Progress Report 2021-2022

Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence

Introduction

Launched in June 2017, It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence (the Federal GBV Strategy) takes a whole-of-government approach to addressing GBV and improving health, social, and justice outcomes for victims and survivors. 

The Federal GBV Strategy is divided into three pillars: Preventing GBV, Supporting Victims, Survivors and their Families, and Promoting a Responsive Justice System. Some of the actions funded under or contributing to the goals of the Federal GBV Strategy involve changing social norms, attitudes, and behaviours that contribute to GBV, which can take decades. Other actions support health, social services, and the justice system for people who have experienced GBV. Still other actions support evidence-based policies, programs, and initiatives that reflect the unique experiences and needs of diverse groups.

This report provides an overview of the federal government’s initiatives in 2021-2022 to prevent and address GBV in Canada, particularly during the pandemic context. It also underscores how the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented challenges for people experiencing GBV and the organizations that provide vital supports and services to them.

The Government of Canada has invested a total of $806 million (from 2017-2018 to 2025-2026) and $44 million per year ongoing in the Federal GBV Strategy. This includes some COVID-19 emergency funding to provide urgent support to shelters, sexual assault centres, and organizations that offer vital support to individuals experiencing GBV.

The Government of Canada owes it to the population of Canada to continue work exploring innovative and evidence-based actions to prevent and address GBV. The Government must draw on the lessons learned during the pandemic to bridge gaps and provide services that meet the needs and experiences of all individuals and communities. And the Government must continue to listen to, and respond to the needs of victims, survivors, their families; and the organizations that serve them.

Most of all, there is a need to create a Canada where everyone is safe from GBV.

2021-2022: Year in Review and Key Achievements

During the pandemic, job losses, financial stresses, and self-isolation created conditions for an increase in gender-based violence. Budget 2021 contained targeted investments of $601.3 million over five years under the Federal GBV Strategy to address the rise in gender-based violence, while supporting the advancement towards a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence. 

Over the course of the fiscal year, Federal GBV Strategy partners have made progress in a variety of important areas, including new and ongoing activities to:

• Deliver GBV supports to diverse populations including survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence, 2SLGBTQI+ individuals, immigrants and refugees, Indigenous youth, women, and current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
• Support GBV organizations and crisis hotlines to enhance their capacity and responsiveness given increased demand during the pandemic.  
• Boost the capacity of Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ organizations to provide gender-based violence prevention programming aimed at addressing the root causes of violence.
• Fund research projects that inform and support the development and implementation of promising practices, and address gaps in supports for victims and survivors, and their families.
• Develop, implement and test training, toolkits, and other resources for service providers, law enforcement, teachers, doctors, social workers, coaches and others so that they can recognize and respond safely and effectively to the GBV experienced by the people they serve.
• Collect and report on data and improve data methodologies to give civil society organizations working in the GBV sector current information to support evidence-based decision making and enable the planning and implementation of countless initiatives.
• Establish a dedicated GBV Secretariat to coordinate the ongoing work and engagement towards the development and implementation of the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
• Consult with Indigenous partners and apply Indigenous-led approaches to develop and implement culturally appropriate, trauma-informed supports and services to prevent and address GBV among Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people.
• Launch awareness-raising campaigns, knowledge-sharing tools, events and other dissemination activities to raise awareness among a variety of demographic groups about GBV.
• Adapt existing training, toolkits and other resources to innovative digital forms of program delivery to reach more people across the country.

Knowledge Mobilization

The GBV Knowledge Centre reaches GBV victims and survivors, researchers, advocates, federal, provincial, and territorial government organizations and offers service providers evidence-based information to inform decision-making and activities to prevent and address GBV.

The GBV Knowledge Centre collaborated with various Federal GBV Strategy partners and external organizations on a variety of initiatives over the reporting period.  The Centre organized numerous events in 2021-2022 to share knowledge and awareness about GBV, including research, statistics, and resources to help develop or enhance policies and programs to prevent and address GBV. The GBV Knowledge Centre presented two types of events:

• Webinars shared knowledge with a wide audience to prevent and address GBV in Canada. Participants included federal and provincial/territorial government representatives, civil society organizations, academics, and more.
• Knowledge sharing sessions disseminated information and facilitated discussion among federal public servants.

In total, the GBV Knowledge Centre events reached participants from a variety of sectors, including federal and provincial/territorial governments, academic institutions, Indigenous organizations, civil society organizations, and other experts in the GBV sector.

