Backgrounder – Project funding for six 2SLGBTQI+ organizations

On June 8, 2023, Women and Gender Equality announced funding of up to $1.7 million for six 2SLGBTQI+ projects, which is part of the $12.7 million 2SLGBTQI+ Projects Fund announced in Budget 2021.

2SLGBTQI+ Projects Fund

The Projects Fund supports 2SLGBTQI+ not-for-profit organizations in developing community-informed projects that address systemic barriers faced by 2SLGBTQI+ people. The funding also supports efforts to address intersectional barriers, including those facing Indigenous, Black, racialized, and rural or remote LGBTQ2 communities.

Project Funding Details

Divergenres, 133 436 $

Navigating Gender-Affirming Care in the Capitale-Nationale Region

Solutions will be developed that are closely informed by 2SLGBTQI+ communities to address the main barriers and gaps faced by them. These solutions will include providing healthcare specialists with tools enabling them to better meet the needs of trans people who wish to medically transition. This will be achieved through training and mentorship for the healthcare professionals who will be providing care to this population. These tools will be created to support trans people as they navigate healthcare services. The project will also provide tools for community organizations by training workers on providing effective guidance to trans people about healthcare, as well as by creating a short reference guide on trans health for frontline community organizations. By the end of the project, the target audiences will have access to conclusive data, programs, and supports and will apply the knowledge they have gained in their policies, programs, or daily lives to advance equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression. Networks and collaborations will also be established.

Elevate Equity, $400,000

Elevate Leadership

Community-informed initiatives will be developed to overcome key issues facing LGBTQ2+ communities, with a focus on Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) trans and non-binary communities in the general Toronto area. This will be achieved by 1) delivering a series of leadership retreats for racialized trans and nonbinary leaders and 2) developing a digital tool to provide organizational supports for trans and nonbinary BIPOC serving organizations.

MAX Ottawa Community Health (operating as the Ottawa Gay Men’s Wellness Initiative), up to $136,935

Addressing barriers to holistic health care among trans communities

Community-informed initiatives will be developed to overcome key issues of healthcare-based inequities facing 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, with a focus on the transgender population in the National Capital Region. This will be achieved by (1) establishing the Trans Health Community Advisory Committee and the Service Providers Advisory Committee, (2) developing and implementing partnerships and networking opportunities, (3) conducting research and making recommendations, (4) developing educational resources and knowledge-sharing activities, and (5) evaluating and reporting on the scope of policy and procedure changes. This project will engage with the Champlain Integrated Health Network, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa Public Health, the University of Ottawa, and Algonquin College of Nursing to develop their capacity for serving transgender patients. By the end of this project, MAX Ottawa Community Health will have supported a community-informed project to address key issues of healthcare-based inequities facing 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and advance equality for 2SLGBTQIA+ people, with a focus on the transgender community.

Rainbow Refugee Association of Nova Scotia, $199,932

Peer 2 Peer LGBTQI+ Newcomer Support and Education for System Change

Community-informed solutions will be developed to address key barriers and gaps facing 2SLGBTQI+ communities. This will be achieved by developing peer to peer LGBTQI+ refugee support frameworks, creating navigation education modules for LGBTQI+ refugees, and creating a toolkit for community groups to meaningfully include and be relevant to LGBTQI+ refugees.

Rainbow Refugee Society, $451,086

Community Mapping for LGBTQI Newcomer Gender Recognition and Health Equity

Community-informed initiatives will be developed to better understand and document the post-migration experiences of LGBTQI newcomers, including trans and gender-diverse newcomers, in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver and address the individual and systemic barriers to social determinants of health that they encounter. This will be achieved through: the development of journey maps; a report card measuring the conditions and factors impacting the social determinants of health of LGBTQI newcomers; and sharing supports for trans and gender-diverse newcomers in British Columbia to access their legal right to gender identity, and recognition of name and gender designation.

TransCare+, $388,887

Queer and Gender Diverse Access to Knowledge Enhancement and Care Navigation in Rural ON

Community-informed initiatives will be developed to overcome key issues facing 2SLGBTQ+ communities, with a focus on Indigenous people; 2SLGBTQ+ communities, people of colour; disabled folks; and people living in a northern, remote, or rural area in Kingston and southern/western Ontario, Thunder Bay and northwestern Ontario, Sudbury and northeastern Ontario, and rural eastern Ontario. This will be achieved by 1) establishing project governance; 2) conducting a comprehensive environmental and resource scan; 3) developing an interactive e-learning platform; 4) engaging rurally located queer and gender diverse people in care navigation; 5) conducting data collection, monitoring, and evaluation of tools; and 6) engaging the community in ongoing education and knowledge-sharing.