Grants and Contributions

Through this 33-month systemic change project, Greater Trail Community Skills Centre Society (The Skills Centre) will help advance women’s and gender diverse individual’s economic security and participation in the industrial and trades sectors. Specially, the project will work with women and gender diverse individuals to identify the barriers to employment in these sectors and provide employers with a better understanding of internal and external barriers to women and gender diverse individuals participation in their workplace. The Skills Centre will support employers to change their policies, practices, and work environment. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the systemic change project.

Through this 24-month project, Community Legal Assistance Society will help advance women’s economic security and prosperity through systemic change. Specifically, the project will address systemic barriers resulting from sexual violence, harassment, and discrimination by increasing networks and engaging with Indigenous, 2SLGBTQIA+ and racialized communities. The project also focuses on improving policies and practices in addressing harassment and violence in the workplace and developing resources and advocating for policy change to prevent the misuse of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in silencing complainants who experience sexual violence, harassment, and discrimination. Engagement with target communities will inform policy and law reform submission development. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the systemic change project.

Through this 21-month systemic change project, the Columbia Institute will partner with the Feminist Campaign School to scale The Barriers for Retention of Progressive Women in Municipal Elected Offices Project to advance women’s representation in leadership and decision-making roles. It will scale activities in British Columbia (BC) and Alberta (AB) to implement recommendations from the original project, including providing education and policy support to local governments. In BC, AB, Saskatchewan (SK), Prince Edward Island (PEI) and Nova Scotia (NS), it will expand the values-based campaign school through a train-the-trainer model to help prepare women and gender minorities to run for local government offices. The project will also collect and analyze data in three new jurisdictions (SK, PEI and NS) based on learnings from the original research. The project will address the systemic barriers that women and gender minorities disproportionately face when running for, and serving in, municipally-held elected office, with a particular focus on those with intersecting identities of oppression. To do so, the project will produce a report detailing the research and evaluation of the impact of the workshops, and measure the reach of convening opportunities, and policy development sessions across these five provinces, and monitor the concrete changes to the wellbeing and safety of women and gender minorities in municipally elected government roles.

Through this 12-month systemic change project, York Region Women's Foundation will help advance women’s economic security and prosperity through systemic change. Specifically, the project will address systemic barriers faced by marginalized and racialized women by increasing the participation of, and opportunities for, diverse women in the labour market. The project will engage an advisory board with lived experience to lead a GBA+ assessment of systemic barriers within workplaces through surveys and focused dialogue. They will then develop a toolkit (including resources for employers, policy templates, etc.) to address inequities. The toolkit will be promoted to employers, who will be asked to commit to its implementation. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the systemic change project.

Through this 21-month systemic change project, the Fédération des agricultrices du Québec will scale the Perspective+ Canada Program to advance women’s representation in leadership and decision-making roles. The project will scale to all agricultural organizations in all provinces of Canada. It will address gender attitudes in agriculture that create barriers to women’s professional development in the sector.

To achieve this goal, the project will perform a diagnosis and environmental scan on 50 agricultural organizations—particularly ones in rural areas that include people who are Indigenous, racialized, immigrants, members of official language minority communities, and 2SLGBTQI+, as well as raise awarness about unconscious bias. The project will then focus on a required systemic change in at least one agricultural organization per province; support the organizations in implementing these changes, drawing from customized tools; and monitor progress on the changes. Finally, the project will launch an awareness campaign on gender prejudice and unconscious bias surrounding women in agriculture, and then develop a network of partners to share knowledge.

Through this 21-month systemic change project, City for All Women Initiative (CAWI) will scale the Mamaawe: Women Reducing Poverty Together project to advance women’s economic security and prosperity. It will scale the project to the Canadian context, using Ottawa as a compelling case study, by adapting the project from one-off policy initiatives to the promotion of a comprehensive urban policy and planning tool: the Caring Cities model. It will address the need for gender inclusive urban planning that takes into consideration the care and work requirements of women, particularly those who are racialized. To do so, the project will 1) adopt and promote a comprehensive urban policy and planning tool: the Caring Cities model; 2) undertake Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) with grassroots women on care economy needs and urban design; 3) design and deliver a Caring Cities training course to policymakers and decision-makers; and 4) build a Caring Cities movement while tracking progress in municipal policy and urban planning.

Through this 21-month systemic change project, the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST) will scale best practices, programs, and advocacy to Accelerate IDEAS in STEM (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Sustainability) to advance women’s economic security, decision-making, leadership and prosperity. It will scale to companies, professional associations and enhance STEM professions across Canada. It will address gaps in inclusive hiring processes, workplace policies and cultures to create equitable pathways for women, gender-diverse people and youth to access STEM jobs and thrive in their careers. To do so, Accelerating IDEAS in STEM will engage communities affected by systemic barriers to address root causes, understand intersectional needs, and co-create solutions with equity-deserving groups that have been marginalized - including youth, Black, Indigenous, racialized, immigrants, 2SLGBTQ+, and women living with disabilities. The project will also provide workplace training, help develop processes and policies, and share knowledge to change attitudes, behaviors, and power dynamics across all organizational levels.

Through this 21-month project, the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres (OCRCC) will build its capacity to advance gender equality. It will address the need to move from a consultant to staff model of employment; identify human resources processes and policies that better reflect organizational values of equity, diversity, and inclusion; and enhance coalition cohesion at the organizational and member level. The project will include strengthening OCRCC as a workplace, strengthening OCRCC member participation, creating opportunities for coalition Board and staff to convene and inform future coalition planning, and building organizational capacity and related in-house resources through professional development and trainings.

Through this 21-month systemic change project, the Pacific Immigrant Resources Society will scale the “Building a Childcare System that Works for Immigrant and Refugee Women” project to advance women’s economic security within the childcare sector. It will scale to deepen the engagement at the policy level between marginalized immigrant and refugee women and provincial and municipal policymakers in the Metro Vancouver area. It will address employment and education barriers faced by racialized, immigrant, and refugee childcare workers. To do so, the project will develop and implement effective engagement strategies with municipalities in Metro Vancouver and the Province of BC, focusing on providing policy recommendations, convening an Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Childcare Leadership Group, and amplifying immigrant and refugee women’s voices at the decision-making tables.

This 21-month systemic change project aims to scale the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS) Leading Change program to advance women’s economic security and prosperity. It will scale to a national level, involving new corporate partners and shelters across the country. It will address the effects of violence, harassment, and discrimination on women when in the workplace; and the financial literacy needs and economic empowerment of survivors. It will take a two-pronged approach: 1. Engaging with local and national employers across the country in domestic violence in the workplace training 2. Establishing a Community of Practice for VAW shelters and transition houses on providing economic empowerment and support programs for women fleeing violence.