The Centre collaborated with Federal GBV Strategy partners to develop and update GBV web products. As a result, new and updated web products were added to the website in 2021-2022. Between April 2021 and March 2022, the GBV Knowledge Centre had a 30% increase in unique page visits over the previous year.  This continues the upward trend that started in 2019-2020.

GBV Research and Data Collection

Budget 2021 provided $11 million over five years, starting in 2021-2022, to Women and Gender Equality Canada for GBV research and knowledge mobilization. This funding aims to support community research models and work with Statistics Canada to develop a comprehensive national picture of the state of gender-related homicides (femicides) in Canada through a thorough review and analysis of multiple sources of data. It will also help to enhance the sample size of the national GBV surveys.

In 2021-2022, Women and Gender Equality Canada invested $3.01 million of the $11 million to fund research related to GBV and access to justice in Canada. This resulted in reports on priority research areas, including harassment and discrimination in post-secondary institutions, harassment and discrimination in the workplace, intimate partner violence, and best practices for service providers in the GBV sector. Some of this research was conducted and published by Statistics Canada, including:  

• A national-level overview and profiles on intimate partner violence experiences of First Nations, Métis and Inuit women, sexual minority women, women with disabilities, young women, visible minority women, and sexual minority men;
• A study and an infographic on harassment and discrimination among faculty and researchers in Canada’s post-secondary institutions.
• The results of the Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work as well as an infographic depicting the experiences of workers living in Canada, including sexualized behaviours, sexual assault and gender-based discrimination.

During the reporting period, Statistics Canada also published articles about criminal victimization, spousal violence, as well as an article and an infographic on homicides in Canada; a profile of family law cases that were active in the Canadian civil courts in 2019-2020; an infographic on violence experienced by people with a mental health-related disability; and, an infographic on childhood maltreatment and the link with victimization in adulthood.

The data collected and analysed by Statistics Canada provides the different orders of government, civil society organizations working in the GBV sector and others with crucial, up-to-date information to inform policies, programs and services to prevent GBV and to support victims, survivors and their families.

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada funded innovative Indigenous-led approaches to improve data methodologies specific to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people through the Indigenous-Led Data Research Projects Program. In total, 19 data research projects led by Indigenous people were approved as part of the 2021-2022 call for proposals. Successful projects will develop qualitative distinctions or identity-based indicators, address existing methodological gaps for groups who are underserviced or underrepresented in data, or define safety through Indigenous ways of understanding.

During 2021-22, Veterans Affairs Canada worked with the University of Manitoba to investigate the prevalence of military sexual trauma in men and women service members and Veterans.

Pillar 1: Preventing GBV

It takes sustained and persistent action to transform the attitudes, behaviours, and systems that fuel GBV. A significant portion of the work to prevent GBV aims to address the root causes and risk factors of this complex societal problem. Supporting research, outreach, education, and other relevant activities are essential efforts that help lay the foundation for preventing GBV across a range of settings such as homes, workplaces and schools.

Due to the ongoing aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, activities during this reporting period continued to emphasize innovative and effective tools and approaches for preventing GBV because in-person services remained difficult to access in many regions across the country.

Preventing GBV Against and Among Young People

The Public Health Agency of Canada supported 22 projects through its Promoting Healthy Relationships and Preventing Dating Violence Amongst Teens/Youth funding stream of the Preventing Gender-Based Violence: The Health Perspective Investment. These community-based intervention research projects aimed to implement and evaluate trauma-informed programming that promotes healthy relationship skills, relationship-violence literacy, and educate youth on the underlying factors contributing to GBV. These projects were implemented in more than 69 sites and served diverse populations including 2SLGBTQI+ individuals, immigrants, and Indigenous youth.

The interim results from these projects suggest that participants improved their ability to identify healthy/unhealthy relationships and strengthened their communication skills. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these projects were adapted to innovative and increasingly digital forms of program delivery, contributing to an emerging body of literature on the efficacy of virtual programming.

The Agency continued to support the PREVNet Community of Practice based at Queen's University. In 2021-2022, PREVNet hosted 14 Strengthening Connections meetings, three "Share and Learn" calls, and eight webinars. PREVNet also provided individual support to project leads, created resources, and conducted an annual survey on members’ needs. Participants reported that being part of the Community of Practice helped them with knowledge-sharing and problem-solving with others in their field of violence prevention, leading to better services, increased capacity, and feeling connected to a broader network.

