
• Dr. Catherine Brooks, Anishnawbe Kwe Elder
• Nicole Brennan, worker at the Ford Oakville Assembly Plant
• Narbot Alinia, a migrant worker facing deportation
  

“Trump is trying to turn back on all the rights that I have spent my life fighting for,” said rally speaker Judy Rebick.

Special recognition at the rally will be paid to groundbreaking Indigenous Elder and activist Ursala Jacko, who was active in early IWD Toronto organizing and fought against coerced sterilization of Indigenous women.

Organized by a diverse coalition of community groups, students and trade unions, and sponsored by Women Working with Immigrant Women, the event normally brings together thousands of women, men, non-binary, and gender-diverse people to march for equality and justice. Toronto is the only city in North America to have an annual IWD rally every year since 1978.

When: Saturday, March 7, 2025, 11 a.m. rally | 1 p.m. march (Eastern)
Where: OISE/University of Toronto, 252 Bloor St. W. The march travels from OISE east along Bloor St. W., and south on Yonge St. to Gerrard St, west to Bay St. and south to Toronto City Hall/Nathan Phillips Square (100 Queen St. W).

For more information on the International Women’s Day 2025 event visit iwdtoronto.ca.

To connect with organizers or one of our rally speakers, contact:
Carolyn Ferns, 647-218-1275, carolyn@childcareontario.org