The gendered contradictions of Canadian peacekeeping

United Nations peacekeeping continues to be tied to Canadian identity, albeit in complex and contradictory ways. This research study was motivated by Canada's Elsie Initiative and renewed rhetorical commitments to feminist foreign policy under former prime minister Justin Trudeau. It draws on in-depth interviews with Canadian servicewomen and veterans deployed on UN peacekeeping operations from the 1990s to the early 2020s. Its aim is to understand how peacekeeping continues to be tied to Canadian identity, despite Canada's decline in contributions, and how Canadian women peacekeepers make sense of their roles on missions, including their views on whether their participation improves operational effectiveness. Interview participants described peacekeeping as both meaningful and fraught. Many resisted narratives that position women as solutions to complex mission challenges, noting the burdens of visibility and stereotyping, among others. Contributing to literature on Canadian peacekeeping and its gendered underpinnings, the findings can inform future policy directions.