The Public Health Agency of Canada also supported the Centre for Global Education to initiate the creation of Pride Guide 2022: Youth Strategies for Tackling Gender-Based Violence in Our Schools. The Guide shares strategies to address GBV in schools and highlights the challenges that 2SLGBTQI+ youth in Canada face, including the impact of COVID-19. It also explores the importance of supportive teachers and staff to 2SLGBTQI+ students, and provides advice for educators on using inclusive language and how to support 2SLGBTQI+ students. As part of project activities in 2021-2022, the Centre for Global Education recruited 2SLGBTQI+ youth from across Canada to take part in a Youth Advisory Council and Participatory National Communities, to support the development of the Guide, which will extend into 2022-2023.

Public Safety Canada and Women and Gender Equality Canada continued to support White Ribbon, the world’s largest movement of men and boys working to end violence against women and girls, by promoting gender equity, healthy relationships and a new vision of masculinity.  The project entitled Preventing Online Sexual Exploitation Together:  Responding to the Critical Need, includes the development of resource materials and the delivery of workshop presentations in schools to educate youth about the dangers of online child sexual exploitation.  The project also includes the development of culturally relevant resource and workshop material for Indigenous and Black communities.

Preventing GBV at Post-Secondary Institutions

Over the past few years, an important discussion about GBV at post-secondary institutions has emerged. While it is largely underreported, GBV is common at post-secondary institutions across Canada, and is disproportionately affecting young women:

• Eleven percent of women students were sexually assaulted in a post-secondary setting in 2019, compared with 4% of men students.^{Footnote 2} 
• Seventy-one percent of students at Canadian post-secondary schools witnessed or experienced unwanted sexualized behaviours in a post-secondary setting in 2019.^{Footnote 3} 
• Eighteen percent of bisexual women experienced sexual assault and 53% of women students with a disability experienced unwanted sexualized behaviour in a post-secondary context in 2019.^{Footnote 4}

With Budget 2018 funding, Women and Gender Equality Canada, through its Women’s Program supported the development of comprehensive and sustainable approaches to prevent and address GBV at post-secondary institutions across Canada, provided sector support at the national level, and strengthened and built upon existing initiatives to address GBV at these settings. This includes funding to Possibility Seeds, a social change consultancy engaged to work with key civil society organizations to develop recommendations through two projects. The first project started in 2019-2020 and ended in 2021-2022, while the second project began in 2021-2022 and builds upon the activities of the first.  

Key outcomes in 2021-2022 included the launch of the Courage to Act Knowledge Centre, which provides free toolkits that were developed collaboratively by over 150 national experts, including student leaders, GBV victims and survivors, frontline workers, legal experts, union leaders, and post-secondary educators, staff and administrators. In addition, the National Skillshare Series was held virtually from January to August 2021 and featured 10 Communities of Practice sharing their respective GBV tools and toolkits, with topics such as Support and Response, Education, and Complaints Process.

Preventing and Addressing Maltreatment in Sport

2021-2022 was the third year of a Budget 2019 investment over five years to enable federally-funded sport organizations to promote accessible, ethical, equitable, safe, and inclusive sport. Sport Canada funded over 90 national-level sport organizations in order to meet several requirements to make sport safer and more inclusive, including: providing access to an independent third-party complaint mechanism; providing mandatory training on harassment, abuse, and discrimination to its members at the national level, including coaches, athletes, board members, corporate staff, and officials; and, strengthening internal policies and processes to align with the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport. This Code provides the Canadian sport community with a foundational and significant tool for preventing and effectively responding to maltreatment in sport, including GBV.

Sport Canada also supported the Coaching Association of Canada to establish and lead the Mandated Safe Sport Training Task Force, comprised of athletes, leaders from the national sport community, provincial/territorial coaching representatives, victims and survivors of maltreatment, and subject-matter experts in child protection. The Task Force provided expert advice on the development and delivery of minimum standards for mandatory safe sport training activities that effectively contribute to addressing and preventing maltreatment within the national sport system.

In March 2022, the Minister of Sport hosted an emergency safe sport roundtable with Canadian sport leaders and athlete representatives to address the safe sport crisis in Canada.

Offering Prevention Services for Individuals At Risk of Offending

In 2021-2022, Public Safety Canada continued to support the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health with the second phase of the Talking for Change program, which provides anonymous help (accessible via phone, chat, or email) for individuals concerned about their sexual attraction to children or who are worried about engaging in online or offline offending involving a child. Through the provision of anonymous and non-anonymous services  to youth and adults at risk of online or offline sexual offences involving children, this program helps create safer environments for Canadian children.

