Question Period Note: Feminist Response and Recovery Fund

What is the Government doing to help women recover from the impacts of COVID-19?

• The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in our systems, magnifying systemic and longstanding inequalities for women and girls in Canada and around the world.
• Recognizing this, on February 11, 2021, Women and Gender Equality Canada launched a $100M Feminist Response and Recovery Fund to provide the flexibility for organizations to be responsive to the broad and diverse systemic issues that need to be tackled to build back better, support a feminist response and recovery from the pandemic, and advance gender equality across Canada.
• This Fund will ensure that Canada’s recovery is inclusive of diverse women by prioritizing projects tackling barriers faced by marginalized or underrepresented women, including Indigenous women, Black women, women of colour, women who are members of LGBTQ2 communities, and women living with disabilities or in rural or remote communities.

Women’s Program
Through the Women’s Program, the Department for Women and Gender Equality invests in projects across Canada that address systemic barriers to women’s equality. The objective of the Women’s Program is to achieve the full participation of women in the economic, social, and democratic life of Canada.

Budget 2019 announced $160M over five years for the Women’s Program to enable further community action to tackle systemic barriers impeding women’s progress, while recognizing and addressing the diverse experiences of gender and inequality across the country.

Feminist Response and Recovery Fund
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, women have faced increased job losses and reduced hours of work, have shouldered the majority of additional unpaid care responsibilities at home, and continue to be on the frontlines of the pandemic. There is also widespread evidence that incidences and severity of some forms of gender-based violence (GBV) may be increasing during the COVID-19 pandemic; particularly intimate partner violence (IPV). These impacts have been even more pronounced amongst women with intersecting marginal identity factors.

In February 2021, the Department launched the $100M Feminist Response and Recovery Fund call for proposals, which will fund eligible organizations to support a feminist response and recovery from the current impacts of COVID-19, particularly for underrepresented women, through systemic change projects. Systemic change projects seek to modify one or more elements within a system in a way that will allow for women and girls to fully participate in the economic, social, democratic and political life of Canada. This may include improving policies and practices; resource distribution; networks and collaborations; distribution of authority, voices and decision-making power; and gender norms and attitudes.

This call for proposals provides the flexibility for organizations to be responsive to the broad and diverse systemic issues that need to be tackled to build back better, support a feminist a response and recovery from the pandemic, and advance gender equality across Canada.

Funding will support projects that address or remove systemic barriers to the advancement of women in three priority areas:
• Encouraging women and girls in leadership and decision-making roles;
• Improving women’s and girls’ economic security and prosperity; and
• Ending violence against women and girls.

Funding will prioritize proposals which address barriers for underrepresented women, including those who are Indigenous, racialized, newcomers, members of official language minority communities, seniors, young women and girls, women who are members of LGBTQ2 Communities, low-income, living with a disability, and living in a rural, remote, or northern community.

The call for proposals closed on March 25, 2021, and assessment of applications is currently underway with an aim to flow funding as quickly as possible to organizations. Approximately 900 applications were received, representing an ask of over $375M.
 

None