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Minister for Women and Gender Equality's appearance at the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO)
February 27, 2020
The Deputy Minister was also present and received the binder for this parliamentary committee appearance.
On this page
- Opening remarks
- Issue: 2019-20 Department budget overview
- Issue: 2019-20 Supplementary Estimates (B)
- Issue: Department for Women and Gender Equality mandate
- Issue: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence
- Issue: Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+)
- Issue: Pay equity
- Issue: Conversations with young Canadians/engaging men and boys
- Issue: Government of Canada's gender equality accomplishments
- Issue: LGBTQ2 accomplishments
- Issue: Rural women
- Issue: Court Challenges Program - Canadian Heritage
- Issue: Bill S-209
- Issue: Strategic plan for the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Forum of Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women
- Issue: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Commemoration Fund
- Issue: Shelters in Canada
- Issue: Gender-based violence at post-secondary institutions
- Issue: 'Unfounded' sexual assaults
- Issue: Intimate partner violence
- Issue: Ensuring responsive and legal justice systems/training for judges (C-5)
- Issue: Sexual harassment in the workplace
- Issue: Sex trade/prostitution
- Issue: Female genital mutilation/cutting
- Issue: Human trafficking
- Issue: Forced and coerced sterilization
- Issue: Abortion services - Canada Health Act - Health Canada
- Issue: Firearms (banning assault-style firearms)
- Issue: Women's economic security
- Issue: Gender wage gap
- Issue: Women entrepreneurs
- Issue: Senior women
- Issue: Women in leadership and decision-making
- Issue: Women in politics
- Issue: Women in STEM and non-traditional employment
- Issue: Gender equality in Governor in Council appointments
- Issue: Department for Women and Gender Equality funding
- Issue: Women and Gender Equality project announcements
- Issue: Gender-Based Violence Program funding
- Issue: 2030 Agenda for sustainable development
- Issue: Canada's position on gender indexes
- Issue: United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) - 64th session
- Issue: Gender and climate change
- Issue: Canada's role in the Generation Equality Forum
- Issue: Gender Results Framework
- Issue: Recent evidence on the state of gender equality in Canada
- The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO)
- Issue: 2019-20 Departmental overview
Opening remarks
Madam Chair,
Thank you for inviting me to join you today.
Before I begin I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin people.
I am here with you today to discuss the Supplementary Estimates B for the Department for Women and Gender Equality or Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE).
It's my first time back to this important committee since the last election, and I must say I am thrilled to return to this portfolio and to continue in my role as Minister for Women and Gender Equality. I am also proud and excited to take on a new role as Minister for Rural Economic Development.
I would like to congratulate you, Madam Chair, on returning in your important role leading this Standing Committee on the Status of Women. I would also like to extend my congratulations to the returning members and to the newly appointed members. I am looking forward to working with all of you.
Systemic change
When the Prime Minister re-appointed me as Minister for Women and Gender Equality last fall, he entrusted me with the mission of driving systemic change that promotes a fairer and more productive society for women, LGBTQ2 and gender diverse people by improving their quality of life, advancing leadership and ending gender-based violence.
To drive such systemic change, gender and equality considerations need to shape all policies across all government institutions. And we are doing this by applying Gender-based Analysis Plus or GBA+ to the design and implementation of all policies, programs and services.
Applying GBA+ and promoting a greater understanding of the intersection of sex and gender, and how various identity factors impact the effectiveness of government initiatives, will result in more responsive federal policies and programs that systematically consider the diverse needs of all Canadians.
Gender indexes
Before going any further, I must point out that our report card for gender equality is a good one. We just have to take a look at Canada's position on gender indexes.
You see, many international bodies and civil society organizations use gender indexes to rank countries' progress towards gender equality. This allows countries to see how they are faring compared to others, and where there is room for improvement.
Overall, Canada performs well in global rankings on gender equality, with consistently high scores in the areas of education, and equality under law.
For example, in 2019, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development classified Canada as having a "very low level of discrimination" stemming from formal and informal laws, attitudes and practices that restrict access to rights, justice and empowerment based on gender.
As well, Canada shines in the area of equal rights under law, which have a notable impact on gender equality in educational attainment.
In fact, the World Economic Forum's 2020 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Canada 19th, which means we have improved 11 spaces in this index since 2015.
Madam Chair, we know that more work needs to be done, but we also know that we are on the right track.
Gender equality
Gender inequality has a very real impact on people of all genders, and everyone has a part to play in this conversation, including men and boys, not just as allies for women, girls and non-binary people, but also because they too will benefit from a more inclusive society.
That is why $1.8 million was announced in Budget 2018, to invest in WAGE to inform federal efforts to engage men and boys in gender equality.
Gender-based violence
To achieve gender equality, we must also address gender-based violence.
As you know, the Government of Canada is doing so through Canada's first-ever strategy to prevent and address all forms of gender-based violence, which we launched in 2017.
This whole-of-government Strategy invests over $200 million in federal initiatives to prevent gender-based violence, support survivors and their families, and promote responsive legal and justice systems.
Among other actions, we are working to prevent teen dating violence, enhancing and developing preventative bullying and cyberbullying initiatives, and equipping health professionals to provide care to survivors that meets their needs.
Our actions are having a positive impact on the everyday lives of Canadians and their ability to feel safe. For example, to ensure that women and girls fleeing violence have a place to go, we created or repaired 7,000 shelter spaces.
In the fall, the Prime Minister asked me to make additional investments, with the support of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, to build on the foundation laid by the Strategy.
He requested that we move forward to develop a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, with a focus on ensuring that anyone experiencing gender-based violence has reliable and timely access to protection and services.
Now, let's move on to the adjustments we are seeking for 2019-20.
Adjustments
Through the Supplementary Estimates B, WAGE is requesting two adjustments.
First, as part of the $1.8 million to develop an engagement strategy for men and boys, we are requesting to move existing funds in Operating Expenditures to Grants and Contributions to support organizations working to engage men and boys. We are talking about organizations that are piloting innovative, targeted approaches to addressing inequality.
Across Canada there are thousands of men and boys joining the cause for gender equality; men working to achieve equality in the workplace, young men and boys learning about consent and healthy relationships, and academics researching evidence-based approaches to gender equality. We must continue to "call men in" to the movement for gender equality.
A transfer in the amount of $297,865 would allow WAGE to support projects from four organizations, including the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters, Catalyst Canada, FOXY and NextGen Men with the University of Calgary.
The work of these four organizations will help to achieve progress towards safe, inclusive workplaces, healthy relationships, and supportive communities.
The second adjustment WAGE is requesting through the Supplementary Estimates B is for a transfer of $35,000 in Grants and Contributions to the Department of Canadian Heritage for a project by the "Association étudiante de Polytechnique, entitled "Un devoir de mémoire : commémoration du 30e anniversaire de la tuerie de Polytechnique" for fiscal year 2019-20.
The objective of the project is to honour the victims of the massacre and build awareness in the Canadian population to help prevent violence against women, to promote gender equality, and to make Canadians aware of the societal consequences of these types of violent acts.
To remind everyone, on December 6, 1989, 14 women were murdered, and many others were injured and traumatized, at l'École Polytechnique because they were women.
The devastating impact of this misogynistic attack on young women led Parliament in 1991 to designate December 6 as a national day of remembrance and action. And 30 years later, the effects of this tragedy continue to be felt.
That's why this past December, to mark the 30th anniversary, Parliament Hill beamed 14 purple rays of light between 5:10 p.m. and 6:10 p.m. to coincide with the period of time when the victims' lives were taken.
We all have a role to play in preventing and addressing gender-based violence and raising awareness is part of our actions to help realize a safer and more inclusive Canada for everyone.
And our work has only just begun. We are taking many other actions.
I think of Bill C-5, which was recently tabled and is making its way through the parliamentary process.
If passed, this bill will amend the Judges Act and the Criminal Code to require aspiring federally-appointed superior court judges to:
- participate in training on sexual assault laws and the social context in which it occurs
- provide written reasons for their final decisions in sexual assault matters
Closing
Madam Chair, we are fulfilling our mandate to drive systemic change that promotes a fairer and more productive society, not only for women and girls, but for people of all genders.
I hope to continue our excellent collaboration and to carry on benefiting from your recommendations to build on this momentum.
Thank you.
Issue: 2019-20 Department budget overview
Recommended response
- The Government of Canada is taking action to advance gender equality and address persistent gender inequalities that affect all Canadians.
- To support the Department for Women and Gender Equality in its strengthened mandate and continue to advance gender equality in Canada, Budget 2019 invested $160 million over five years, starting in 2019-20 and funding of $20 million over three years for capacity building and community level work of Canadian LGBTQ2 organizations.
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality has received $117.8 million in fiscal year 2019-20 including $65.6 million in Grants and Contributions.
- Since 2015, the Government has made investing in the vital work of grassroots and community organizations a priority.