Preventing GBV Against Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ People

The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and the Metis Perspectives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and LGBTQ2S+ People highlighted a national crisis of GBV experienced by Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people, which was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  In response to the Final Report of the National Inquiry, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan and Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People, were launched in June 2021. The National Action Plan is evergreen, recognizing the urgency for immediate action, but also the importance of continuing to cultivate transformative change over time.

Budget 2021 included $55 million over five years, starting in 2021-2022, for Women and Gender Equality Canada to bolster the capacity of Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations to provide GBV prevention programming. The Department launched a call for proposals, which closed in March 2022. Some approved projects began in 2021-2022. Others will begin in 2022-2023.

Budget 2021 also provided $36.3 million over five years to Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, beginning in 2021-2022, and $8.6 million ongoing, to support Indigenous women’s and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations. The Department launched a call for proposals to increase the ability of organizations to engage at the grassroots level and collaborate with all orders of government in Canada, and to contribute their voices and perspectives in the development of policy, programs, and legislation. Approved projects will begin in 2022-2023.

During 2021-22, Natural Resources Canada provided training to approximately 5,000 public servants as part of their Circle of Nations training and learning program. The Circle of Nations aims to help Natural Resources Canada employees gain the knowledge, skills, and cultural competencies needed to meaningfully advance reconciliation, including bearing witness to Indigenous women’s and 2SLGBTQI+ individuals’ experiences.  Programming delivered in 2021-22 included events focused on Indigenous women's experiences, such as two roundtable sessions on International Women's Day and a female Indigenous author sharing her experiences in mining during Mining Week. In addition, on the International Day for Women in Mining, a panel of Indigenous women who have worked in the mining sector in Canada and around the world also shared their experiences.

Preventing Family Violence

Family violence is highly gendered in Canada. In 2019, 79% of individuals who reported experiences of intimate partner violence to the police were women. There were 20,682 family cases active in the civil courts, with at least one application for a family civil protection order. In 2% of these cases, issues relating to the safety of a child were also present. Police-reported rates of family violence against children aged 17 years and younger show that the rate was considerably higher for girls (383 per 100,000 population) than for boys (242 per 100,000 population). The rate of sexual abuse perpetrated by a family member against girls was nearly five times higher than for boys (170 versus 37 per 100,000 population, respectively), while rates of family-perpetrated physical assaults were similar for girls and boys (167 versus 171).^{Footnote 5}

Adverse childhood experiences, including physical and sexual abuse, harsh parenting, and witnessing violence at home, can significantly increase the likelihood of experiencing violence in adulthood. Women who experienced childhood abuse are four times more likely to be victimized as adults than those who do not (compared to twice as likely for men).^{Footnote 6}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Public Health Agency of Canada worked to fund new projects through Preventing and Addressing Family Violence: The Health Perspective, which aimed to deliver and test health programs that prevent family violence and improve health outcomes for survivors of family violence, such as child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse. Following an open call for proposals, the Agency recommended supporting 21 new projects. The Agency also engaged with relevant civil society organizations to design targeted solicitations related to 2SLGBTQI+ populations, mistreatment of older adults, and capacity-building related to child maltreatment and child welfare.

In addition, the Public Health Agency of Canada supported three child maltreatment prevention programs through Preventing Gender-Based Violence: The Health Perspective. The three programs supported by this funding deliver and test innovative parenting support programs that promote healthy family relationships and aim to prevent child maltreatment. Collectively, they have reached 847 participants, including parents, children, and childcare providers, and produced 89 new knowledge tools and 70 knowledge events, such as webinars, conference presentations, and workshops. For example, with the Agency’s support, Le Centre d’Expertise Marie-Vincent was able to deliver Programme Lanterne, a sexual violence prevention program for children aged 0-5,  in a virtual format, which is vital to reaching more professionals.

Preventing GBV in the Military

Every year, the Department of National Defence’s Military Family Services runs the Healthy Relationships campaign, an education and prevention initiative for military members and their families. In 2021-2022, the campaign had a social media reach of over 87,000 with over 110,000 impressions, providing resources and tips to those who may be facing challenges and sharing inspiring stories of military families who have overcome similar difficulties.

Other Department of National Defence actions to support the Defence community, including victims/survivors of sexual misconduct, are outlined below under the Pillar 2 and Pillar 3 sections. 

