Details on transfer payment programs: 2021-22 Departmental Results Report, Women and Gender Equality Canada

Ongoing

Grants and Contributions

Appropriation Annually through Estimates

2021-22

The Department’s interventions under this program facilitate the advancement of gender equality.

Community Action and Innovation

The Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Program takes action under “It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence”. The GBV Program is population-specific, with the objective of supporting organizations working in the GBV sector to develop and implement promising practices in order to address gaps in supports for Indigenous and underserved groups of survivors in Canada.

Funding is provided to eligible organizations in support of projects at the local, regional and national levels, and is available for time-specific projects that address gaps in supports for specific groups of survivors, including Indigenous women and their communities, and other underserved populations, such as: children and youth; racialized women; 2SLGBTQI+ persons; non-status/refugee/immigrant women; seniors; women living in an official language minority community; women living in northern, rural and remote communities; and women living with a disability.

In 2019, as part of the Government of Canada’s National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking (National Strategy), $10 million over 5 years was announced for the Department for Women and Gender Equality to support the development, testing and implementation of innovative and empowering promising practices to support at-risk populations to reduce their risk to being trafficked, as well as trauma-informed supports for victims and survivors of human trafficking. This initiative is using the established Terms and Conditions of the Gender-Based Violence Program while aligning under the Performance Measurement, Reporting, and Governance structure of the National Strategy.

Implementation of projects is still under way. Results at the short and medium term are presented for the year 2021-22. The following is a description of the work being done at this stage.

Promising Practices to support survivors and their families

WAGE continued to support 59 projects and spent a total of $7.3 million in 2021-22. Funding for this Program is helping service providers, organizations, governments, and others working to prevent GBV to collaborate more, and to support survivors and their families. To date, more than 500 new partnerships have been created, facilitating the development of training on cultural safety and trauma informed service delivery, transformation care for 2SLGBTQI+ survivors of GBV, and piloting new supports the help survivors of GBV navigate the legal system.

Human Trafficking Initiative

WAGE continued to support 41 projects and spent a total of $4.2 million in 2021-22. Funding is helping to prevent and address human trafficking and support at-risk populations, victims, and survivors. In their first year of funding, organizations reached nearly 2,000 people though various activities like workshops/webinars, community engagement, and curriculum development.

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The Department for Women and Gender Equality continued to support organizations working in the GBV sector in developing tools and supports to better connect and engage recipients. Regional offices also worked to connect and support organizations’ capacity building in various ways, such as facilitating partnerships and knowledge sharing.

Ongoing

Grants and Contributions

Appropriation annually through Estimates

2021-22

The Department’s interventions under this program facilitate the advancement of gender equality.

Community Action and Innovation

The purpose of the Women’s Program is to advance equality for women in Canada by working to address or remove systemic barriers to their progress and advancement. The program provides grant and contribution funding to Canadian organizations to support actions that will lead to equality across Canada. Funded projects occur at the national, regional, and local levels and help to create the conditions for women’s success in Canada.

The Program: facilitates collaboration and networking; develops partnerships to address horizontal issues impacting women and girls; shares knowledge; and assists organizations working to advance women’s equality to gain access to expertise, resources and tools.  The Program does not have repayable contributions.

In 2021–22, the Women’s Program worked to advance the economic, social and democratic life for women in Canada by investing a total of more than $120 million in 270 new projects at the local, regional and national levels.

Funded Projects Overview

Over the reporting period, 81 funded projects were completed and submitted final reports. These included:

• 30 projects supporting the economic participation and prosperity of women.
• 40 projects working to prevent gender-based violence and increase access to justice.
• 10 projects working towards increased women’s democratic participation and political leadership.
• 1 project aiming at building the capacity of women’s and equality-seeking organizations to advance gender equality.

Women’s Program Analysis of Projects Completed in 2021-22

Of the 81 projects completed in 2021-22, 46% supported Indigenous women and girls. This funding allowed for more than 450 resources and tools to be created and shared. Funded organizations also established or nurtured more than 1,000 partnerships and collaborations with stakeholders.

Priority 1: Encouraging women’s leadership and democratic participation

Funded projects in this area that were completed in 2021-22 created and disseminated more than 50 different resources to increase awareness of what services and supports were available and how to access them. As a result of these projects, 179,292 women gained access to services and supports that resulted in better opportunities in education, employment, health, and social services.

Priority 2: Increasing women’s economic security and prosperity

Funded projects in this area that were completed in 2021-22 developed and disseminated 258 resources, including toolkits, guides and various models. As a result, over 283,856 people gained skills and knowledge to create more equitable conditions for women in various spheres.

Priority 3: Ending violence against women

Funded projects in this area that were completed in 2021-22 developed over 155 resources to increase awareness about services and supports, as well as how to prevent GBV and how to support survivors.  As a result of these projects, 350,556 women gained access to services and supports related to gender-based violence, including access to counselling, court services, and trauma-informed victims’ services.