- In 2019-20, the Department's budget for Grants and Contributions to support the work of equality-seeking organizations is more than three times what it was in 2015-16.
- This is the result of investments in new programming, including the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Commemoration Fund, the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund, the Gender-Based Violence Program, capacity-building funding for women's organizations, as well as increasing the Women's Program.
Background
- Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates are part of the normal parliamentary approval process to ensure that previously planned government initiatives receive the necessary funding to move them forward, therefore meeting the needs of Canadians.
- The 2019-20 Department Budget Overview does not include the Supplementary Estimates (B) adjustments.
- The total funding of $117.8 million received in 2019-20 relate to:
- increase capacity and sustainability of the women's movement ($65.3 million)
- gender-based violence against women and girls ($24.4 million)
- advancing gender equality: Budget 2019 ($9.7 million)
- Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls ($5.7 million)
- evidence-based policy to advancing gender equality and undertake research and data collection to support Gender-based Analysis Plus ($4.1 million)
- other adjustments ($2.1 million)
- grants and contributions to build capacity LGBTQ2 organizations ($2.0 million)
- statutory funding (employee benefit plan and Minister's salary and car allowance $4.5 million)
Funding categories | Main estimates | Reallocation | Supplementary Estimates A | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Operating expenditures | 44.6 | 2.9 | 0.2 | 47.7 |
Grants and contributions | 55.1 | 8.5 | $2.0 | 65.6 |
Budget 2019: Advancing gender equality | 10.0 | (10.0)Footnote [1] | N/A | 0.0 |
Statutory (employee benefit plan and Minister's salary and car allowance) | 4.3 | 0.2 | N/A | 4.5 |
Total funding | 114.0 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 117.8Footnote [2] |
- In 2015-16, the Department's Grants and Contributions budget was $19.5 million. Through a number of investments, it has increased each year, reaching $65.6 million in 2019-20. Some investments are ongoing, such as for the Gender-Based Violence Program, while others are time-limited, such as investments under the Women's Program and the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund.
Issue: 2019-20 Supplementary Estimates (B)
Recommended response
- The Government of Canada believes that advancing gender equality requires the engagement of all Canadians.
- This is why, in Budget 2018, the government committed $1.8 million over two years to develop an engagement strategy for men and boys that promotes equality and pilots innovative, targeted approaches to addressing gender inequality.
- Through Supplementary Estimates B, the Department for Women and Gender Equality is requesting the following two items:
- First, as part of the $1.8 million for the engagement strategy for men and boys, moving $297,865 of existing funds in operating expenditures to grants and contributions to support organizations working to engage men and boys piloting innovative, targeted approaches to addressing inequality;
- Second, a transfer to the Department of Canadian Heritage for the project entitled "A duty to remember: the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Polytechnique killings", namely for the translation and promotion of a book recounting the story of the Polytechnic tragedy.
- This project aims to honor victims of the massacre and build awareness in the Canadian population to help prevent violence against women, to promote gender equality, and to make Canadians aware of the societal consequences of these types of violent acts.
Background
- Supplementary Estimates are part of the normal parliamentary approval process to ensure that previously planned government initiatives receive the necessary funding to move them forward, therefore meeting the needs of Canadians.
- Supplementary Estimates (A) were tabled in December 2019 and the associated Appropriation Act received Royal Assent.
- Through the Supplementary Estimates (B), 2019-20, The Department for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) is requesting the following two adjustments:
- A transfer in the amount of $297,865 in Operating Expenditures (Vote 1) to Grants and Contributions (Vote 5) to allow WAGE to support projects from the following organizations working to engage men and boys such as:
- NextGen Men: to build networks and spaces for pro-feminist male leaders to engage among themselves and with women's organizations on gender equality-related issues;
- Alberta Council of Women's Shelters: to promote sports figures as role models to increase awareness of gender-based violence and healthy masculinity;
- Catalyst - to support men as disrupters of sexism in the workplace; and,
- FOXY/SMASH: to engage Indigenous youth, particularly young men and boys, on gender equality in the North.
- A transfer of $35,000 in Grants and Contributions to the Department of Canadian Heritage to supplement their contribution of $40,000 to a project by the "Association étudiante de Polytechnique", entitled "Un devoir de mémoire: commémoration du 30e anniversaire de la tuerie de Polytechnique" for fiscal year 2019-20. The objective of the project was to honor victims of the massacre and build awareness in the Canadian population to help prevent violence against women, to promote gender equality, and to make Canadians aware of the societal consequences of these types of violent acts.
- A transfer in the amount of $297,865 in Operating Expenditures (Vote 1) to Grants and Contributions (Vote 5) to allow WAGE to support projects from the following organizations working to engage men and boys such as:
Budget categories | 2019-20 | 2018-19 | 2017-18 | 2016-17 | 2015-16 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Operating | 47.7 | 41.6 | 22.1 | 14.2 | 10.4 |
Grants and contributions | 65.6 | 29.3 | 20.8 | 20.6 | 19.5 |
Statutory | 4.5 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.3 |
Total budgetary | 117.8 | 73.7 | 44.7 | 36.3 | 31.2 |
Variance operating % |
15% |
88% |
55% |
38% |
N/A |
Variance grants and contributions % |
124% |
41% |
1% |
6% |
N/A |
Variance statutory % |
59% |
62% |
20% |
15% |
N/A |
Variance total % |
60% |
65% |
23% |
17% |
N/A |
Issue: Department for Women and Gender Equality mandate
Recommended response
- The Government of Canada continues to work towards creating a more inclusive society for all Canadians, where every person has equal opportunity to succeed.
- As Minister for the Department of Women and Gender Equality, I will continue to advance equality through the inclusion of women and gender diverse people in Canada's economic, social and political life.
- My Department's mandate is reflective of the Government of Canada's commitment to support the women's movement and equality-seeking groups, with a particular focus on vulnerable women, including Indigenous women, women with disabilities, members of LGBTQ2 communities and newcomer, racialized and migrant women.
- To add to this important work, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed Minister Bardish Chagger to further build and advance diversity and inclusion in Canada.
- As the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, Minister Chagger is responsible for leading multiculturalism and anti-racism initiatives, as well as policy advice and activities to support LGBTQ2 communities and Youth.
- As Minister for Women and Gender Equality, I will work closely with Minister Chagger to ensure a more equal and inclusive society for women and LGBTQ2 individuals and communities.
- With Minister Chagger's support, we will improve the quality and scope of Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) in future budgets and ensure rigorous GBA+ is performed on all Cabinet proposals, with a particular focus on diversity analysis.
- Through our partnership, we will work to promote a greater understanding of the intersection of sex and gender with other factors, resulting in more responsive federal policies and programs that systematically consider the needs of diverse Canadians.
Background
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality and the LGBTQ2 Secretariat work closely to advance key LGBTQ2 files.
- Given the responsibilities outlined in the Diversity and Inclusion and Youth Mandate Letter, Minister Chagger is responsible for developing policy related to the LGBTQ2 file. To ensure seamless program delivery and support to LGBTQ2 organizations, the Department for Women and Gender Equality remains accountable for the delivery of the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund and funding agreements with LGBTQ2 community organizations.
- WAGE and Canadian Heritage are confirming clear delineation of roles and responsibilities between departments.
- The two organizations are also collaborating on strengthening GBA+ for racialized community initiatives by establishing resources, tools, and training.
Minister for Diversity and Inclusion and Youth
- In November 2019, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed Bardish Chagger as Minister for Diversity and Inclusion and Youth to build on the work of former LGBTQ2 adviser and MP Randy Boissonault.
- The Minister for Diversity and Inclusion and Youth mandate letter identifies several commitments to support LGBTQ2 policies and programs including:
- Continue to work with the LGBTQ2 Secretariat in promoting LGBTQ2 equality, protecting LGBTQ2 rights and addressing discrimination against LGBTQ2 communities.
- Provide additional investments to LGBTQ2 organizations to hire staff, expand services and reach more people. This includes hotlines and other support services for LGBTQ2 communities, including those that provide sexual health information.
- Work with the Minister of Health, and in partnership with Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec, to build on existing progress to implement a behaviour-based model of donation that eliminates the blood ban for men who have sex with other men.
- Consult civil society representatives of LGBTQ2 communities to lay the groundwork for an LGBTQ2 action plan that would guide the work of the federal government on issues important to LGBTQ2 Canadians.
- Support the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to amend the Criminal Code to ban the practice of conversion therapy and to take other steps required with the provinces and territories to end conversion therapy in Canada.
Minister for Women and Gender Equality
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality Act received Royal Assent on December 13, 2018 as part of the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2. This transformed the former Status of Women Canada into the Department for Women and Gender Equality with a Minister for Women and Gender Equality.