Preventing Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace

As highlighted in a Statistics Canada study published in August 2021, 34% of women reported experiencing at least one type of harassment in their post-secondary institution (compared to 22% of men). It also found that persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples and sexual minority persons face a higher risk of harassment.^{Footnote 7}

Since 2019, the Government of Canada has invested $3.5 million annually in projects that help create safer workplaces for federally regulated employees. Through the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Fund, Employment and Social Development Canada has funded partner organizations to co-develop sector-specific tools and resources that address these workplace issues. These projects will help workplaces comply with the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations and legislation, in force since January 2021, to protect employees from harassment and violence in federally regulated workplaces.

Preventing Bullying and Cyberbullying

During the reporting period, Public Safety Canada continued activities under the Cyberbullying Awareness Campaign through monthly social media content and held the Online Dangers virtual panel for caregivers that addressed cyberbullying and online child sexual exploitation.

The Department also continued to support projects to prevent bullying and cyberbullying, including:

• An anti-violence project in Saskatoon, which aims to prevent violence amongst youth, including dating violence, bullying, and cyberbullying, through a wrap-around case management model that offers public awareness, group therapy, targeted outreach, individual counselling, and coordinated family support.
• An anti-cyberviolence project in Halifax, which provides customized and direct anti-cyberviolence interventions to youth, offers supports to schools and communities and builds alternative and health-promoting online spaces that are youth-driven, and helps inform policies and priorities to help address cyberviolence on an ongoing basis.

The projects in Saskatoon and Halifax are being evaluated to assess what works in preventing and addressing bullying and cyberbullying.

The Department supported three Strengthening Community Readiness grant projects, including a peer prevention initiative in Montreal and an awareness project in Prince Edward Island aimed at raising awareness about sexualized cyberviolence and cyberbullying, as well as a bullying prevention project in western Ontario.

In 2021-2022, Canadian Heritage’s Digital Citizen Contribution Program funded several projects to better understand how disinformation is created and spread, as well as activities to build people’s capacity to think critically about what they consume online. One project funded under this initiative is being carried out by the organization Les 3 sex*, and aims to better define sextortion, mitigate its negative consequences, and promote an online culture of consent for Canadians, more specifically women and sexually and gender-diverse individuals.

Preventing and Addressing Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, or harbouring individuals for the purpose of exploitation, often for sexual exploitation or forced labour. It is a multifaceted and pervasive crime that predominantly affects women and girls. Human traffickers take advantage of vulnerabilities caused by factors such as poverty, sexism, racism, wage inequality, and a lack of education, social supports, and employment opportunities.

The National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking 2019-2024 is the Government of Canada’s main framework to address human trafficking and is complementary to the federal government’s efforts under the Federal GBV Strategy. Led by Public Safety Canada, it provides funding for anti-trafficking initiatives to the Canada Border Services Agency, Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and Women and Gender Equality Canada.

Consult the National Strategy To Combat Human Trafficking 2019-2024 for more information. To access the report for 2020-21 visit the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking: Annual Report 2020-2021. The 2022-23 report on the progress of Canada’s National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking is under development.

Pillar 2: Supporting Victims, Survivors and Their Families

Federal GBV Strategy partners are working with a range of groups, including civil society organizations from the GBV sector, to support victims and survivors of GBV, and their families. They use trauma and violence informed approaches that focus on the victims and survivors. 

As the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to reverberate during 2021-2022, the need to stay focused on developing more responsive policies and ensuring programs are accessible to victims, survivors and people at risk of GBV remained.

Funding Civil Society Organizations Working in the GBV Sector

In 2021-2022, Women and Gender Equality Canada’s GBV Program invested $85 million in over 135 projects. This includes over 60 projects that aim to develop and test promising practices aiming to support victims/survivors of GBV and their families. Close to 45% of these projects serve Indigenous people, and almost half address multiple forms of GBV, such as intimate partner violence and sexual violence. An additional 72 projects were approved in 2021-2022, most of which focused on GBV prevention. Over one-third of these projects included engagement of men and boys to address harmful gender norms and advance gender equality.

In 2021-2022, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada launched the Cultural Spaces in Indigenous Communities Program, which provides funding to support Indigenous communities in re-establishing and revitalizing cultural spaces. Through the Cultural Spaces in Indigenous Communities Program, the Government of Canada has supported construction and revitalization projects including, but not limited to long houses, women’s lodges, powwow grounds, heritage parks, cultural centres, and facilities to support cultural ceremonies and teachings.

