Projects funded through the Budget 2021 Initiative: Supporting Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ organizations

The Supporting Indigenous Women's and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Organizations program provides contribution funding to Indigenous women's and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations that are working towards making meaningful systemic change in Canada while ensuring the grassroots voices and the priorities of Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQI+ people are at the forefront of all levels of government. 

The program partially responds to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Call for Justice 1.8, which calls upon governments to support national, regional, and local Indigenous women's and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations.

Between 2021 and 2026, the Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs will have provided over $33 million for projects, with over $8 million in ongoing funding set aside to allow stable and longer-term project funding to support Indigenous women's and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations.

In January 2022, the Government of Canada launched a call for proposals, through which 17 projects were selected to receive funding via single and/or multi-year agreements. In December 2022, an additional five 2SLGBTQI+ projects and organizations were selected through a targeted call for proposals. 

Funded projects

Cercle Indigiqueer Circle / First Nations Adult Education School Centre 

Project: Improving 2SLGBTQQIA+ Lives – Supporting the creation of a regional 2SLGBTQQIA+ group 
Funding: $344,700.91
Location: Quebec
Project Description: This project will create a regional Indigenous/Inuit group that undertakes culturally appropriate and sensitive means of addressing the needs of this particular population in various environments (communities and urban areas).

The primary objectives of this project are to provide an opportunity for 20+ 2SLGBTQQIA+ people from different nations living in the region of Quebec to gather and discuss issues of gender and sexual orientation; to undertake the necessary work to create a registered regional 2SLGBTQQIA+ group (organization); and to compile a list of needs and priorities, as well as resources presently available across Canada, among others. 

Wabanaki Two-Spirit Alliance 

Project: Supporting LGBTQ through connection
Funding: $545,100.00
Location: Nova Scotia
Project Description: A project aiming to promote wellness for 2SLGBTQQIA+ in the region by fostering connections between Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations. This project intends to create opportunities for 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals to network, share ideas, compare work, and learn from each other in a way that respects their uniqueness. 

2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations 

Project #1: 2SLGBTQQIA Community Mapping and Needs Assessment
Funding: $114,628.80
Location: Ontario
Project Description: The proposed 2-Spirited mapping program aims to work closely with newly established relations in different new cities of Ontario and conduct a need assessment to identify the community needs, services gaps, and challenges members are facing at the local level due to their spirits, sexual orientation and gender identity which is the spirit of truth and reconciliation.

Project #2: Heart Berry
Funding: $898,298.50
Location: Ontario
Project Description: The Heart Berry project is a capacity building and life enhancement program for 2-Spirited, Queer, non-binary, and Indigenous Women and 2SLGBTQQIA community members in Ontario through resource mobilization and providing culturally supported, land-based programs and services at the community level. 

Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak / Women of the Métis Nation 

Project: Environmental Analysis of Data Needs for 2SLGBTQQIA+ Métis People 
Funding: $75,000.00
Location: National
Project Description: Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak proposes to understand the data needs of Métis 2SLGBTQQIA+ people by initiating an Environmental Analysis of Data Needs for 2SLGBTQQIA+ Métis People. This scan will catalogue existing bodies of knowledge and identify internal and external factors such as demographic identification, politics and policies that impede data collection.