Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is facing criticism for saying too many young people can’t buy affordable homes before their “biological clocks” have run out — a comment he’s made in the past, but one that’s igniting online pushback now as he faces more scrutiny in this election campaign.
The comment has also drawn criticism from the Liberals and NDP, who say that sort of language is outdated and demeaning toward women in particular, given the sensitivities around fertility issues.
Poilievre’s supporters say the outrage is political correctness run amok, and argue he’s highlighting a real concern: Some couples are starting families later or having fewer children than they want because of the high cost of living, a claim backed up by Statistics Canada data.
Poilievre referred to biological clocks during a news conference Monday as he was defending his campaign’s decision to focus on affordability issues such as housing, even as the country stares down U.S. President Donald Trump and the tariffs threat.
Speaking to reporters about what he calls the lost Liberal decade with runaway housing costs, Poilievre said he will stand up for the “36-year-old couple whose biological clock is running out faster than they can afford to buy a home and have kids.”
Poilievre asked if he will make changes to Conservative campaign leadership
It’s a riff on what he said last week at a rally in Stoney Creek, Ont., when he lamented that some millennials are “desperate to buy a home and start a family before the biological clock runs out in your mid-30s.”
In December, Poilievre said he feels for the “39-year-old woman, desperate to have kids but unable to buy a home in which to raise them, her biological clock running out.”
In a pre-campaign interview with academic Jordan Peterson, Poilievre also referred to aging women and their biological clocks, and the issue of housing affordability.
The term “biological clock” and any talk of it “running out” is generally used to refer to a woman’s declining fertility due to a reduction in egg quality and quantity as she grows older.
Liberal candidate Yvan Baker said the Conservative leader is “using a woman’s fertility as a punchline in a political attack,” calling it “outdated and harmful rhetoric.”
Julie Dzerowicz, another Liberal contender, said in a social media post: “Our biological clocks are none of your business.”
Speaking to reporters in Winnipeg at Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s campaign stop Tuesday, candidate Ginette Lavack said Polievre’s comments are “completely unacceptable.”
“These are not comments that should be made by anyone. A person should have the right to choose the timing of when they’ll make those life decisions. It’s not a comment or a conversation to have publicly like that,” Lavack said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was blunt when asked about the remark: “I don’t think any woman wants to hear Pierre Poilievre talking about their body.”
A spokesperson for Poilievre, Katy Merrifield, said the leader was “clearly referencing couples who want to have kids.”
“Anyone trying to twist this into something controversial is ignoring the real challenge young couples who want kids are faced with — holding off because every dollar is going to rent and groceries because of skyrocketing costs incurred after ten years of failed Liberal policies. This isn’t hypothetical. It’s real life — and Pierre is speaking directly to it,” Merrifield said.
The partisan pushback comes as polls show Poilievre does have a problem connecting with women, especially younger ones.
A recent Angus Reid Institute (ARI) poll found Poilievre has the support of just 27 per cent of women respondents ages 18 to 34. That’s less than the 50 per cent who say they’re going for the Liberals.
About 73 per cent of younger women who responded to that poll said they have an unfavourable opinion of the Conservative leader or don’t know enough about him to weigh in.
“The clock and the pressure is on the Conservatives to try and make inroads with women,” said Shachi Kurl, president of ARI.
But some Conservative women say Poilievre is right on the larger issue of fertility and housing: The surge in housing costs over the last decade — home prices have effectively doubled in that time — has made it more difficult to settle down, buy an affordable home and start a family before hitting a certain age.
Kate Harrison, a Conservative strategist, said Poilievre’s comments are being “torqued in a way, largely by men, that is very, very uncomfortable and detached from the reality that a lot of women are facing.”
“If you think that it is misogynistic to say that women and couples deal with the challenges of a biological clock because they cannot afford housing, I would really encourage you to go talk to more millennial women, because this is a reality,” she said in an interview with CBC News.
Statistics Canada has data showing in 2022, 38 per cent of young adults ages 20 to 29 didn’t think they could afford to have a child in the next three years, and 32 per cent did not believe they would have access to suitable housing to start a family in that same period.
“The rising cost of living is forcing some to make major sacrifices,” StatsCan said in its report. “Between disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as high inflation and interest rates, this group has faced disproportionate challenges to their quality of life.”
There’s also some research from Cardus, a religiously focused think-tank, that suggests Canadian women are having fewer children than they really want.
A desire to have more money, wanting to focus on a career, lacking a suitable partner and grappling with housing costs are among the reasons cited by some women for not having more children, Cardus researchers found in the 2023 report on the topic.
Harrison said the Liberals are trying to “tweak this into some faux outrage about abortion or reproductive rights — that is disconnected from reality and the worst kind of divisive politics.”
“Poilievre is giving voice to a very real concern,” she said.
Melanee Thomas, a professor of political science at the University of Calgary who studies gender and politics, said fertility issues are “deeply intimate and deeply personal” for many women, and it’s a risky political game to “safely use them as a talking point.”
“Use the issue of fertility at your peril,” she said in an interview. “For a lot of women, that’s not going to land.”
