Backgrounder - Government of Canada supports survivors of gender-based violence in Edmonton

Department for Women and Gender Equality’s Gender-Based Violence Program

Following the June 2017 announcement of It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, the Department for Women and Gender Equality (formerly Status of Women Canada) launched the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Program in January 2018. 

The GBV Program complements the department’s Women’s Program, and helps organizations working in the GBV sector to develop and implement promising practices to address gaps in supports for survivors and their families. 

While violence affects people of all genders, ages, cultures, ethnicities, geographic locations, and socio-economic backgrounds, some populations are more at-risk and face additional barriers to accessing services. The GBV Program responds to this need by providing funding to eligible organizations at the local, regional and national levels for projects that address gaps in supports for specific groups of survivors, including Indigenous women and their communities, and other underserved populations, such as children and youth, LGBTQ2 communities and gender non-binary people, non-status/refugee/immigrant women, seniors, women living in official language minority communities, women living in northern, rural and remote communities, and women living with disabilities.

Call for concepts: Promising Practices to Support Survivors and their Families

In January 2018, Minister Monsef announced $20 million in funding for a call for concepts as part of the new Gender-Based Violence Program. Following Budget 2018, the funding for the Gender-Based Violence Program more than doubled to $50 million so that more organizations, such as sexual assault crisis centers, are better able to help population groups at the highest risk of experiencing violence. 

The GBV Program piloted an innovative approach to make it easier for community organizations to access funding, which includes: 

• a longer funding period of up to five years;
• a two-stage application process, which reduced the administrative burden of applicant organizations. Less information was required in the initial concept phase, which meant a  simpler application process;
• eligible recipients were expanded to include labour groups and unions; provinces, territories, municipalities and their agencies; research organizations and institutes, centers of expertise, educational institutions (i.e. universities, colleges, CÉGEPs, secondary schools, school boards/school districts), as well as public health institutions, hospitals, and health care service providers; and
• testing and evaluation of promising practices is emphasized, which will lead to clear impact and results for Canadians.

Indo-Canadian Women's Association

Project title: Culturally Appropriate and Safe Assistance through Home Visitation for Survivors of Violence (CASA) 

The project will receive $450,000 to create and pilot a home visitation protocol to create and pilot an approach for home visitors, such as nurses and Children’s Services, to screen for violence when providing services to Indigenous women, newcomers, refugees or non-status women, and ethno-cultural women. This approach will be trauma-informed and culturally-sensitive to enable women to safely report violence and receive much-needed support services. 

The Indo-Canadian Women’s Association is a not-for-profit Canadian organization committed to the full participation of immigrant and visible minority women and men in economic, social and political life of Canada. It was established in 1984 in Edmonton. Its main activities include settlement and integration counselling services, support groups, and community engagement.