Grants and Contributions

Through this 24-month systemic change project, HelpAge will help advance women’s equality. Specifically, the project will address systemic barriers within the senior women community by amplifying the diverse voices of older women from coast-to-coast, enacting policy and practice change, and supporting a better coordinated network of Community-Based Seniors Services (CBSS) organizations across the country. Key activities include conducting a scoping review, surveys and consultations; creating and implementing regional networks (Atlantic, Ontario/Quebec, Prairies and Pacific); and developing tools and resources to better meet the evolving needs of older women now and in the future. An external project evaluation will measure and assess the project’s impact.

This 24-month project aims to confront and alleviate ageism by protecting the rights of older Canadian women—particularly those who are racialized and living in poverty—across four key rights-based domains: housing, income, care, and health. The project will accomplish this objective by expanding the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism; establishing Canada's first rights-based roundtable for older women; developing policy and system reform recommendations through the production of a series of research and policy based white papers; supporting intergenerational programming and pedagogies; and launching an intergenerational hub. By the end of the project, the project will have reduced ageist barriers in policies, programs, systems, and institutions—leading to greater inclusion, recognition, and access to safe housing, healthcare, care services, and earning opportunities for older women. This systemic shift will help foster a higher quality of life for a historically underserved and equity-denied population within Canada.

Through this 30-month systemic change project, Eviance will help advance equality of women with disabilities. Specifically, the project will address a systemic gap related to information about women with disabilities within the entrepreneurship ecosystem that is a barrier to supporting women entrepreneurs with disabilities to achieve economic
security and prosperity.

This will be achieved by: convening a working group of women entrepreneurs with disabilities, and strategic community members to provide continuous feedback to project activities; scanning the entrepreneurship ecosystem for key actors and existing tools; conducting focus groups and interviews to identify and better understand the issues; developing a strategy to address the information needs and gaps; piloting a tool for information gathering and reporting; sharing the strategy within the entrepreneurship ecosystem; and securing commitments from key actors to implement the strategy and plan for sustainability. An external evaluation will be conducted to measure and assess the impact of the systemic change project.

Through this 24-month project, Realize will help advance systemic change and equality for women with disabilities. This will be achieved by engaging with stakeholders and organizations specifically to address the norms and systemic barriers that exist in the work place for women living with episodic health conditions with the aim of helping them achieve economic security and prosperity.

Key activities include regional and national training workshops, community-building cohorts for further learning, collaboration and best practice training, and an online Summit designed to amplify voices, share learnings and foster action. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the systemic change.

Through this 22-month project, Intersex Canada will address the needs and barriers to equality for 2SLGBTQI+ communities. This will be achieved by: developing and sharing tools for accessible services for intersex individuals, building awareness to increase visibility of intersex individuals past and present and conducting research activities to understand the needs and experiences of intersex individuals.

Through this 22-month project, EVA Canada and the Improving Institutional Accountability Project (IIAP) will scale the work of IIAP Phases I & II to address barriers in access to justice for survivors of sexual violence who seek a criminal justice system response. Prior IIAP phases created and implemented the VAW Advocate Case Review (VACR) model now used to audit uncharged police sexual assault investigations in over 30 communities across Canada. IIAP’s three-prong model of systemic change combines supporting communities to implement local oversight of criminal justice system (CJS) responses to survivors, linking advocates across Canada to share promising practices, and finally, engaging national institutions, decision-makers, and advocates to develop consistent national policy, evidence-based practice, and system accountability mechanisms required for effective oversight, data transparency, and outcomes measurement of CJS responses to sexual violence. IIAP III will scale up to implement more VACR teams in new regions/provinces while strengthening sustainability in existing sites, collaborate with stakeholders to develop a framework to address significant national gaps in data collection, and create an evaluation framework for assessing effectiveness and outcomes of the variety of oversight mechanisms (including VACR) currently in use across Canada.

Through this 23-month project, La rue des Femmes in Montréal (LrdF) will expand its relational health intervention approach to strengthen the GBV sector. This project will allow for: 1) expanded access to support, through the establishment of strategic partnerships and collaborations strengthening a network of organizations in Montréal, making it easier for the women they support accessing relational care (both previously unhoused women who are now in permanent housing and women who are survivors of sexual exploitation); and 2) expansion into a new region (Nunavut) and among a new population (Inuit women). It will fill significant gaps in terms of support and access to specialized, responsive, trauma-informed relational care for underserved, isolated, hard-to-reach populations, as well as survivors of GBV with post-traumatic stress disorder. To this end, the project will include expanding relational care in Montréal and deploying the promising practice to partners in the form of training and clinical supervision. Expanding the promising practice to Nunavut through strategic collaborations with partners will make it possible to socially and culturally update and adapt the project, share knowledge and establish communities of practices. LrdF will produce promotional tools in French, English and Inuktitut as required to document or reproduce the project and to expand the promising practice.

Through this 24-month project, Sudbury Queers United Around Diversity (SQUAD) will address the needs and barriers to equality for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. This will be achieved by 1) engaging community and local service providers to identify barriers faced by 2SLGBTQIA+ communities; 2) assessing the needs of 2SLGBTQIA+ people, especially trans, non-binary, Indigenous, and racialized/marginalized groups; 3) developing and testing tools, resources and workshops to help 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals access services and navigate the healthcare, employment, and social systems, while addressing root causes of hate and prejudices; 4) establishing and piloting a support program led by social work students, to empower members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, particularly those from racialized and Indigenous backgrounds; 5) evaluating the results, impact, and lessons learned from the project; and 6) developing a sustainable plan to ensure the continuation of efforts to address root causes of hate, provide support, and increase access to services for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

Through this 12-month project, Uzima Women Relief Group International will build its capacity to advance gender equality for Black women in Toronto. It will address the need to ensure long-term financial health by strengthening financial management structures and skills, improving financial and activity reporting and increasing fundraising capacity. The project will include (1) the creation of a 3-year financial plan for the organization as well as (2) the creation of tools, resources, and processes to improve financial and activity reporting through training, workshops, seminars, in addition to (3) the development of a repository of project fundraising resources and the organization of two strategic retreats to improve and strengthen financial sustainability.

Through this 24-month project, Women’s Centre for Social Justice (WomenatthecentrE) will conduct research to help improve reproductive and sexual healthcare for Indigenous, Black, and Afro-Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, gender-diverse, and trans (IB-WG2SGDT) peoples, in the Greater Toronto Area. It will address the systemic barriers impacting their access to culturally safe healthcare, the effects of GBV, and policy gaps.

To do so, the project will conduct an environmental scan and literature review on reproductive justice in Canada and the U.S., engage in community consultations, and lead community-based participatory research to document lived experiences of reproductive injustice, GBV, and systemic racism. A National Advisory Council comprised of survivors, advocates, and knowledge keepers will support project oversight. In addition, a partnership with a community-directed group of birth workers of colour, living and working in Toronto will be established to ensure that the project is community-driven and culturally safe. A reproductive justice learning exchange hub will be established to share research findings, resources, and advocacy tools.