It has been identified that the magic number seems to be 30% or three. If you look at Fortune 500 companies, there is a dramatic difference in the return on equity and return on sales between companies that have three women on a board and those that do not. It's been recognized that if you truly want to see change within governments, having 30% is an ideal number. We realize that our federal Parliament is at 22%.
I highlighted the World Economic Forum gender gap report, which had said this was where Canada needed to see some improvement. So what we are doing at the agency as part of our plan for women's equality is to work with elected officials at all levels of government and prepare a mentorship program, to prepare opportunities for young women to be paired up with those who are elected in order to increase their political literacy skills, and to provide training programs and such. I believe the project you're talking about right now is the one I announced on International Women's Day with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Chair Pam McConnell, who is a fantastic woman who has great experience, as do all on their women's committee. We're doing some great work with them.
In addition to that, I already highlighted Equal Voice, which has $1.2 million over, I believe, three years to provide them the opportunity to reach out to over 5,000 young women between the ages of 15 and 24 across the country. Of course, this is in the hope that we can see more women elected. I think all of us around the table would agree we would like to see more balance, and I think that would be of benefit to all of us, because then we'll be in those leadership and decision-making roles.