Justin Trudeau promised gender parity in his cabinet and he delivered.

Exactly half of the 30 cabinet ministers named Wednesday are women, in what is the first cabinet in Canadian history with equal numbers of men and women.

Many people hoping this is just the beginning of a real change towards gender equality.

Dr. Chitra Chopra of the Montreal Women's Council said it's an important first step, and will set a tone for institutions across the country.

"Other governments need to do the same thing. Public institutions need to do the same thing and private businesses need to do the same thing so that we can, in fact, translate the fact that we have so many women in universities getting higher education, so that they can be translated into having pay equity in having a similar opportunity," she said.

Chopra said gender parity will create openness and accessibility in the federal government.

Law student and former coordinator of "women in the house,"

Law student Lana Belber is cautiously optimistic. Belber is the former coordinator of Women in the House, a program that allows McGill students shadow female politicians on Parliament Hill.

“It's not just getting someone in a seat and in a title it's what the title truly means and what it allows them and enables them to do,” said Belber, adding that a lot more still needs to be done to encourage women to enter politics in the first place.

“Women still make up 26 per cent of the seats in parliament right now and 27 per cent of Liberal caucus in particular -- and that's  not good enough,” she said.

While political science student Alexandra Harvey applauds Trudeau's 50-50 cabinet, she said she has some concerns about how the so-called quota may be perceived.

“I think it's understandable that maybe people will question whether or not they were selected for their gender or for their merit and I think that debate is just ridiculous in itself,” she said. “If you just look at all the accomplishments of these women it's pretty clear that they deserve to be there.”

 

Trudeau's succinct explanation of why he created a cabinet with equal numbers of men and women, "Because it's 2015," generated international attention.

The cabinet includes three women from Quebec: Marie-Claude Bibeau, Melanie Joly, and Diane Lebouthillier.