94% of all projects that were completed this fiscal year indicated that the Department’s investment resulted in increased knowledge on a particular topic for the organization. Specific examples of this knowledge increase are included below:

• PARO Centre for Women's Enterprise, in collaboration with partners, published articles in the Toronto Star to raise awareness about the gap and barriers related to women's entrepreneurship. These articles were subsequently reprinted in multiple newspapers across the country. In addition, PARO held numerous focus groups and events to share knowledge on the subject, including a workshop called the "Gender Equity and Supplier Diversity Workshop", which was attended by 70+ members of mining companies who gained knowledge about how to diversify their sector.
• The Courage to Act Knowledge Centre to Address and Prevent GBV at Post-Secondary Institutions launched on September 29th 202,1 with a number of free and publicly available toolkits. These resources were collaboratively developed by over 150 national experts including student leaders, survivors, frontline workers, legal experts, union leaders, and post-secondary educators, staff and administrators.  26 toolkits are now freely available to download online via the Courage to Act Knowledge Centre.
• The Creating Safer Workplaces and Communities project team implemented six leader-focused trainings in the final year of the project, two for each sector: Indigenous leadership, organizations, and communities; immigrant and refugee serving organizations; and corporate systems and institutions. 91% of participants agreed (43%) or strongly agreed (48%) that “the training has increased my knowledge of gender-based violence, harassment and bullying, and its workplace impacts.” Responses were consistently high across all three sectors. 74% of participants agreed (48%) or strongly agreed (26%) that “I can now identify signs that someone may be a victim/survivor of gender-based violence, harassment and/or bullying.” 86% of participants agreed (54%) or strongly agreed (32%) that “the training has increased my understanding of what a trauma-informed response could look like within my workplace/community.”

The following points highlight some of the funded projects in 2021-22 that developed and implemented concrete solutions to the systemic barriers faced by women:

• The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) received funding to develop the "Leadership Accord for Gender Diversity".  The Accord was launched as a public commitment and provided an opportunity to engage companies in promoting gender diversity. It was signed by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) and the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists (OACETT) and commits to improving opportunities for women in the Canadian workplace through recruitment, retention, career progression, and training and development.
• Sexual Violence New Brunswick Inc, in collaboration with partners, was successful in implementing concrete changes in policies and practices within the Fredericton Police Force. Examples include new trauma-informed procedures for sexual assault response, a change in policy where all sexual crimes, regardless of age, will now be investigated by the Special Crimes Unit, and the addition of specialized officers within the Special Crimes Unit.
• The Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children at Western University successfully launched a men's helpline.  As a result of the helpline, there was a 33% increase in men and boys seeking help for mental health services, GBV services, and other forms of assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the project, the helpline reported that it helped arrange 880 single counselling sessions for men of all ages in all regions of Nova Scotia. In addition, 99.8% of men who called the helpline said they would reach out for help again, and 97.7% of men who called the helpline said they would recommend the helpline to someone else.

COVID-19 Emergency Response Funding

In response to the increased need for support by women experiencing GBV, WAGE acted quickly by distributing more than $187.9 million in COVID-19 emergency funding, through the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Women’s Shelters Canada, and the Government of Quebec, as part of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. This funding helped support the work of 1,400 frontline organizations, who collectively reached more than 1.3 million women and children experiencing violence.

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Planned evaluation in 2023-24

The Women’s Program continued to develop tools and supports to better connect and engage recipients. Regional offices also worked to connect and support organizations’ capacity building in various ways, such as facilitating partnerships and knowledge sharing.

2025-26

Grants and Contributions

Appropriation annually through Estimates

2021-22

The Department’s interventions under this program facilitate the advancement of gender equality.

The Department’s interventions under this program facilitate the advancement of gender equality.

The objective of the Equality for the SSOGIE program is to advance social, political and economic equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

Implementation of projects is still under way. Results at the short and medium term are presented for the year 2021-22. The following is a description of the work being done at this stage.

2SLGBTQI+ Community Capacity Fund

In 2021-22, WAGE spent $10 million to build stronger capacity and networks of 2SLGBTQI+ community organizations to advance LGBTQ2 equality across Canada. Funded projects produced nearly 150 resources and established or nurtured 200 partnerships to strengthen the not-for-profit 2SLGBTQI+ sector, improve organizational diversity and inclusion, and create opportunities for members of 2SLGBTQI+ communities to gather, connect, network, share knowledge, and exist safely in a collaborative space.

Examples of funded projects include:

• 27-month project to strengthen the capacity and networks of TransSask Support Services Inc. -  This will be achieved by building managerial capacity through a strategic plan, an advocacy strategy, an outreach plan, and board outreach and development events; increasing access to evidence, data, information, and knowledge sources through a needs assessment, a provincial survey, and interviews; and strengthening collaboration among organizations and stakeholders by hosting a series of focus groups.
• 30-month project to strengthen the capacity of the Ottawa Gay Men's Wellness Initiative (operating name MAX Ottawa) to advance care for Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Two-Spirit guys in the Nation’s Capital Region - This will be achieved by conducting an environmental scan of regional stakeholders and successful health interventions established in other urban centers that aim to increase the health outcomes of the priority population, developing a fund development and fundraising strategy as well as strengthening partnerships and collaboration.
• 29-month project to strengthen the capacity and networks of Wabanaki Two Spirit Alliance - This will be achieved by building managerial capacity, enhancing technical expertise and evidence-based approaches, increasing the cross-sectoral capacity of Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations, and strengthening collaboration through inter-provincial network development, resource sharing, regional advocacy planning, and partnership initiatives including research and cultural awareness training.

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The Equality for SSOGIE program developed tools and supports to connect and engage recipients. Regional offices also worked to connect and support organizations’ capacity building in in facilitating partnerships and knowledge sharing.