Women’s organizations provide vital services in our communities, supporting women and girls to be financially secure, free from violence, and able to fully participate in all aspects of our economy and society. Yet for far too long they have been chronically underfunded, underestimated and undermined.

“With this historic investment, we recognize the women and women’s organizations breaking through barriers and express our gratitude to those who have been doing this work for decades on little more than a shoestring budget. The women’s movement across Canada has been asking for a reliable, predictable and accessible source of funds to ensure the sustainability of their work. Our government listened. With this stable and flexible funding, we are helping organizations in Nova Scotia grow and endure, because we know that investing in women’s organizations is the most effective way to advance gender equality. By supporting a movement that has achieved amazing results, we are growing the middle class, strengthening families and communities, and creating lasting change that benefits everyone.” 

The Honourable Maryam Monsef, P.C., M.P.Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality

• Budget 2018 announced $100 million over five years to support a viable and sustainable women’s movement across Canada. Adding to this historic investment, Budget 2019 proposes to invest a further $160 million over five years, starting in 2019–20, in the Department for Women and Gender Equality’s Women’s Program. This means that by 2023–24, the Women’s Program, which supports eligible organizations to carry out projects to advance equality by addressing systemic barriers, will total $100 million annually. 

• This funding will enable women’s organizations and Indigenous organizations serving women to tackle systemic barriers impeding women’s progress, while recognizing and addressing the diverse experiences of gender and inequality across the country.

• Women continue to be disproportionately affected by economic insecurity. In 2018, women in Canada earned just 88 cents for every dollar earned by men, based on median earnings of full-time workers. The gender pay gap is worse when considering Indigenous women, who earned only 82 cents for every dollar earned by men (Indigenous and non-Indigenous men). Women are also much more likely to work on a part-time basis, making up 75% of all part-time workers aged 25-54, with 27% of women reporting childcare responsibilities as their reason for working part-time.

• Some populations are more likely to experience violence and may face unique barriers and challenges that put them at particular risk. According to the 2014 General Social Survey on Victimization, women are at a 20% higher risk of violent victimization than men when all other risk factors are taken into account. Indigenous women are more likely to experience violence and reported having been the victim of a violent crime at a rate 2.7 higher than that reported by non-Indigenous women (219 incidents per 1,000 population versus 81 incidents per 1,000). 

• Gender-based violence can have lifelong impacts on an individual's physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health. Additionally, the effects can be serious and costly. Annually, the economic impact of intimate partner violence and sexual assault is estimated to be more than $12 billion.

• Canada will host the Women Deliver 2019 Conference from June 3 to 6, 2019, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Held every three years, it is the world’s largest gathering on gender equality and the health, rights and well-being of women and girls. 

• The conference is part of a global movement to promote gender equality worldwide that gives voice to a broad spectrum of people, including Indigenous peoples, youth and those living in conflict and crisis settings. It will bring together more than 6,000 individuals—world leaders, influencers, advocates, academics, activists, youth and journalists—from more than 160 countries, with an additional 100,000 people joining virtually.

Related products

• Backgrounder

Associated links

• Alice House (Second Stage Housing Association of Dartmouth)
• Be the Peace Institute
• Fédération des femmes acadiennes de la Nouvelle-Écosse
• Immigrant Migrant Women’s Association of Halifax
• Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association
• Transition House Association of Nova Scotia
• United African Canadian Women’s Association of Nova Scotia
• Capacity-Building Fund Call for Proposals
• Women Deliver 2019

Braeson Holland
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality
343-549-8825

Valérie Haché
Senior Communications Advisor
Department for Women and Gender Equality
819-420-8684