Backgrounder - Government of Canada announces funding for women’s organizations in Greater Montréal Area
Backgrounder
Department for Women and Gender Equality – Women’s Program
One of the ways the Department for Women and Gender Equality advances gender equality in Canada 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 funds projects that address systemic barriers to women’s equality in three priority areas: ending violence against women and girls; improving the economic security and prosperity of women and girls; and encouraging women and girls in leadership roles.
Capacity-building Call for Proposals
In October 2018, Minister Monsef announced a Call for Proposals under the Capacity-building Fund of the Women’s Program. Projects at the local, provincial, and national level were eligible for different amounts of funding, based on their specific need and reach.
On March 8, 2019, International Women’s Day, Minister Monsef announced that over 250 women’s organizations across the country would receive funding from the Capacity-building Fund.
The objective is to fund proposals that will increase the capacity of eligible women’s organizations and Indigenous organizations serving women, whose initiatives contribute to a viable women’s movement in Canada that advances gender equality. Funding will increase the ability of organizations to grow, meet the increasing demands for their services, and continue to work collectively to address gender equality issues. The fund stems from the Budget 2018 announcement of $100 million over five years to help support a viable and sustainable women’s movement across Canada.
Québec Projects
Today’s announcement in Montréal, Québec, profiled 10 of the projects selected to receive federal funding through the Capacity-building Fund:
Afghan Women’s Centre of Montréal
Project title: Strategic Planning & Development Towards the future
Funding amount: $218,246
The Afghan Women’s Centre of Montréal seeks greater sustainability so it can remain relevant for its target population group: immigrant women. Activities will be directed over the course of the fund to develop programs and additional funding development strategies to work toward the sustainability of the organization. This increased capacity will require ongoing adjustments to achieve outreach to partners, members, and especially potential members, that are culturally appropriate, ongoing and welcoming to new immigrant women and girls.
The Afghan Women’s Centre is a Montréal-based non-profit organization that started in 2002. The Centre provides training, education, and support services to immigrants and refugees.
“Women who are newcomers to Canada face a unique set of challenges and need support that makes them feel welcomed and valued. They can form a familiar network with the help of organizations like ours and learn about the opportunities available to them in Canada in a safe, non-threatening environment. This new Government of Canada funding will assist us in growing the Women’s Centre and helping more women make better futures for themselves in their adopted home.”
Makai Harif, President
Afghan Women’s Centre of Montréal
YWCA Montreal
Project title: Sustaining the YWCA
Funding amount: $212,650
The YWCA Montreal will pilot a sustainable income activity in the form of a social enterprise in accordance with its equality, inclusion and non-violence values. Profits from the enterprise will be invested to build a better future for girls, women and their families. This community-based social enterprise will first respond to the needs of the Y des Femmes des Montréal program clientele and then to the wider community downtown to include more caregivers and families in the neighbourhood.
“This long-term funding from the federal government will allow the Montreal YWCA to develop a social economy enterprise model that will help the organization project into the future. True to its values of solidarity, respect and inclusion, the YWCA will take the pulse of the community to implement an innovative social economy project that will meet the needs of women and girls in Montreal while contributing to the sustainability of the organization with own-source revenues. This project will be implemented by women, for women and with women, as we have always done for almost 145 years.”
Mélanie Thivierge, President and Director General
YWCA Montreal
Centre d'encadrement pour jeunes femmes immigrantes
Project title: Transition Plan for the Consolidation and Development of CEJFI
Funding amount: $197,238
The Centre d’encadrement pour jeunes femmes immigrantes (CEJFI) seeks to advance gender equality in Canada and better support immigrant women, because of the multiple barriers they experience when attempting to access their rights and social freedoms. To strengthen their organizational capacities, the CEJFI plans to use this investment to build capacity by developing a strategic planning framework around key needs for growth through better management of human and financial resources and governance.
The CEJFI was founded in 1998 by women to promote the vitality of immigrant girls and young women by bringing together various public and private community organizations to support young women and immigrant women.