- The Minister's powers, duties and functions now formally extend to and include all matters relating to women and gender equality, including the advancement of equality, including social, economic and political equality, with respect to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
- The expanded mandate of the new Department also formalizes as a responsibility of the Minister the promotion of the Government's gender and diversity lens, known as GBA+, which involves the examination of the policy and program impacts of the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors including race, national and ethnic origin, Indigenous origin or identity, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic condition, place of residence and disability.
- This legislation has been complemented by the mainstreaming of GBA+, through a number of legislative initiatives, including:
- the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act, formalizing GBA+ in decisions related to budgeting, taxation and expenditures
- new legislation related to Environmental Assessments, Energy, Fisheries and Immigration that require consideration of GBA+
- In support of the expanded mandate, the Government announced in Budget 2019 $20 million over three years to help address the unique needs and persisting disparities among members of the LGBTQ2 community by investing in capacity building and community-level work of service organizations.
Issue: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence
Recommended response
- The Government is committed to preventing and addressing gender-based violence against women, girls, LGBTQ and two-spirit people.
- It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, launched in 2017, has received over $200 million in new investments and over $40 million per year ongoing to advance efforts in three areas: preventing gender-based violence; supporting survivors and their families; and promoting responsive legal and justice systems.
- Since its launch in 2017, the Strategy has made much progress. For example:
- The Public Health Agency of Canada has funded 22 projects to prevent teen and youth dating violence.
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality provided $50 million in funding for nearly 60 projects to support survivors of gender-based violence and their families.
- With funding provided by Public Safety Canada, the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking has launched the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline.
- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police developed training courses and reference guides to reinforce the understanding of survivors' rights and sexual assault, and to improve capacity to respond in a culturally-safe manner.
- In December 2018, the Department for Women and Gender Equality launched the Gender-Based Violence Knowledge Centre's online platform, which compiles content related to gender-based violence into one location, and provides a searchable database for resources, data, evidence, and project funding opportunities.
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality has committed funding to identify promising practices and address resource gaps to address Gender-based violence in Canadian post-secondary institutions.
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality and Statistics Canada collaborated on three new national surveys to establish baselines of the prevalence of different forms of gender-based violence. Results from the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces show that women were nearly four times more likely to have experienced unwanted sexual behaviour in public than men in the 12 months preceding the survey.
- Building on the foundation laid by the Strategy, the Government of Canada is moving forward to develop a National Action Plan on Gender-Based Violence with a focus on ensuring that anyone facing gender-based violence has reliable and timely access to services.
Background
- Data shows that women are more likely than men to experience gender-based violence (GBV) and that some people are at an even higher risk of experiencing GBV, including: Indigenous women and girls, women with a disability, young women, women living in Northern, rural, or remote communities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and two-spirit (LGBTQ2) people.
- On June 19, 2017, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality (formerly Status of Women Canada) launched It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence ("the Strategy").
- The Strategy was informed by an Advisory Council, roundtables, engagement of provincial/territorial counterparts, an expert panel, and a survey. Stakeholders called for: federal leadership; enhanced data collection/analysis; an emphasis on prevention; approaches for diverse communities; and a justice system responsive to survivors of violence.
- The Strategy takes a whole-of-government approach to prevent and address GBV. Led by WAGE, the Strategy brings together the GBV-related efforts of all federal departments and agencies. The GBV Knowledge Centre is the focal point of the Strategy and is responsible for governance and coordination, reporting and evaluation, data and research, and knowledge mobilization.
- The Strategy includes federal GBV initiatives, regardless of their source of funding; however, six departments currently receive funding for specific initiatives under the Strategy: the Department for Women and Gender Equality; the Public Health Agency of Canada; Public Safety Canada; the Department of National Defence; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada.
- Budgets 2017 and 2018 committed over $200 million in new investments and $40 million per year ongoing for GBV initiatives. Budget 2019 announced additional GBV-related investments to continue work under the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet, and to develop a new, whole-of-government strategy to combat human trafficking.
- In addition to the initiatives mentioned in the responsive lines, some early accomplishments of the Strategy include:
Pillar 1: Preventing GBV
- Amending the Canada Labour Code to strengthen existing frameworks for the prevention of harassment and sexual violence in the workplace (Justice Canada).
- Funding provided to The Children of the Street Society to develop five prevention workshops to raise awareness of online child sexual exploitation to be delivered more than 300 times (Public Safety).
- Development of a National Youth Awareness Campaign to promote values of gender equality under the theme of "Technology-facilitated violence" (also referred to as cyberviolence) (WAGE).
Pillar 2: Supporting survivors of GBV and their families
- Funding provided to 26 Military Family Resource Centres to improve responses to GBV (DND).
- As part of the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet, funding provided to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) to maintain Project Arachnid (Public Safety).
- Funding provided to the Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network (PREVNet) for the Training of Health and Allied Professionals Initiative to enhance educators' capacity to prevent teen/youth dating violence (PHAC).
Pillar 3: Promoting responsive legal and justice systems to GBV
- Strengthening sexual assault provisions in the Criminal Code (Justice Canada).
- Creating the Sexual Assault Review Team, which has completed a review of over 30,000 "unfounded" sexual assault case files (RCMP).
- Funding provided to the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre (ORCC) and the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW) to launch a pilot project to review police investigations based on the Philadelphia model (WAGE).
- Funding provided to the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC) to increase investigative capacity to combat child sexual exploitation and transnational child sex offenders (RCMP).
- On February 7, 2020, the government tabled C-5 An Act to amend the Judges Act and the Criminal Code. This legislation would require aspiring superior court judges to take training on sexual assault law and the social context.
GBV Knowledge Centre
- Development of three new national surveys to establish baselines on the prevalence of different forms of GBV (WAGE and StatsCan):
- Survey on Individual Safety in Postsecondary Student Population: data are being collected between February and June 2019
- Survey on Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace is in development
- Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS) released provincial findings on December 5, 2019
- Future releases will include data for the territories (March 2020), LGBTQ2 people's experiences of GBV (May 2020), and experiences of intimate-partner violence (late 2020).
- Completion of Public Opinion Research on attitudes around Gender Equality, GBV and #MeToo.
- Publication of two annual reports (2017-18 and 2018-19).
- WAGE continues to engage partners and stakeholders to inform the implementation of the Strategy, including through meetings with members of the Advisory Council, as well as Provincial/Territorial Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women. A range of stakeholders across Canada have also been engaged to inform the Department for Women and Gender Equality's data collection efforts related to GBV.
- National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls:
- As part of the Government's $50 million investment to respond to the Interim Report, WAGE established a $10 million Commemoration Fund to support healing by honouring lost loved ones by supporting Indigenous communities to develop and implement commemorative events. To date, over 100 commemoration projects across the country are underway.
- The Government committed to the development of a National Action Plan to End Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls, LGBTQ2S people, led by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNA) and supported by WAGE.
- The National Action Plan on Gender-Based Violence:
- The Minister for Women and Gender Equality has been mandated to build on the foundation laid by It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence and move forward to develop a National Action Plan (NAP) on GBV, with a focus on ensuring that anyone facing GBV has reliable and timely access to protection and services, with the support of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
- The creation of a NAP is the Government of Canada's response to the calls from civil society, including from the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls; the Canadian Network of Women's Shelters and Transition Homes; the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women; the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives; the Minister's Advisory Council on Gender-Based Violence; the United Nations Secretary General, through its UNiTE to End Violence Against Women campaign, and the UN's Special Rapporteur on violence against women.
Issue: Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+)
Recommended response
- The GBA+ Action Plan (2016-2020) outlines the Government of Canada's commitment to, and plan for, GBA+ implementation. The Action Plan also includes a commitment for a five-year progress report in 2020 to report on lessons learned and strategic directions moving forward.
- Significant progress advancing the GBA+ Action Plan commitments has been achieved through the government's sustained effort to improve the quality and scope of its application.
- GBA+ is increasingly used to shape a broader range of policies and initiatives. This helps ensure that all government measures are working to respond to differences, address inequalities and foster greater inclusion.
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality plays a critical central advisory role for GBA+ implementation. This includes providing strategic direction, building capacity through the provision of tools and training as well as by helping GBA+ practitioners connect and learn from one another.
- Since the Auditor General's report on GBA+ implementation in 2015, the Department for Women and Gender Equality, in collaboration with Central Agencies and other federal partners has taken concrete action to undertake recommendations made in the audit report and to address barriers to implementation.
- This has included enhancing available supports for more comprehensive GBA+ in addition to increasing requirements for the analysis, specifically:
- GBA+ is mandatory in all Treasury Board (TB) Submissions, Memoranda to Cabinet (MC)
- Departmental Results Frameworks and Reports, and is reflected in the Cabinet Directive on Regulations
- Legislation is progressively including GBA+ more often and increasingly there are requirements for intersectional analysis to be conducted.