As part of the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People, this contribution program invests in spaces for cultural activities that prioritize the voices of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ individuals, to promote Indigenous cultures and identities to foster safe and secure communities for Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people; and to support Indigenous communities in advancing self-determination, from the perspective of addressing the root causes of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ individuals. The 2021 call for proposals received an enthusiastic response with more than 340 proposals received. Early investments into 13 Indigenous-led projects were made and $8,350,588 disbursed in 2021-2022.

Indigenous Services Canada continued to fund the provision of trauma-informed mental wellness services to survivors, family members, and others affected by the ongoing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. These services include access to cultural supports (i.e., Elders, Knowledge Holders, and Traditional Healers); emotional supports (i.e., community-based health workers, and trained peer supports); mental health counselling services (i.e., psychologists, and social workers); and, assistance with the cost of transportation to access certain services. Services are available to eligible individuals regardless of Indigenous status or place of residence.

During the reporting period, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada also launched the Support for the Wellbeing of Families and Survivors of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People Contribution Program. Through this program, 19 Indigenous organizations received funding in 2021-2022 for projects that deliver healing and wellness activities, programs, and services to support the healing journeys of families and survivors.

Supporting Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

Public Safety Canada supports the Canadian Centre for Child Protection's (C3P) Project Arachnid, a web-crawler that detects child-sexual abuse material and sends take-down notices to service providers.  Through their notification service C3P looks to increase the compliance of hosting providers to take down flagged material within 24 hours. Between April 2021 and March 2022, Project Arachnid issued 4,479,666 notices to service providers, which resulted in 680 companies receiving notifications. In 2021-2022, 18,166 reports were processed from the public and 4,338,206 reports related to Project Arachnid. In 2021-2022, Project Arachnid detected an average of 666,000 unique suspect images per month.

Supporting Victims and Survivors of Maltreatment in Sport

Sport Canada announced the selection of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada to oversee the implementation of the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport for federally-funded sport organizations. The Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada was selected following recommendations from a committee of athletes, Canadian sport representatives, and experts in child protection and abuse prevention.

Supporting Military Members, Defence Employees, Families and Veterans

Through a commitment of $236.2 million over five years, and $33.5 million ongoing, Budget 2021 reiterated the Government’s commitment to address sexual misconduct and GBV in the Canadian Armed Forces. This included an investment of $59.7 million over five years to expand the support services offered by the Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre. The expansion focuses on five key areas:

• Providing access to free, independent legal assistance and enabling military members to access this service without making a formal complaint (see also Pillar 3 below).
• Expanding the existing Sexual Assault Contribution/Transfer Payment Program to provide support to community-based sexual assault service providers located outside major urban military centres.
• Increasing the reach of the Response and Support Coordination Program to more locations across Canada.
• In partnership with Veterans Affairs Canada, piloting online and in-person peer support offerings specifically designed for current and former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who experienced sexual misconduct during their service, tailored to the military experience.
• Extending the Centre’s mandate to include support services for public service employees of the Department of National Defence and former Canadian Armed Forces members.

Information on actions under each of these areas can be found in the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre’s 2021-2022 Annual Report.

In addition, the Department of Defence’s Military Family Services funded Military Family Resource Centres and Family Violence Advisory Teams in local communities to organize activities, events, and training related to GBV for military members and their families, as well as provide training for professionals who offer support. In 2021-2022, a total of $372,000 was allocated towards these community initiatives.

Military Family Services continued to support the GBV Community of Practice, which is a collective of 285 professionals who support military members and their families. the GBV Community of Practice disseminated monthly email updates that included the most recent research, resources, and training related to GBV and family violence. In addition, the Community of Practice arranged seven webinars to provide online training for its members.

Military Family Services launched the Intimate Partner Violence: Supporting Friends in Unhealthy Relationships online course. The course offers helpful resources and examples on how to have a supportive conversation with someone who may be experiencing an unhealthy or violent relationship. In 2021-2022, the course was accessed 780 times in both English and French.

Pillar 3: A Responsive Justice System

Canada’s justice system is designed to be fair and just, but oftentimes, reporting GBV to police and testifying in court can be incredibly difficult—even traumatic. This is especially true for GBV victims and survivors who are Indigenous, racialized, members of a 2SLGBTQI+ community, newcomers to Canada, or have a disability.