“Working with young immigrant women that need our services shows us every day just how much our work could be improved. With this new funding from the Government of Canada, we will be able to develop and implement a robust strategic plan over a period of several years that will allow us to continue our work well into the future and help even more young immigrant women succeed and live safe, fulfilling lives in Canada, their new home.”
Régine Algende Tshombokongo, Director General
Centre d’encadrement pour jeunes femmes immigrantes
Fédération des femmes du Québec
Project title: From Fédération to Fédération+
Funding amount: $500,000
The Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ) is trying to better meet the needs of its diverse members. As such, it will ruse this investment to review organizational practices through the use of a Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+). This type of analysis has not been done within the FFQ for many years and current methods need to be re-evaluated and changed to accommodate the issues facing women today. The FFQ will develop an integrated communication and public relations plan to ensure it can reorganize and expand to become a financially independent organization.
To mark the 25th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Québec, Thérèse Casgrain gathered women together who shared and expressed the need to form a federation to defend the interests and rights of women. A year later, in 1966, the FFQ was born.
“Every organization can improve their internal practices, includes ourselves. Enhancing our use of Gender-based Analysis Plus will help us better meet the needs of our membership. We are grateful to have been awarded this funding from the federal government and expect it to help us bring about more change for the good and over a much longer term than what has been possible in the past.”
Gabrielle Bouchard, President
Fédération des femmes du Québec
Femmes Autochtones du Québec
Project title: Quebec Native Women’s Organizational Capacity Development
Funding amount: $554,940
Femmes Autochtones du Québec wishes to achieve a new and clearer picture of its strengths, challenges, opportunities and risks. The funding provided will be used to ensure the sustainability of the work of the organization by solidifying their structure and fostering the transmission of knowledge and collaborative synergy between the different levels of employees, management, and the Council of Elected Representatives. Key activities will be undertaken across Québec and will include: an extensive organizational health assessment, a strategic development process, internal policy implementation, and team assessment processes.
Femmes Autochones du Québec defends the interests of Indigenous women, their families and their communities throughout the province. They support Indigenous women in their efforts to better their living conditions through the promotion of nonviolence, justice, equal rights and health. They also support women in their commitment to their communities.
“Indigenous women and their families throughout Québec rely on our association. Our work requires us take a new path to sustainability and empower our members to take more leadership roles in the community for future generations. We are pleased to receive this investment from the Government of Canada. This funding makes it possible for us to see the future and act with the confidence that our efforts to grow and succeed as an organization will not be made in vain.”
Viviane Michel, President
Femmes Autochtones du Québec
La Maison Parent-Roback
Project title: Strengthening the skills of MPR’s Board of Directors for Private Funding
Funding amount: $211,209
Maison Parent-Roback (MPR) seeks to improve its members’ skills in fundraising. They will develop a culture of philanthropy and carry out a recurring fundraising campaign. The project will enable them to train members in the practice of private fundraising.
Since 1997, MPR has been bringing together national and regional women’s groups, a publishing house and a resource center to improve the situation of women, eliminate violence and promote social justice. It offers tools and programs for education, training, research, analysis and sharing knowledge and best practices.
“Advancing the well-being of women, eliminating violence and promoting social justice, requires us to be very active in the community. Our fundraising efforts need to be modernized, streamlined and sustainable so we can focus resources on our core work. This funding from the federal government allows us the chance to train our members to learn how fundraising can be made sustainable to benefit women and the community at large.”
Danielle Fournier, President
La Maison Parent-Roback
Les Scientifines
Project title: Towards Greater Organizational Efficiency!
Funding amount: $250,000
Les Scientifines seeks to reinforce its capacity in funding research, accountability and promotion to complement recent efforts to improve organizational efficiency. Funding and donor retention plans will be developed and implemented to increase the likelihood of donor recurrence. A database will be also developed to reduce data manipulation and improve data literacy, while allowing for the efficient retrieval of relevant statistics for reporting purposes. New digital communication tools and applications will be employed to improve outreach and modernize the organization’s image and service delivery methods.