- For example, the new Impact Assessment Act requires that GBA+ be a factor in the assessment of designated projects
- The 2018 Canadian Gender Budgeting Act enshrines gender budgeting in the federal government's budgetary and financial management processes
- Budget 2019 further increased transparency by publishing the GBA+ of measures in a Gender Report
- The government's unequivocal commitment to GBA+ is showing results. As the Government embeds GBA+ into more of its initiatives, these in turn become effective instruments to advance equality and inclusion objective
Background
Auditor General Report, FEWO/PACP Reports and GBA+ Action Plan
- The 2015 Report of the Auditor General of Canada, "Implementing Gender-Based Analysis", highlighted the need to advance the implementation of GBA+ as a rigorous practice across government. Status of Women Canada (now the Department for Women and Gender Equality), Privy Council Office and Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat tabled the 2016-2020 Action Plan, outlining specific activities to be undertaken to address the gaps identified in the report.
- In June 2016, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP) and the Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO) released reports on GBA+ implementation.
- The Government responded to the Committees in October 2016. The response included a commitment to update the Committees on the progress of GBA+ implementation by providing an interim report in 2017, a final report in 2018, and to examine the possibility of conducting a formal evaluation of GBA+ implementation in government in 2020.
- Foundational work has been undertaken that will allow for an evaluation of GBA+. This work flows from the Federal-Provincial/Territorial (F-P/T) Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women Forum. Specifically, a common but flexible pan-Canadian evaluation framework has been developed and F-P/T Senior Officials will determine the scope of evaluative work to be conducted when they meet in spring 2020.
- An interim progress report was provided to FEWO and PACP in March 2017, and the final reports to FEWO and PACP were submitted on March 29, 2018. The final reports provided an update on the progress made in GBA+ implementation. Activities for broader engagement on GBA+.
- The 2016-2020 GBA+ Action Plan sets out the government's plan to implement GBA+ across federal departments and agencies. Many commitments under the GBA+ Action Plan have been implemented including:
- making GBA+ mandatory in Memorandum to Cabinet and Treasury Board submission templates
- launching an annual survey of Deputy Ministers on GBA+ implementation
- providing increased support to other government departments including updating training tools and materials, and through the development and delivery of advanced GBA+ training, through the interdepartmental cluster network
- Over 150,000 public servants, parliamentarians and parliamentary staff have completed GBA+ online training. In addition, the Department collaborated with the Canada School of Public Service (the School) to develop a Premium Course for GBA+, a four-day course for policy analysts on applying the principles of GBA+ when writing, reviewing or challenging a Memorandum to Cabinet, a Budget Proposal or a TB Submission. Strategic relationships are being developed and strengthened, and a network of GBA+ experts from across the Government of Canada is increasingly collaborating to meet common goals.
- In addition to strengthening collaboration within the federal government, work is also underway with provinces and territories to advance GBA+ implementation. This includes the development of a national GBA+ Evaluation Framework.
Capacity Building and FEWO proposed Commissioner for Gender Equality
- The first national forum on GBA+ was held November 21 to 22 in Ottawa and drew more than 1,000 participants both in person and online from federal, provincial/territorial and municipal governments, the private sector, civil society, think tanks, academia and research institutions, and international stakeholders.
- To strengthen Canada's ongoing capacity to apply GBA+, as per Budget 2018, the government enacted the enabling legislation of the new Department for Women and Gender Equality, solidifying the important role of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and the Department. The Minister for Women and Gender Equality is responsible for the advancement of equality, including social, economic and political equality, as well as the promotion of a greater understanding of the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors.
- While an Office of the Commissioner for Gender Equality has not been implemented as per the FEWO 2016 recommendations, other measures have allowed for significant progress to be made. Namely, the appointment of a Minister specifically to the Department for Women and Gender Equality, departmental legislation to solidify and formalize the important roles of the Department and its Minister, combined with the introduction of gender budgeting. These measures help strengthen accountability while ensuring collective responsibility among ministers for ongoing progress in this area.
Media articles on the Government's implementation of GBA+
In early February 2019, some media articles referenced the challenges the Government has encountered implementing GBA+ (for example, poor monitoring and low-take up of GBA+ Action Plans). These were based on results from the last GBA+ Implementation Survey, which was released in June 2018. While pointing to the challenges, the articles failed to mention the significant progress that has been made including:
Key findings of the 2019 GBA+ Implementation Survey
In 2019, 74 federal departments and agencies responded to the Survey, which includes 25 organizations that participated in the Survey for the first time.
Overall, the Survey found:
- Elements of GBA+ Capacity: Most organizations have key elements of GBA+ capacity in place (for example, GBA+ tools and resources), and results suggest an increase in most elements of GBA+ capacity.
- FTEs dedicated to GBA+: Most (60%) of organizations have one to five FTEs dedicated to support GBA+; 19% have more than five FTEs dedicated to GBA+, and 18% have no staff dedicated to GBA+.
- GBA+ Training: Most GBA+ training continues to be non-mandatory, but mandatory GBA+ training is becoming more common. The WAGE introduction to GBA+ online course is the most reported form of GBA+ training, across various functional groups. About 80% of organizations have mandatory or recommended training in policy.
- Application of GBA+: Survey results suggest GBA+ is being consistently applied to MCs and TB Submissions, as 100% of organizations report that GBA+ is integrated in TB Submissions, and 99% report that MCs include GBA+. GBA+ is still not consistently applied across the policy development cycle, as results suggest it is less often applied at the initial ("problem definition") and end stages ("policy/program evaluation").
- Barriers to GBA+: The most reported barriers by respondents are "lack of time/capacity to conduct a thorough GBA+" (77% of respondents) and "lack of access to/availability of data or evidence" (76% of respondents).
Issue: Pay equity
Recommended response
- When Canadians can count on equal pay for work of equal value, our economy grows stronger, families prosper and communities thrive.
- The gender wage gap continues to be a persistent problem in Canada. In 2019, women in Canada only earn 88 cents for every dollar earned by men. A significant factor in the gender wage gap is the undervaluation of work performed by women.
- That's why proactive pay equity legislation became law on December 13, 2018. This historic legislation will ensure that more women are fairly compensated for their hard work.
- Under a proactive pay equity regime, employers need to examine their compensation practices and ensure that women and men working in federally regulated workplaces receive equal pay for equal work.
- In September 2019, Karen Jensen was appointed as Pay Equity Commissioner, with a mandate to administer and enforce the Pay Equity Act, help individuals understand their rights and obligations, and facilitate the resolution of disputes.
- Along with pay equity legislation, the Government of Canada announced through Budget 2018 that it will be addressing the wage gaps that affect women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and visible minorities through new pay transparency requirements for the federally regulated private sector.
- The Government will provide Canadians with accessible, online information on aggregated wage gap percentages among federally regulated private-sector employers covered by the Employment Equity Act.
- Where wage gaps exist, pay transparency will prompt employers to take action to examine their practices and show leadership in reducing wage gaps.
- In Budget 2019, the Government proposed the introduction of amendments to the Employment Equity Act and the Employment Equity Regulations that would, in part, support the implementation of pay transparency measures.
- The Government is currently working on proposed amendments to the Employment Equity Regulations.
- The Government of Canada has taken long-overdue action to make equal pay for work of equal value a reality. We're going to do this the right way, because that's what Canadian workers and their families deserve.
Background
- The Pay Equity Act (An Act to Establish a Proactive Pay Equity Regime within the Federal Public and Private Sectors) creates a proactive pay equity regime that will ensure that women and men working in federally regulated workplaces, including the federal private sector, the federal public service, parliamentary workplaces, and Ministers' offices, receive equal pay for work of equal value.
- The Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour is responsible for monitoring the results and effectiveness of the Pay Equity Act and for reporting to Parliament 10 years after coming into force and every five years thereafter, on the status of the legislation. As employer of the core public administration, the President of the Treasury Board is responsible for implementing the new legislation within the core public administration, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Armed Forces.
- Employers will be required to:
- establish a pay equity plan, within three years of becoming subject to the Act, that examines and analyses whether there is a difference in compensation between positions that are mostly held by women and those mostly held by men that are found to be of equal value
- increase the compensation of those mostly female positions to eliminate differences in compensation identified within the plan
- revise and update the pay equity plan at a minimum every five years to ensure that no gaps have been reintroduced and to close them if they have
- A Pay Equity Commissioner within the Canadian Human Rights Commission oversees the new regime. The Pay Equity Commissioner, supported by the Pay Equity Unit within the Canadian Human Rights Commission is responsible for the oversight and enforcement of the legislation. This includes activities such as: investigating complaints, mediating disputes, receiving annual statements from employers, issuing administrative monetary penalties, and auditing for compliance.
- The Pay Equity Commissioner is also responsible for providing assistance and guidance to workplace parties. As a member of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Commissioner is accountable to the Minister of Justice. The Minister of Justice also retains overall responsibility for pay equity in workplaces that are not covered by the Pay Equity Act. Proper funding and resources were put in place to support the Pay Equity Commissioner in successfully administering and enforcing the upcoming proactive pay equity regime.
