Details on transfer payment programs of $5 million or more: 2019-20 Departmental Results Report, Women and Gender Equality Canada

2017-18

Ongoing

Grants and Contributions

Appropriation annually through Estimates

2017-18

Community Action and Innovation

The Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Program takes action under the second pillar of “It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence” which is "support for survivors and their families". The GBV Program is population-specific, and its objective is to support organizations working in the GBV sector in developing and implementing promising practices 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; LGBTQ2 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.

As implementation of projects is still at a relatively early stage, results have not yet been reported. The following paragraphs provide information on the work being done at this stage, and plans for reporting in the future. 

• Indicator: Gaps in service provision for survivors of GBV are identified. Gap areas being identified and addressed by projects through the GBV Program funding include: survivor supports and services in health, safety and justice sectors; wraparound / holistic supports; shelter services; and supports specifically for survivors of human trafficking. As projects develop further, their themes and targeted gap areas can be classified in greater detail.
• Indicator: Promising practices that respond to the needs of targeted populations are developed and tested. 60 projects are being funded through the GBV Program to support survivors of gender-based violence and their families in communities across Canada. Each of these projects is developing and testing a promising practice and organizations are currently in the process of developing and testing of the interventions they have selected. 
• These promising practices will be reported through a blueprint hosted on the WAGE Knowledge Centre platform. Information will be posted by the2023-24 fiscal period end of the up-to-five-year period for each funded project, as a guidance/informative tool for other organizations interested in adapting or applying the lessons learned to their own project/community contexts.

Not applicable

The next evaluation is planned to be completed in 2021–22.

The Department for Women and Gender Equality continues to support organizations working in the GBV sector in developing and implementing promising practices to address gaps in supports for survivors.

Not applicable

$3,870,470

$8,307,000

$5,388,062

$5,388,062

($2,918,938)^{Footnote *}

Not applicable

$436,791

$2,343,000

$4,521,344

$4,521,344

$2,178,344

Not applicable

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Not applicable

$4,307,261

$10,650,000

$9,909,406

$9,909,406

($740,594)

1973

Ongoing

Grants and Contributions

Appropriation annually through Estimates

2017-18

Community Action and Innovation

The purpose of the Women’s Program is to achieve the full participation of women in the economic, social and democratic life of Canada. 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. Projects address the following priority areas: ending violence against women and girls, improving women’s and girls’ economic security and prosperity, and encouraging women and girls in leadership and decision-making roles.

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

Note: In 2018, Women and Gender Equality Canada received time-limited funding under the Women’s Program of $100 million over five years (from 2018-19 to 2022-23) to support women’s and Indigenous organizations in order to ensure a strong sustainable women’s movement. With this funding, the Department has invested in projects that aim to increase organizational and sector capacity and help organizations work collectively and sustainably to address gender equality issues.

In 2019–20, the Women’s Program worked to advance the economic, social and democratic life for women in Canada by investing in over 150 new and ongoing projects at the local, regional and national levels.

Funded Projects Overview

Over the reporting period, 48 funded projects were completed and submitted final reports. These included:

• 5 projects to empower Indigenous women to further strengthen communities;
• 8 projects to empower women for community action;
• 2 projects to empower women for political action;
• 2 projects to build capacity in women’s organizations;
• 7 projects to commemorate Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls;
• 9 projects to advance gender equality in Canada; and
• 15 projects funded through the Department’s Continuous Intake.

Women’s Program Closed Projects Analysis

Of the 48 projects completed in 2019-20, 35% were projects supporting Indigenous women and girls. 75% of organizations were located in urban settings, 16% were in rural communities, and 8% in remote areas.

About 50% of projects reported that the Department’s investment resulted in systemic change in issues relating to gender equality. Examples of systemic change that took place within the 2019-20 reporting period include changing workplace culture in different fields to be more inclusive of women, increasing consideration and inclusion of women in municipal housing plans, and increasing women’s participation in local and provincial governments. The following points highlight a few of the funded projects in 2019-20 that developed and implemented concrete solutions to the systemic barriers faced by women:

• Creating actions plans and steering committees to change workplace culture in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) companies to decrease instances of implicit bias and stereotype threats, making the workplaces more respectful and inclusive for women;
• Successfully advocating for the adoption of a gender-based analysis lens for Toronto’s new housing plan, including dedicated new housing for women in the city;
• Conducting leadership training events for women and political parties in Prince Edward Island (PEI), leading to policy changes within the party, and a record number of women who ran for office and got elected; and
•  Developing a Framework for equality and parity between men and women in Indigenous councils, leading to the increased participation of women in Band Council meetings and the self-governance of their communities.

An analysis of all closed projects indicated that:

• 90% of projects reported that the Department’s investment resulted in access to new supports to address issues relating to equality between women and men. Types of supports included needs assessments, action plans to address gender-based violence, reconciliation resource booklets, harm-reduction awareness campaigns, training programs for peer facilitators, and national strategies to advance gender-equality in Canada.
• 100% of projects reported that the Department’s investment resulted in new opportunities for the organizations, including consultations with stakeholders, events to advance gender-equality, commemorative initiatives, and the establishment of effective, long-term partnerships through talking circles, leadership councils, advisory committees and knowledge-sharing networks. New partnerships were fostered with municipal and provincial governments, industry partners and stakeholders, academic institutions, Indigenous community organizations, women’s organizations, health services and affordable housing advocacy groups.