Started by four women as a university project in 1987 to promote science to young girls in Québec, Les Scientifines was incorporated as a non-profit in 1993. Les Scientifines is focused on helping women and girls with an interest in science and technology to find the education and peer support to succeed.
“Fundraising can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. We’re pleased to see the Government of Canada offer this historic investment in women’s groups and generous funding schedules that allow organizations like ours to grow and become better at what we do. Our programs help young women who face economic and social barriers to gain the education and confidence they need to succeed in rapidly changing world.”
Valérie Bilodeau, Director General
Les Scientifines
L’R des centres de femmes du Québec
Project title: Action and Collective Response Project – Taking Action Together and Empowering Ourselves to Address Violence Against Women
Funding amount: $541,912
L’R des centres de femmes du Québec will create a platform to promote advocacy and awareness strategies for their expertise on violence against women. They will train about 250 workers rooted in rural and urban communities across the province to work in a “collective response” system of support when responding to incidents of violence against women. This network of 250 individuals could engage as many as 300,000 women annually. This investment will strengthen the capacity of the entire network in its advocacy efforts to counter violence against women.
L’R des centres de femmes du Québec form a support network across Quebec that promotes social justice, equality and equity for women. They work to assist women survivors of sexual violence in all regions of the province through a network of 87 L’R des centre des femmes.
“We work to adapt our services to the needs of women across Québec but urban and rural areas require different response strategies. With 87 member centres in all regions of the province, our collective strength is our greatest asset but funding needs are variable and complex. This investment by the Government of Canada will allow us to expand and do the important work of training women to work together as a team when responding to victims of sexual assault or intimate partner violence.”
Stéphanie Vallée, President
L'R des centres de femmes du Québec
PINAY
Project title: From the Ground Up: Building Capacity and Building Equality
Funding amount: $196,740
PINAY is seeking to improve their organizational capacity. With this investment, they will build service capacity and diversify funding sources in order to support better governance and permit PINAY to build resources while assessing service provisions to enhance sustainability. Key activities include planning and implementation of a comprehensive strategic plan, as well as researching and carrying out the application of an improved funding model that reduces PINAY’s dependence on erratic funding streams and donations. This funding will also improve PINAY’s outreach to the immigrant women population of the city of Montréal and its suburbs.
PINAY is a Filipino women’s organization founded in 1991 that works to empower and organize Filipino women in Québec, particularly Filipino domestic workers. Most of its members are migrant workers under the Live-In Caregiver Program. For two decades, PINAY has brought together domestic workers and their supporters in the struggle for basic rights and welfare.
“Migrant workers and domestic workers are often discriminated against or underpaid, and many feel they do not have the same rights as regular citizens. Our focus is helping women who are domestic workers to understand their basic rights and welfare, and to get help when needed. The funding provided by this new multi-year model will allow us to work on our growth strategy for becoming more sustainable and increase our organizational capacity for expansion and outreach into the suburbs, an area underserved by organizations such as ours.”
Fiel Salazar, Chairperson
PINAY, Montréal
Women On The Rise
Project title: Developing Fundraising Capacity
Funding amount: $200,462
Women On The Rise wants to become a stronger, more sustainable organization, better able to offer diversified services to further advance the wellbeing of women and opportunities available to them. The key activities that will be supported by this funding will include training sessions that address the needs of the organization. The immediate reach of this investment will be an improvement in overall service and support capacity, but as the project unfolds, the results will be beneficial for users of services who may want to become board members themselves or staff personnel. It is the intention of Women On The Rise to share any training techniques and tools that are developed from the implementation of the project’s objectives with any organization across Montréal serving women in need.
Women on the Rise supports mothers and offers a variety of support and services in Montréal’s Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood.
“Helping mothers to help themselves doesn’t sound like a complicated service model but the need for our services and support system can easily overwhelm our staff and our resources. We serve some of the most vulnerable women in Montreal – isolated, low-income single mothers with children under five years old. This multi-year funding from the Government of Canada will help us expand our capacity to help these women while we grow in a safe and thoughtful way – without losing sight of the financial need to administer the many programs we offer.”
Grace Campbell, Executive Director
Women On The Rise