- Having the Commissioner as a member of the Canadian Human Rights Commission provides employers and employees with a one-stop shop for addressing issues of human rights in the workplace as it is the central resource on issues of equality, discrimination and human rights in federally regulated workplaces.
- The legislation applies to federally regulated public and private sector employers with 10 or more employees as well as Ministers' offices. The legislation covers seasonal, temporary, part-time and full-time positions. Employers with fewer than 10 employees will continue to be subject to the pay equity requirements under the Canadian Human Rights Act.
- The Government is targeting 2020 for the legislation to come into force. As certain requirements of the proposed regime are to be set out in regulations, the legislation will not come into force before those are developed. Meaningful consultations are being held with stakeholders and interested parties and the Government will ensure that the regulations are robust.
Pay transparency
- Related to Pay Equity, Budget 2018 also included a commitment of $3 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, to implement pay transparency measures.
- These measures would convert existing pay information filed by federally regulated employers under the Employment Equity Act into more user-friendly online content, with specific attention paid to making existing wage gaps more evident. This will help to highlight employers who lead in equitable pay practices, while holding employers accountable for wage gaps that affect women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and visible minorities.
- Posting public service wage gap information online, complemented by an action plan or strategy for the federal public service, would establish the Government of Canada as a leader in ensuring progress toward reducing the gender wage gap.
- Budget 2019 continued this commitment to pay transparency by announcing amendments to the Employment Equity Act and the Employment Equity Regulations to introduce pay transparency measures for federally regulated employees.
Issue: Conversations with young Canadians/engaging men and boys
Recommended response
- To advance gender equality in Canada, everyone must participate in efforts to challenge and change harmful and biased attitudes and behaviours.
- Young people have a role to play in changing these harmful gender norms. That is why the Government is investing $7.2 million over five years to engage young Canadians in dialogue on gender equality.
- We are collaborating with youth from diverse backgrounds and life experiences to spearhead this dialogue.
- The Youth Working Group for Gender Equality was inaugurated in May 2019, and participated in the Canada Youth Summit that same year.
- Five Indigenous organizations are also receiving $400,000 each over four years to work with young Indigenous people across Canada and engage them on gender equality.
- Expanding dialogue on gender equality with young Canadians will support youth capacity to build leadership and skills; support peer-to-peer engagement on gender equality issues; and support social change toward more inclusive and equitable ideas, attitudes, and behaviours.
- The Government of Canada has also been engaging men and boys as allies and advocates in the women's and gender equality-seeking movements.
- In 2019, the Department released a "What We Heard Report" summarizing a series of roundtable discussions on the challenges and best practices for engaging men and boys. In particular, this work must recognize that men and boys are not a homogenous group and can experience inequality related to their intersecting identities.
- Additionally, this work must be accountable to the goal of gender equality, and respect the leadership of women's and LGBTQ2 movements.
- Four projects totaling $562,000 have been announced to help address key gaps identified during roundtables.
- Next Gen Men, with the University of Calgary, will receive $125,000 to build networks and spaces for pro-feminist male leaders to engage among themselves and with women's organizations on gender equality-related issues
- the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters will receive $212,000 to promote sports figures as role models to increase awareness of gender-based violence and healthy masculinity
- Catalyst Canada will receive $100,000 to work to support men as disrupters of sexism in the workplace
- FOXY will receive $125,000 to engage Indigenous youth, particularly young men and boys, on gender equality in the North
Background
National conversations on gender equality with young Canadians
- Budget 2018 provided the Department with funding of up to $7.2 million over five years ($634,000 in 2018-2019) to lead a national conversation on gender equality with young Canadians.
- The Department will expand dialogue in support of social change towards more inclusive, equitable ideas, attitudes, and behaviours by engaging diverse groups of youth through two program streams:
- a national youth stream, to co-create conversations with diverse groups of youth across Canada
- an Indigenous-led stream, co-created between Indigenous youth and Indigenous organizations
- This approach to dialogue is informed by research and consultations which have shown that youth respond better to certain types of engagement, such as peer engagement led by other young people.
- National conversations on gender equality with young Canadians will amplify youth-led dialogue about behaviours and attitudes that perpetuate gender inequality, and support cultural change over the longer term.
- The Youth Working Group on Gender Equality met for the first time in May 2019 and for a second time in January 2020 with the objective of co-developing an Engagement Strategy. A finalized engagement strategy is expected for spring 2020.
- This initiative complements the work of the Youth Secretariat to implement Canada's first-ever Youth Policy.
Research on youth attitudes, norms, and biases
- Research shows that a more gender-equal society is associated with a higher quality of life for everyone. Significant strides have been made in Canada toward gender equality in past decades, yet harmful gender stereotypes and gender inequality continues to exist among Canadian youth.
- Engaging youth is fundamental to produce change that is sustainable in a rapidly evolving world. The current generation of youth is better positioned and has more opportunities than previous ones to help shape change, with greater access to information, technology, education and training.
- Pressure continues to exist for boys and girls to conform to traditional stereotypes of male and female roles. For example, a survey by Plan Canada (2011) found that:
- 31% of Canadian boys think that a woman's most important roles are traditional domestic and caregiving roles
- 48% of Canadian youth think men should be the primary earner and provide for their family
- 17% of Canadian youth continue to believe that men should have the final word on decisions in their household
- 45% of Canadian youth agree that "to be a man you need to be tough"
Developing a Strategy to Engage Men and Boys in Gender Equality
- Governments and civil society, internationally and domestically, are increasingly recognizing that men and boys must be engaged as allies, partners and co-beneficiaries of gender equality to see lasting change.
- Budget 2018 invested $1.8 million over two years to develop an engagement strategy for men and boys that pilots innovative, targeted approaches to addressing inequality.
- 11 roundtables were hosted across the country, including regional and thematic tables (Indigenous people, LGBTQ2 people, racialized communities, youth, and corporate). Additional engagement included religious leaders.
- Some key issues that emerged include recognizing that men and boys are not a homogenous group, and that efforts to engage men and boys must be accountable to the efforts of the women's and LGBTQ2 movements.
- In summer 2019, a What We Heard Report was released, which summarized findings under four themes: 1) Identify persistent behaviours contributing to inequality to start unlearning them; 2) Challenge and change negative norms, attitudes and behaviours through accountability and healing; 3) Efforts must be sustained through building networks, sharing knowledge and taking action; and, 4) Accountability and resource scarcity.
Issue: Government of Canada's gender equality accomplishments
Recommended response
- The Government of Canada continues to build on its significant progress toward gender equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, with historic achievements and initiatives.
- The Government has provided a legal backing for gender equality by:
- entrenching gender budgeting practices into law
- establishing a dedicated Department for Women and Gender Equality
- To increase legal protections for Canadians of all genders, the Government amended the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to add protections based on gender identity and expression.
- In 2018, Canada outlined its vision for gender equality in the Gender Results Framework. It reflects this government's priorities for gender equality, highlighting the key issues that matter most.
- That same year, the Government passed historic legislation to introduce proactive pay equity for the federal jurisdiction, ensuring that women are fairly compensated for their work.
- It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, launched in 2017, has received over $200 million in new investments and over $40 million per year ongoing to advance efforts in three areas: preventing gender-based violence; supporting survivors and their families; and promoting responsive legal and justice systems.
- Promoting women in leadership and decision-making roles is another key priority. Measures have been taken to increase women's representation and overcome systemic barriers that keep women out of politics.
- We now have an open, transparent, and merit-based selection process for Governor-in-Council appointments.
- This resulted in the representation of women in over 53% of all Governor in Council appointments in 2019.
- Building on these achievements, the Government is developing a Federal Plan for Gender Equality to continue to close gender gaps.
Background
Key government achievements
- On November 4, 2015, the Prime Minister appointed
- the first gender-balanced federal Cabinet, allowing for diverse perspectives to be represented at the Cabinet table
- the first ever federal minister fully-dedicated to gender issues
- On November 28, 2017, the Prime Minister delivered an apology to LGBTQ2 Canadians, their loved ones, families, and communities. In the apology, the Prime Minister acknowledged the Government of Canada's role in creating a culture of systemic oppression and criminalization towards LGBTQ2 people.
- To address the wrongs experienced by those who were unfairly criminalized by unjust laws and actions, Bill C-66, the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act received Royal Assent on June 21, 2018, it puts into place a process to permanently destroy the records of convictions for offences involving consensual sexual activity between same-sex partners that would be lawful today.
- Budget 2019 committed to investing $20 million over three years to help address the unique needs and persisting disparities among LGBTQ2 Canadians by investing in capacity building and community-level work of Canadian LGBTQ2 service organizations.
- Budget 2019 proposed a historic investment: $160 million over five years in new funding, starting in 2019-20. This funding will 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.