Experts, including GBV sector organizations, have long been advocating for better support and information for GBV victims and survivors, as well as opportunities for them to be more involved in the criminal justice process. Although progress has been made in recent years, there is still more work to be done to create a more responsive justice system.

Offering Legal Resources to Victims and Survivors

In 2021-2022, Justice Canada undertook several new initiatives to support victims and survivors of GBV.

Budget 2021 provided $48.75 million over five years to support Independent Legal Advice and Representation projects for victims of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. These initiatives are being carried out by provincial and territorial governments, legal clinics/associations, and public legal education and information organizations:

• Funding was allocated to 20 projects across 12 jurisdictions to provide free, independent legal advice and representation to adult survivors of sexual assault.
• Funding was allocated to 17 projects across 10 jurisdictions to provide free, independent legal advice and representation to adult survivors of intimate partner violence.

Offering Legal Resources to Families

Budget 2021 provided $28.35 million over 5 years to support provincial and territorial efforts to expand the availability of government-funded supervision services in relation to the exercise of parenting time between a child and parent in cases of separation and divorce, particularly in cases where there may be concerns about the safety of a child or another family member due to family violence.  In 2021-2022, Justice Canada provided funding to five provinces to expand the availability of government-funded supervision services.

With funding from the Family Violence Initiative, Justice Canada supports the development and implementation of tools and strategies to improve the justice system's response to family violence. It also funds projects that raise awareness and encourage public involvement in addressing family violence. In 2021-2022, three new projects were funded to enhance the justice system's response to family violence and improve support for victims/survivors. The projects include:

• Redeveloping the Yukon Domestic Violence Treatment Option Court.
• Developing a collaborative model to respond to family violence in Prince Edward Island.
• Supporting a community-based project in Nova Scotia that focuses on the connection between traumatic childhood experiences and family violence.

In cases where safety concerns arise during parenting time or child transfers between separated or divorced parents, supervised services can provide a safe, neutral, and child-focused environment.

Budget 2021 also provided $35 million over 5 years to Justice Canada to fund projects that assist victims of intimate partner violence to access and navigate the family justice system, and that improve the justice system’s responses to this form of violence. The Justice Partnership and Innovation Program announced a call for proposals entitled Additional Supports for Victims of Intimate Partner Violence involved in the Family Justice System. Selected projects in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Prince Edward Island will support new and expanded family court support worker models; improve coordination between different parts of the justice system in cases involving intimate partner violence; and promote tools to identify intimate partner violence in family law cases.

In partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada and Women and Gender Equality Canada, Justice Canada launched the HELP Toolkit for legal advisers in January 2022. The toolkit offers practical guidance for legal advisers to identify and respond to family violence in their family law cases. The HELP approach is based on new and existing research on family violence in the family law context, the current practices and needs of legal advisers, and the needs of family law clients who have experienced family violence. Civil society organizations across Canada contributed to the development of the toolkit, including experts in family law and family violence, legal advisers, and frontline service providers.

Offering Independent Legal Assistance to Members of the Defence Community

As briefly mentioned under Pillar 2, the Department of Defence’s Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre began developing an Independent Legal Assistance Program that will offer free, independent legal information, advice, and representation to present and past members of the Defence community who have experienced sexual misconduct.

The program will facilitate access to legal assistance which will help to alleviate some of the difficulties faced when reporting such incidents and enable survivors and victims of military sexual misconduct to make informed decisions.

Improving the Immigration Enforcement Framework for Victims and Survivors of GBV

In September 2021, the Canada Border Services Agency’s GBV work plan, which is comprised of several legislative and regulatory initiatives as well as operational guidance changes, was endorsed by the Agency’s Executive Policy Committee. This was part of an effort to improve the immigration enforcement framework for victims and survivors of GBV.  These initiatives will streamline immigration enforcement decision-making to ensure that concerns relating to victims and survivors of GBV, including human trafficking, are considered within the immigration enforcement context, in order to avoid inadvertently re-traumatizing or re-victimizing victims and survivors. This suite of initiatives has been developed to refine and promote the long-term sustainability of the Agency’s immigration enforcement and inadmissibility policy frameworks and associated processes.

The Agency will continue the review the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, within the sole responsibility of the Agency, to identify opportunities where the immigration enforcement and inadmissibility policy frameworks could protect victims and survivors of GBV.