Beyond funding provided by the Department, organizations identified a number of factors that led to the success of their projects. These included: sustainable partnerships, effective leadership, strong commitment from stakeholders, intersectional feminist analysis, safe participatory environments, and community engagement.  

The Commemoration Fund^{Footnote 1}, under the Women’s Program,responds directly to The National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Interim Report Recommendation #5. The Fund supports Indigenous organizations, including Indigenous women’s organizations, to work with communities to develop and implement commemorative initiatives to honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ2S individuals. Below are some of the achieved results from the 2019-20 Departmental Plan.

• Commemoration initiatives were developed to support communities in honouring the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S individuals. Seven projects were completed under this Fund and submitted final reports in 2019-20. Of these projects, four stated that the funding generated supports, including reconciliation resource booklets, a documentary, an Indigenous opera, and tools for healing circles and workshops.
• Indigenous organizations and those affected by the issue, including families, survivors and communities, worked together on initiatives to honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S individuals. All seven projects that submitted final reports in 2019-20 stated that the funding generated new opportunitiesfor the organizations, including collecting community narratives, holding sharing circles, creating commemoration initiatives and monuments, and supporting effective and sustainable partnerships. During the commemorative projects, organizations partnered with Indigenous community organizations, Indigenous services and arts centers, local non-profits, and Indigenous families and survivors.

Thematic Results

Empowering Women for Political and Community Action

The Department further analysed project results for 10 closed projects funded under the call for proposals Empowering Women for Political and Community Action. This was the first time project proposals were required to bring together co-applicants in formal partnerships to identify and overcome systemic barriers that lead to women’s under-representation in Canada’s democratic and public life. Over 30 organizations received funding to work on these 10 projects.

Through funded projects, co-applicants worked together to raise awareness, build knowledge and capacity on key gender equality issues. Several projects made gender equality frameworks key components of the project (e.g., Intersectional feminist framework (IFF) and Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+)). These frameworks bridged differences between organizations and created a common framework and language for organizations to take collective action as a partnership rather than as a set of individual organizations. Several projects saw success in building a stronger collaboration with a broader range of stakeholders and engaged new partners in gender equality work. Collaborative efforts deepened organizations’ understanding of themselves as key players in the gender equality space; built a common language and understanding; identified partnerships opportunities; assets and resources; and clarified organizations roles and responsibilities. Overall, projects developed new partnerships and solutions to help women overcome systemic barriers to participation in democratic and public life in Canada.

Empowering Indigenous Women for Stronger Communities

The Department also further analysed the 5 projects that closed under the Empowering Indigenous Women for Stronger Communities call for proposals. The purpose of this call was to solicit projects that would empower Indigenous women to engage with their communities to address issues affecting them or hindering their advancement in all aspects of life. One project, led by The Lillooet Friendship Centre Society, sought to develop the leadership capacity of Upper St’at’imc Nation women in British Columbia to collaborate with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Tribal Police in developing a coordinated service response to violence and abuse. Through the project, the organization developed and implemented a community-level action plan, including establishing a Women’s Leader Council that is embedded in local decision-making through a District of Lillooet working group and within the St’at’imc Indigenous Court.

As a result of the project, the local Sexual Assault team is now a Community Crisis Response Team to better respond to community needs and provide support for both victims and perpetrators. More women in the community understand where they can get supports and are actively seeking supports, and a group of St’at’imc women have begun meeting and developing additional resources such as a support circle. In addition, the organization has developed ongoing effective partnerships with the RCMP, St’at’imc Tribal Police, District of Lillooet, and others. These represent systemic changes within the local community to embed women in decision-making, resulting in supports and local processes that better address community needs.

N.A.

The planned completion of the next evaluation is 2022-23.

In 2019-20, the Department developed tools and supports to better connect recipients to facilitate partnerships and knowledge sharing. WAGE promoted networking among different organizations that share a common goal to help ensure the success of their projects. For example, WAGE funded Women’s Shelters Canada to strengthen the relationships and knowledge sharing among women’s shelters in Canada. The organization created a comprehensive national profile and report on women’s shelters that included survey responses from over 400 shelters in Canada.

Under the Commemoration Fund, the Department developed a simplified application form and supporting materials for the call for proposals and organized information sessions for potential applicants. An External Review Committee composed of Indigenous women informed the recommendation of projects.

Total grants

$12,071,644

$14,510,102

$32,594,000

$28,192,888

$28,192,888

$(4,401,112)

Total contributions

$8,758,356

$9,566,614

$10,136,000

$26,083,578

$26,083,578

$15,947,578

Total other types of transfer payments

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Total program

$20,830,000

$24,076,716

$42,730,000

$54,276,466

$54,276,466

$11,546,466