- Over the past year, WAGE has also entered into three innovative funding agreements with organizations that will match up to $30 million of federal funding into gender equality efforts. The new matching partnerships with Community Foundations of Canada, Canadian Women's Foundation and Grand Challenges Canada, will provide funding to women's organizations in Canada and will accelerate gender equality from coast to coast to coast.
Gender based budgeting
- On March 22, 2017, for the first time in Canadian history, the federal budget included a gender statement examining the gender impact of budget measures. On November 21, 2018, the Fall Economic Statement included the introduction of the new gender budgeting legislation to enshrine gender budgeting in the federal government's budgetary and financial management processes.
- Budget 2019 fulfilled the Government's commitment to publish the GBA+ in respect of each budget measure; a comprehensive summary of each GBA+ is provided in the Budget 2019 Gender Report annex.
- Going forward, the Government is committed to adopting a comprehensive and permanent approach to gender budgeting:
- The Canadian Gender Budgeting Act came into force in December 2018, and enshrines gender budgeting in the federal government's budgetary and financial management processes.
- Budgets will also be guided by the new Gender Results Framework with its six pillars of i) Education and Skills Development, ii) Economic Participation and Prosperity, iii) Leadership and Democratic Participation, iv) Gender-Based Violence and Access to Justice, v) Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being, and vi) Gender Equality Around the World. The framework will outline meaningful indicators under each pillar to track success or failure.
Gender-based violence (GBV)
- In June 2017, the Government launched It's time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, a whole-of-government that lays out the foundation for greater action for responding to GBV. The Strategy is based on three pillars: prevention; support for survivors and their families; and promotion of responsive legal and justice systems.
- Some early accomplishments of the Strategy include:
Pillar 1: Preventing GBV
- Amending the Canada Labour Code to strengthen existing frameworks for the prevention of harassment and sexual violence in the workplace (Justice Canada).
- Development of a National Youth Awareness Campaign to promote values of gender equality under the theme of "Technology-facilitated violence" (also referred to as cyberviolence) (WAGE).
Pillar 2: Supporting survivors of GBV and their families
- Funding provided to 26 Military Family Resource Centres to improve responses to GBV (DND).
- As part of the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet, funding provided to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) to enhance the capacity of Cybertip.ca, Canada's tip line to report suspected online sexual exploitation of children, and to maintain Project Arachnid, an online crawling tool that helps reduce the online availability of child sexual abuse material (Public Safety).
Pillar 3: Promoting responsive legal and justice systems to GBV
- Strengthening sexual assault provisions in the Criminal Code (Justice Canada).
- Creating the Sexual Assault Review Team, which has completed a review of over 30,000 "unfounded" sexual assault case files (RCMP).
- Funding provided to the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre (ORCC) and the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW) to launch a pilot project to review police investigations based on the Philadelphia model (WAGE).
- Funding provided to the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC) to increase investigative capacity to combat child sexual exploitation and transnational child sex offenders (RCMP).
GBV Knowledge Centre
- Development of 3 new national surveys to establish baselines on the prevalence of different forms of GBV (WAGE and StatsCan):
- Survey on Individual Safety in Postsecondary Student Population: data are being collected between February and June 2019.
- Survey on Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace is in development
- Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS) released provincial findings on December 5, 2019.
- Completion of Public Opinion Research on attitudes around Gender Equality, GBV and #MeToo.
Housing
- On November 22, 2017, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development announced a 10-year, $40 billion National Housing Strategy that will help reduce homelessness and improve the availability and quality of housing for Canadians in need. The National Housing Strategy is meeting the needs of Canadians, including seniors, Indigenous Peoples, survivors of family violence, people with disabilities, refugees, veterans, and those grappling with homelessness. The Strategy also committed to ensuring that at least 25% of funds go to projects for women, girls and their families.
Human rights
- On June 19, 2017, Bill C-16 received Royal Assent. This bill includes gender identity as a prohibited ground for discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act. It also includes violence motivated by gender identity as a form of hate crime under the Criminal Code.
International
- On June 9, 2017, the Minister of International Development launched Canada's new Feminist International Assistance Policy which will allow Canada to advance a more flexible, innovative, and integrated approach toward achieving gender equality and addressing the root causes of inequality. The Government of Canada is allocating $150 million over five years to respond to the needs of local women's organizations in developing countries.
- On November 1, 2017, the Government of Canada launched Canada's National Action Plan for the Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security 2017-2020.
- On February 6, 2018, the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie announced $3 million for a project to reduce female genital mutilation and other forms of gender-based violence. The project will directly benefit up to 57,000 young girls, nearly 250 survivors of sexual violence and 2,000 adolescents.
- On May 17, 2018, Canada formally announced it would join the Global Equality Fund as a donor Partner, with its contribution designated specifically to provide emergency assistance to LGBTI persons under threat of violence. The Global Equality Fund, a public-private partnership administered by the United States, is built on its Partners' shared commitment to advancing freedom, equality, and dignity for all.
- On May 25, 2018, the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie announced Canada will launch consultations on the creation of a unique partnership to catalyze new investments in support of gender equality and women's rights in developing countries. Consultations took place in four cities in September and October 2018, Global Affairs Canada received expressions of interest from interested organizations in January 2019. In the next stage, an invitation will be sent to eligible organizations or consortia to develop and submit a comprehensive proposal to design, establish, and manage the partnership. Canada will contribute up to $300 million.
- On June 9 and 10, 2018, during the G7 Summit, Canada, along with the European Union, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the World Bank, announced an investment of nearly $3.8 billion (Canadian dollars) to support quality education for women and girls living in crisis, conflict-affected and fragile states. In particular, Canada will expand training and education programs for women and girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), to ensure that we build a forward-looking economy for future generations.
- In June 2019, Canada hosted the Women Deliver 2019 Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, the world's largest conference on the health, rights, and well-being of women and girls. During the conference, the Prime Minister announced that the Government of Canada will raise its funding to reach $1.4 billion annually by 2023 to support women and girls' health around the world.
- The Government of Canada will also launch a $325 million call for proposals over the next five years that will fund projects that improve the quality of, access to, and demand for integrated reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, services, and information in vulnerable communities around the world.
- The Minister for Women and Gender Equality also announced the Government of Canada's intention to work with the Equality Fund to establish an innovative global platform bringing the granting, philanthropic and investment worlds together to mobilize resources for women's rights organizations and movements in developing countries. This partnership will be established with a $300 million commitment from the government.
Health initiatives
- On July 11, 2017, the Minister of International Development announced funding of up to $241.5 million to organizations supporting sexual and reproductive health and rights. Canada's investment will support five organizations that have a proven track record of delivering results in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls. This funding is part of Canada's comprehensive $650 million approach to closing existing gaps in reproductive rights and health care services for women.
Immigration
- On November 7, 2016, the Government of Canada announced its first ever gender neutral travel document. The new Electronic Travel Authorization allows travellers to choose male, female or other.
- As of April 2017, spouses and common-law partners sponsored to immigrate to Canada will no longer experience a period of conditional permanent resident status. Instead, they will have full permanent resident status upon landing.
- On August 24, 2017, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced that the Government of Canada will be working to implement an "X" gender designation in Canadian passports, as well as other documents issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to support LGBTQ2+ rights and advance the Government's agenda on gender equality, diversity and inclusion. An "X" will make it easier for people who do not identify as female ("F") or male ("M") to acquire passports and other government-issued documents that better reflect their gender identity.
Women's economic security
Childcare
- As part of Budgets 2016 and 2017, to give Canadian families more help with the high cost of raising children, the Government of Canada introduced the Canada Child Benefit (CCB). With this benefit, nine out of ten Canadian families receive higher monthly payments.
- Starting on July 20, 2019, the Canada Child Benefit will be increased to keep up with the cost of living (indexation). This change comes two years ahead of schedule and will give parents even more money each month to help them provide for their children.
- Budget 2017 announced $7 billion over 10 years, beginning in 2018-19 to support and create more high-quality affordable child care spaces across the country.
- In support of the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework, the Government of Canada committed up to $1.7 billion over 10 years to strengthen early learning and child care programs and services for Indigenous children and families starting in 2018-19.
- Budget 2017 introduced a new Employment Insurance (EI) benefit for caregivers as well as allowing expecting mothers to take EI up to 12 weeks prior to their due date (rather than eight) and extending parental leave to up to 18 months.
- In March 2019, the government launched the new Parental Sharing Benefit which provides an additional five weeks of Employment Insurance parental benefits when parents, including adoptive and same-sex parents, agree to share parental benefits, or an additional eight weeks for those who choose the extended parental benefit option.
Gender wage gap
- As announced in Budget 2016, changes to the Old Age Security (OAS) include an increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), a monthly non-taxable benefit to OAS pension recipients who have a low income.
