Backgrounder - Governments of Canada and Yukon announce joint funding for women’s movement

Status of Women Canada – Women’s Program

One of the ways Status of Women Canada advances gender equality is by providing funding to eligible organizations through the Women’s Program. Projects are selected via calls for proposals on specific themes, as well as through a continuous intake process that allows the Women’s Program to address emerging issues as they arise.

The Women’s Program provides funding to projects that address barriers to women’s participation and equality in Canadian society in three priority areas: ending violence against women and girls; improving the economic security of women and girls; and encouraging women and girls in leadership roles.

Joint funding with the Government of Yukon

The funding represents a strategic investment on behalf of Status of Women Canada of $867,500 to augment the $759,000 committed by the Government of Yukon’s Women’s Directorate through the Indigenous Women’s Equality Fund over three years. The Government of Yukon will administer the funds and flow the investment to the recipient organizations.

The joint funding collaboration will support three Indigenous women’s organizations in the territory: the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society, Whitehorse Aboriginal Women’s Circle, and the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council.

The Government of Yukon identified support for these three organizations as a key partnership opportunity to increase access to funding, in the context of priorities identified by the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women. The Government of Yukon relies on the expertise and experience of these organizations to inform program, policy and legislative development that advances Indigenous women’s equality.

Project Description

The additional funds will be dedicated to improving the organizational capacity of these organizations to strengthen their ability to address issues impacting Indigenous women. The funding will cover costs related to the development and implementation of strategic planning processes, organizational skills development, enhanced human resources, partnership and communications strategies, and other capacity-building activities.