Backgrounder -  Government of Canada announces investment to support Canada’s network of women’s shelters 

Department for Women and Gender Equality’s 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. 

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 other underserved populations, such as children and youth, LGBTQ2 communities, 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. 

Women’s Shelters Canada

Today’s announcement profiled two projects selected for federal funding, the first through the Capacity-building Fund, and the second from the Gender-based Violence Program:

1. Project title: Building Resilience and Increasing Impact in the VAW Shelter Sector
   Funding amount: $941,319

   Women’s Shelters Canada will use this investment to increase its capacity, resilience and the longevity of its 14 provincial and territorial shelter associations to advocate for the end of violence against women and address the needs of women fleeing violence. It will help them create sustainability plans and advocacy strategies to improve the way shelters operate across the country.

2. Project title: Community Safety Circles: Women-Led Interagency VAW Safety Support in Rural and Remote Communities
   Funding amount: $548,670 

   With this investment, Women’s Shelters Canada will implement Circles of Safety, a trauma-informed and survivor-centered approach to safety planning that brings together survivors, service providers, and informal support networks to generate customized safety and support plans. The organization will then examine this promising practice to provide greater safety to women living in rural, remote and northern communities throughout Canada who do not have access to an emergency shelter.

Women’s Shelters Canada (formerly the Canadian Network of Women’s Shelters and Transitional Houses) is a network of 14 provincial and territorial shelter networks representing over 400 shelters across Canada. It works as a unified voice to collaborate, educate, and innovate for systemic change that ends violence against women, making Canada a model for safety in the world.