- On October 29, 2018, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, along with colleagues, Minister of Status of Women, and President of the Treasury Board and Minister for Digital Government, marked the introduction of proactive pay equity legislation for the federal jurisdiction: an Act to Establish a Proactive Pay Equity Regime within the Federal Public and Private Sectors (Pay Equity Act). This historic legislation will ensure that more women are fairly compensated for their hard work.
- The Act passed through the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2 receiving Royal Assent on December 13, 2018.
Under-represented professions
- On February 11, 2017, the Government of Canada launched a campaign aimed at encouraging young women to enter STEM studies. The social media campaign was accompanied by a website which provides easy experiments and projects that parents, teachers, and mentors can use to support women who see themselves in research.
- On July 14, 2017, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada announced the CanCode program which invested $50 million over two years, to support initiatives providing educational opportunities for coding and digital skills development to Canadian youth, including traditionally underrepresented groups, from kindergarten to grade 12.
- Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has an ongoing social media focus on women/girls in STEM. In February 2018, ECCC hosted a Women and Girls of Science Facebook Live, featuring various women scientists to promote STEM for girls. Female engineers, biologists and researchers demonstrated their work to celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
Entrepreneurship
- In 2018, the Government launched the Women's Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES), a $2 billion initiative to help women grow their businesses with access to financing, networks and expertise. The WES is built on four pillars: 1. Helping women led business grow; 2. Increasing women's access to capital; 3. Improving access to federal business innovation programming; 4. Enhancing data knowledge.
- On November 9, 2016, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) announced $50 million for women led technology firms as part of its efforts to support women entrepreneurs. $40 million is being used for a new program for women-led tech firms and $10 million will support regional initiatives beginning with the MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund to form a new women's pre-seed and seed fund and increase depth of network and resources for women founders.
- On February 13, 2017, the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders was announced. This council will remove barriers to women's economic participation, promote growth of women-owned businesses, and contribute to our overall economic growth.
- On July 8, 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, announced that Canada will contribute $20 million toward the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi). Led by the World Bank, We-Fi will help women-owned and women-led businesses in developing countries to access the resources they need, including financial and technical assistance.
- On November 15, 2017, Minister of Small Business and Tourism announced a $20 million increase in a BDC Capital-administered program that directs early investment to women-led Canadian companies. The Women in Tech investment program was launched last year with a $50 million investment. The announcement builds on that initial investment.
- On September 28, 2017, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion launched the first ever Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES), a $2 billion investment that seeks to double the number of women-owned and women-led businesses by 2025.
Women in leadership roles
- On February 25, 2016, the Government of Canada put in place a new merit-based, open, and transparent approach to selecting high-quality candidates for some 4,000 Governor in Council and Ministerial appointments on commissions, boards, Crown corporations, agencies, and tribunals across the country
- On May 1, 2018, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, welcomed Royal Assent of Bill C-25 as a major step toward making corporations more transparent, inclusive and reflective of Canada's diversity. The amendments will help shareholder democracy and participation, improve corporate transparency, and advance gender equality and diversity in Canada's boardrooms.
Issue: LGBTQ2 accomplishments
Recommended response
- The Government of Canada believes that promoting equality, protecting rights, and addressing discrimination against LGBTQ2 communities is important.
- Women and Gender Equality Canada is supporting LGBTQ2 organizations by providing $20 million in funding for capacity-building.
- This funding will enable LGBTQ2 organizations to build stronger infrastructure and networks of LGBTQ2 community organizations to advance LGBTQ2 equality across Canada.
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality Canada now has an explicit mandate, enshrined in legislation, to advance equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.
- This Department will work with the Minister for Diversity and Inclusion to help ensure a more inclusive future for LGBTQ2 individuals and communities.
- Canada will continue to work toward a stronger understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression issues in the application of GBA+ to its policies and programs.
- As an example, we are working with Statistics Canada's new Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics to address data gaps for vulnerable groups, such as LGBTQ2 Canadians, in order to ensure evidence-based policy on issues that affect marginalized communities.
- In addition to the $20 million investment in Budget 2019 to support capacity-building and community-level work of Canadian LGBTQ2 organizations, the Government of Canada has made the following investments:
- Global Affairs Canada has announced over $30 million to improve socio-economic outcomes for LGBTQ2 people in developing countries
- The Federal Tourism Growth Strategy includes major investments in Pride events across Canada
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has announced increased support for LGBTQ2 refugees fleeing violence and persecution through the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Partnership
- Canadian Heritage has set aside $2 million over two years under the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage program for Pride and LGBTQ2 events
Background
- In December 2018, departmental legislation broadened the mandate of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality to include advancement of equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, which includes LGBTQ2 individuals.
- Budget 2019 provided WAGE $20 million over three yearsFootnote [3] to enhance organizations' service capacity. To date, $2.2 million of this funding has been distributed to seven organizations through the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund:
- Fierté Canada Pride ($250,000)
- Conseil québécois LGBT ($249,963)
- Enchanté: a Network of 2SLGBTQ+ Centres of Canada ($700,000)
- Égale Canada Human Rights Trust ($399,884)
- Canadian Rainbow Coalition for Refuge ($150,000)
- 2 Spirits in Motion Foundation ($200,000)
- Canadian Trans Network ($99,984)
- To support federal work to advance LGBTQ2 equality, the LGBTQ2 Secretariat was established in April 2017. The LGBTQ2 Secretariat was established with Budget 2017 allocating $3.6 million to fund the Secretariat over three years. Through Budget 2019, an additional $1.2 million was invested to extend the mandate of the LGBTQ2 Secretariat for an additional year. The Secretariat itself does not directly provide program funding, but instead helps link LGBTQ2 stakeholders and organizations to relevant funding opportunities within the Government of Canada. The LGBTQ2 Secretariat is housed within the Department of Canadian Heritage.
- Following the 2019 federal election, a new Ministerial role, Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, was established to address a range of issues, including LGBTQ2 equality (Minister Chagger). This Minister is situated at Canadian Heritage, and now oversees the LGBTQ2 Secretariat. WAGE will work closely with Minister Chaggar and the LGBTQ2 Secretariat on LGBTQ2 programming.
- WAGE also provides advice and support to other government departments in the development of policies and initiatives that reflect the needs and concerns of LGBTQ2 communities through Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+).
- In addition to funding, the Government of Canada took concrete actions to address existing inequalities including:
- In 2017, the Prime Minister formally apologized to LGBTQ2 communities for the historical unjust treatment of LGBTQ2 federal public servants.
- In 2017, the Government of Canada amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds for discrimination.
- In 2016, section 159 (anal intercourse) was repealed from the Criminal Code, removing discriminatory provisions.
- A total of $110 million has been made available to compensate Public Servants who were harmed by federal legislation, policies and practices. The Government also put into place an expungement process to permanently destroy the records of unjust convictions of individuals for now-lawful sexual activity between same-sex partners.
- The Government of Canada is working to address the lack of data on vulnerable groups, such as LGBTQ2 Canadians, in order to strengthen evidence-based policy on issues that affect marginalized communities. A new Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics has been created in Statistics Canada to address these gaps.
Issue: Rural women
Recommended response
- The Government of Canada is committed to gender equality, and to supporting the economic advancement of women throughout our society and economy.
- The Government of Canada recognizes the particular needs and challenges of people in rural and remote communities, including women and girls.
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality provides funding, through its Women's Program, to support local, regional and national projects across the country in order to advance systemic change for women's equality.
- Women and girls living in rural and remote areas face higher rates of violence, including sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and family violence.
- That is why the Gender-Based Violence Program, part of It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, is funding projects that support GBV survivors in rural areas across the country.
- They also face barriers to economic participation, including lower employment rates and a greater chance of having low-income.
- Understanding these barriers, the Government of Canada invested $2 billion in the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, led by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
- The Strategy increases women's access to capital, supply chains, export opportunities, training, and mentorship for women entrepreneurs across the country.
- Moving forward, the Government of Canada will continue to work in partnership with rural, remote and Indigenous communities to help build inclusive economic growth and sustainability in the years to come so that people of all genders can benefit.
Background
- Women living in rural and remote areas face particular challenges that preclude economic security and prosperity, including lower labour force participation rates, lower employment rates, as well as their over-representation in low-income situations. Canadian rural communities are also more likely to be primarily older, Indigenous, or comprised of an official language minority group. These intersecting identity factors can lead to particular challenges for rural communities.
- In 2018, police reported data showed that women living in rural areas experienced the highest overall rates of intimate partner violence in Canada with rates that were significantly higher than their urban counterparts (789 versus 447 per 100,000 population). Stakeholders have also reported the difficulty that women in rural and remote areas face in reporting violence and seeking help or alternative living arrangements; and that these difficulties are worse for women with mobility issues living in these areas, such as seniors.
WAGE Initiatives
- In 2017, the Government of Canada launched It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, the first federal strategy of its kind. The Strategy is a whole-of-government approach to ending Gender-Based Violence (GBV) that coordinates federal efforts and complements the work of provincial and territorial governments.