Ending the Sexual Exploitation of Children Online

The second pillar under Public Safety Canada's National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet is to identify, apprehend, and prosecute offenders. Through Public Safety Canada’s Contribution Program to Combat Serious and Organized Crime, provinces and territories can apply to receive funds to support their local provincial/territorial and municipal Internet Child Exploitation units.

Operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), The National Child Exploitation Crime Centre is the national law enforcement arm of the National Strategy and the central point of contact for online child sexual exploitation investigations that have a Canadian nexus. The Centre supports the advancement of domestic and international investigations through specialized services and distributes investigative packages to police services. 

Between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, the Centre received 81,799 requests for assistance, complaints, or reports—a 56% increase compared to the previous year. Approximately 11% of these reports originated in Canada, and 89% came from the United States and other countries.

During the reporting period, the number of Canadian victims of online child sexual exploitation identified and uploaded to INTERPOL’s International Child Sexual Exploitation database increased by approximately 21%, well above the limit of a 10% increase set by the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre, Canada's leading contributor to INTERPOL’s database. This significant increase in the number of child victims/survivors identified is due to the Centre’s enhanced capacity and a spike in the prevalence of this crime since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The RCMP also worked overtime and dedicated additional resources toward reducing the backlog of registered child sex offenders requiring risk assessments. As a result, the backlog was decreased by around 29% over the year.

In October 2021, the RCMP completed its term as Chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies, industry partners, and non-governmental partners dedicated to protecting children from online sexual exploitation and transnational child sex offenders. The RCMP transferred the role of Chair to the National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom but remains an active participant in the taskforce. The RCMP continues to lead the Virtual Global Taskforce’s Health and Wellness international research initiatives related to online child sexual exploitation personnel, which seek to mitigate the impact on employees working in this challenging area.

Work carried out in 2021-2022 to prevent the exploitation of children online is presented under Pillar 1 -Preventing Bullying and Cyberbullying.

Improving the Police Response to Victims of Sexual Assault

Sexual assault is one of the most under-reported crimes in Canada, with only 6% of incidents reported to the police in 2019.^{Footnote 8} In 2017, the RCMP laid out a series of commitments to better prevent and address GBV in The Way Forward: The RCMP’s Sexual Assault Review and Victim Support Action Plan. In 2021-2022, RCMP activities include continued review of sexual assault files to meet quality and identify training needs. The RCMP also leads the Advisory Committee for Sexual Assault Investigations and uses social media to encourage victims to report their experiences. In order to improve sexual assault investigations, the RCMP has developed and updated training courses and reference guides, which have also been made available to other law enforcement agencies. In addition, the RCMP established Divisional Sexual Assault Investigations Review Committees and collaborated with internal and external partners to address commitments outlined in The Way Forward. Lastly, the RCMP has been supporting detachments in exploring alternative reporting options.

The RCMP's Vulnerable Persons Unit created and implemented an online course focused on Cultural Awareness and Humility. The course was made mandatory for all RCMP employees in November 2020. Participants included police officers, civilian employees, and Public Service employees. By September 1, 2021, over 27,000 RCMP employees—representing 90.5% of all employees—completed the course.

In 2021-2022, Canadian Heritage continued efforts to develop a new legislative and regulatory framework aimed at promoting online safety. The proposed framework will require specific online services to assess and address potential risks associated with their platforms. While still in development, the legislation may target online harms such as hate speech, terrorist content, child sexual exploitation content, incitement to violence, cyberbullying against children, content that is likely to incite children to self-harm, and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

Future Directions

Much progress was made under the Federal GBV Strategy in 2021-2022, but as the COVID-19 pandemic fades from memory, its devastating impacts linger, showing that much remains to be done. 

There are no easy answers and no quick solutions to end GBV. It has taken steady efforts to achieve what has been done to date.  It will continue to take consistent work to shift values, attitudes and behaviours, support victims, survivors, and their families, and build a more responsive justice system. It will take federal departments and agencies, provinces and territories, Indigenous partners, civil society organizations, experts, victims/survivors, and their families—all working together to take meaningful, practical and sustainable action to end GBV in Canada.

This is why the Government of Canada, through Women and Gender Equality Canada, has been working to advance towards a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence—Canada’s first Federal-Provincial-Territorial framework for action to end GBV.

The Government of Canada is grateful to victims, survivors and their families, and the organizations that serve them for sharing their lived experiences, evidence, and recommendations. The Government will continue to collaborate with you to build the knowledge base so that innovative, evidence-based action can be supported to usher in a future free of GBV.