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.

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.

Thunder Bay Projects

Today’s announcement profiled five projects in the Thunder Bay area selected for federal funding through the Capacity-building Fund:

Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario

Project title: Elizabeth Fry NWO Capacity Building Project
Funding amount: $147,828

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario will use this funding to increase and diversify funding sources and fundraising activities to continue to meet the demand for their programs in the community. The organization will hire a professional fundraising and communications officer to develop and help implement a fundraising plan and communications strategy.

The first Elizabeth Fry Society in Canada opened in Vancouver in 1939 and now has 24 member societies across Canada. The Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario incorporated in 2003. The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies continues to maintain and strengthen its ties with other national justice, women’s and voluntary organizations.

“Because the programs that we offer to women who need our help are free, we rely completely on fundraising and that makes it challenging to upgrade and expand. With the support announced today by the Government of Canada, we can rely on stable funding over a period of years, which will allow us to create a new strategic approach to professional fundraising – something we’ve needed to do – to ensure our capacity to provide crucial services to some of our most vulnerable and marginalized community members is maintained and expanded in the years to come.”

Caycie Soke, President
Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario

Northwestern Ontario Women’s Centre (NOWC)

Project title: Analysis to Action on Gender-Based Violence
Funding amount: $250,000

NOWC will take more comprehensive action on gender-based violence by increasing its capacity and that of other local women’s organizations to create effective, systemic, and collaborative advocacy. NOWC will organize local women’s advocates to act on ending gender-based violence by promoting the application of a fairness lens, known as Gender-based Analysis Plus, and anti-racist, anti-oppressive and trauma-informed frameworks to support survivors. The organization’s work will connect them to broader campaigns and create online platforms to share issues and analysis, monitor legal system outcomes, train service providers and host an annual “Think Tank” for local women’s advocates.

NOWC was founded in 1973 as a non-profit, community-based, feminist organization. The Centre and all its programs are situated on the traditional territory of Fort William First Nation, signatories to the Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850.

“As an equality-seeking women’s organization that focuses on problems of violence and poverty and access to justice and human rights, we understand the strength that can be gained from expanding our network of knowledge and training. This new funding from the Government of Canada will help to engage other women’s organizations in a campaign to use our collective power to make transformative change; increase accountability for and reduce the incidence of gender-based violence in Northwestern Ontario.”

Gwen O’Reilly, Executive Director
Northwestern Ontario Women’s Centre

Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA)

Project title: She is Wise: Passing on our Wisdom
Funding amount: $500,000

ONWA is working to train its members with the necessary skills and knowledge-sets needed to successfully secure and manage funding opportunities, build program delivery capacity and manage continual growth. All training and resources developed will be culturally grounded by the wisdom of Indigenous women’s perspectives and knowledge. This will mean more support for Indigenous women and organizations across Ontario.

Established in 1971, ONWA is a not-for-profit that focuses on local, regional and provincial activities. The organization’s vision is to provide support to women to take up leadership roles in the family and in the community.

“Our organization has grown over the years and the need for our services and programs has grown along with it. With this new support from the federal government, we can plan a longterm project that will support Indigenous women’s leadership and capacity building. We intend to expand our ability to work with Indigenous women’s agencies and support their ability to deliver programming and services that will address the safety needs of Indigenous women in their families and communities.”

Cora-Lee McGuire-Cyrette, Executive Director
Ontario Native Women’s Association

PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise

Project title: EMPOWER-F: PARO Capacity Building for the Future and for the Women’s Movement
Funding amount: $622,793

PARO will use this funding to improve its organizational continuity and capacity in order to continue its work in the advancement of gender equality. It will develop a strategic succession plan that will be implemented, developed and adjusted—and then shared with other women’s organizations and business networks to embark on similar approaches. Key project activities include strategic planning and implementation, monitoring of strategic and succession plans, knowledge transfer activities and evaluation, sustainability planning and broader communication and implementation of lessons learned.

Since 1995, PARO has specialized in assisting women to launch successful businesses and create collaborative workspaces or social enterprises. The PARO Centre is one of Canada’s most successful business support and networking organizations.

“From a business perspective, we know how important it is to secure financing. In our case, the Government of Canada has come through with important capacity support. With this assistance we will be able to grow and improve what is already a successful enterprise dedicated to promoting women’s economic independence and security.”

Rosalind Lockyer, Executive Director
PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise

Women’s Economic Council (WEC)

Project title: Advancing Gender Equality by building WEC's Capacity
Funding amount: $800,000

WEC will engage national and regional stakeholders and other partners to establish and implement capacity-building priorities to increase its capacity as a service provider. WEC will also share its experiences and resources with other women’s organizations who are working to be more sustainable.

WEC was started in 2002 with a mission to advance women’s community economic development and to improve the lives of women, their families and communities.

“It is a matter-of-fact that our organization needs to grow to better serve the community. We are very thankful the Government of Canada has provided support to improve and expand our agency over the coming years. It provides us with the resources and the time it will take to re-tool with confidence and become more sustainable for the future.”

Heather Leeman, Treasurer
Women’s Economic Council

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 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.

Thunder Bay Project

Today’s announcement also highlighted one project in the Thunder Bay area receiving funding from the GBV Program:

Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA)

Project title: Engaging with Indigenous Women in our Communities to End Systemic Discrimination and Violence
Funding amount: up to $1 million

ONWA will develop and evaluate an overall approach and strategy to respond to the needs of communities in its efforts to address violence and systemic discrimination using methods and principles of self-actualization from the Blackfoot Nation’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Established in 1971, ONWA is a not-for-profit that focuses on local, regional and provincial activities. The organization’s vision is to provide support to women to take up leadership roles in the family and in the community.

“We are grateful to the Government of Canada for this support. It will assist us in developing an overall approach that will help us address and counter the plight of gender-based violence in our communities and to overcome systemic discrimination.”

Cora-Lee McGuire-Cyrette, Executive Director
Ontario Native Women’s Association