- The Strategy recognizes that women in rural and remote communities are among the populations more at risk of GBV, and helps to coordinate supports for these populations. The increased risk of GBV is partly a result of a lack of access to services in rural and remote areas. In addition, lower educational attainment in these communities can often mean that the effects of harmful gender norms are magnified. Lastly, many rural economies are goods-based, and as a result are more vulnerable to fluctuations in markets. This can lead to increased socio-economic stressors and increased violence.
- The Women's Program funds projects that address the systemic barriers women and girls face to full economic, social and political participation across the country, including in rural and remote communities. For example, between 2012 and 2015, a call for proposals focused on women and girls in rural and remote communities supported 27 projects, for a total investment of more than $7 million.
- WAGE works to ensure a presence across the country. Its funding programs are delivered through national and regional offices, including in Edmonton, Montreal, and Moncton, with satellite offices in Toronto and Vancouver, and visits to stakeholders in the north. This helps to strengthen communication with communities and ensure priorities reflect their needs.
The Women Entrepreneurship Strategy
- Led by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy includes four pillars:
- Helping women led business grow
- $105 million over five years (2018 to 2023), to the Regional Development Agencies to support investment in women-led businesses, helping them to scale and grow, as well as support regional innovation ecosystems, and other third-party programs supporting mentorship, networking and skills development.
- Increasing women's access to capital
- $1.4 billion over three years (2018 to 2021), in new financing through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), in addition to a previous commitment of $200 million for investment in women-led tech firms over five years (2018 to 2023) from the BDC's Women in Technology Fund.
- $250 million over three years (2018 to 2021) for financing and insurance solutions through Employment and Social Development Canada to support women-led business looking to begin exporting or already exporting.
- Improving access to federal business innovation programming
- Coming reforms to federal innovation programs will include a universal goal to improve the participation of under-represented groups, including women entrepreneurs, in the innovation economy.
- Enhancing data and knowledge
- $9.5 million over three years (2018 to 2021) to support a third-party proposal through a competitive process to accelerate the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge, best practices and data on women entrepreneurs.
- Helping women led business grow
- Under the mandate of the Minister for Agriculture and Agri-Food, Farm Credit Canada (FCC) has launched a lending program, of $500 million from 2018 to 2021, targeted to women entrepreneurs in agriculture. FCC also offers advisory services and knowledge initiatives aimed at women entrepreneurs.
Issue: Court Challenges Program – Canadian Heritage
Recommended response
- The objective of the Court Challenges Program is to provide individuals and groups in Canada with financial support to bring cases of national significance before the courts related to certain constitutional and quasi-constitutional official language and human rights.
- The Court Challenges Program is implemented and administered by the University of Ottawa, an independent organization at arm's length from the Government. Funding decisions are made by two independent expert panels, one for official language rights and one for human rights.
- The Government does not have access to information regarding funding applications or cases receiving funding.
Background
- On February 7, 2017, the Government of Canada announced the reinstatement of the modernized Court Challenges Program to improve access to justice and strengthen the protection of constitutional rights. The Program has been operational since January 14, 2019. On February 5, 2020, media reported that the Court Challenges Program has awarded $250,000 to the English Montreal School Board: $125,000 to fund its challenge of Quebec's secularism law (Bill 21) and an additional $125,000 to fund its challenge regarding the transfer of two of its schools to the Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île.
- In the November 2015 mandate letters, the Prime Minister asked the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to work together to restore a modernized Court Challenges Program (CCP).
- Total funding is $5 million per year. Of the annual investment of $5 million, a minimum of $1.5 million is allocated to the clarification of language rights. It is up to the Expert Panels to agree how to allocate the remainder of the amount to either human rights or official language rights.
- The reinstatement of the CCP was publicly announced on February 7, 2017. On September 1, 2017, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced the creation of the merit-based process to develop a short list of candidates for the two Independent Expert Panels responsible for funding decisions.
- The selection of members of the Expert Panels was announced on November 20, 2018.
- The Expert Panels are composed of seven experts. There has been a vacancy on the Expert Panel on Official Language Rights since December 2018.
- The Program has been fully operational since January 14, 2019. The Program's 2019 annual report indicates that the Panels granted financial support to 31 cases, of which 17 related to official language rights and 14 to human rights. The annual report does not provide any specific information on funded cases.
- Funding may be provided to any person, group of persons in Canada or organization incorporated in Canada who requires financial assistance to present a test case of national importance concerning the rights and freedoms covered by the Program.
- The rights covered by the modernized Program now include, among others, freedom of religion, expression, assembly and association (section 2 of the Charter), democratic rights (section 3 of the Charter) and the right to life, liberty and security of the person (section 7 of the Charter). Justiciable parts of the Official Languages Act will now also be eligible for funding. These parts include, among others, Part IV (communications with and services to the public), Part V (language of work) and Part VII (advancement of English and French in Canada).
Issue: Bill S-209
Recommended response
- Much work has been done to enhance gender equality considerations in the work that the Federal Government undertakes.
- WAGE, in collaboration with Central Agencies and other federal partners has enhanced capacities and helped the government respond to increased GBA+ requirements. These additional requirements include:
- GBA+ is mandatory in all Treasury Board Submissions (TBS) and Memoranda to Cabinet
- TBS Directive on Results includes mandatory GBA+ in Departmental Results Frameworks, Program Inventories, Performance Information Profiles and Programs
- The Cabinet Directive on Regulations includes mandatory GBA+ as part of the regulatory impact analysis
- legislation increasingly includes GBA+ and obligations to conduct intersectional analysis. For example, the new Impact Assessment Act requires that GBA+ be a factor in the assessment of designated projects
- the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act, passed in December 2018 enshrines gender budgeting in the federal government's budgetary and financial management processes
- in Budget 2019 the Government of Canada increased transparency by publishing GBA+ in a Gender Report
- The Government of Canada welcomes the fact that conversations on gender equality are happening at many levels, including in the Senate.
- We are monitoring the progress of the Bill as it moves through the Senate and will formulate a government response as required.
Background
- On February 4, 2020, Senator Mary Jane McCallum introduced Bill S-209, an Act to Amend the Department for Women and Gender Equality Act. The second reading of the Bill took place on February 19, 2020.
- The Bill proposes to include a provision in the Departmental legislation that would require the Minister for Women and Gender Equality to examine every Bill introduced in the House of Commons and table a statement that sets out potential effects of the Bill on women, particularly Indigenous women. Bill S-209 further stipulates timing and other provisions in relation to the tabling of these gender statements.
- The intent of the Bill is to provide a publicly available document outlining any GBA+ analysis relevant to the legislation being tabled.
- WAGE officials are currently monitoring the progress of the Bill and developing analysis that could support a government position on the Bill.
Department for Women and Gender Equality Act
- In December 2018, new legislation created the Department for Women and Gender Equality, transforming the former Status of Women into an official department of the Government of Canada. In addition to introducing the roles and responsibilities of a full Line Department, legislation included an expanded mandate for WAGE with two key features: advancing equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression; and promoting a greater understanding of the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors. As such, WAGE now has legislated responsibilities to lead and promote strong application of GBA+ in all Government activities.
- Under the new legislation, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality now has expanded powers, including entering into agreements with governments of provinces or territories to coordinate policies related to women and gender equality; and establish advisory and other committees and provide for their memberships, duties, functions and operations.
- In addition to the Department for Women and Gender Equality Act, there are a number of legislative and non-legislative supports for GBA+ in legislation, such as:
- Canadian Gender Budgeting Act: The Act requires that upon the tabling of the budget plan, the Minister of Finance tables within 30 days "a report on the impacts in terms of gender and diversity of all new budget measures described in the plan" if an assessment of the impacts is not included in the budget plan or any related documents made public. The Act also requires the Minister of Finance to annually make available to the public, the analysis of impacts in terms of gender and diversity of the tax expenditures, that the Minister of Finance considers appropriate.
- Integration of GBA+: WAGE, in collaboration with Central Agencies and other federal partners has enhanced capacities and helped the government respond to increased GBA+ requirements. These additional requirements include:
- GBA+ is mandatory in all Treasury Board Submissions (TBS) and Memoranda to Cabinet;
- TBS Directive on Results includes mandatory GBA+ in Departmental Results Frameworks, Program Inventories, Performance Information Profiles and Programs;
- The Cabinet Directive on Regulations includes mandatory GBA+ as part of the regulatory impact analysis;
- Legislation increasingly includes GBA+ and obligations to conduct intersectional analysis. For example, the new Impact Assessment Act requires that GBA+ be a factor in the assessment of designated projects;
- The Canadian Gender Budgeting Act, passed in December 2018 enshrines gender budgeting in the federal government's budgetary and financial management processes; and
- In Budget 2019 the Government of Canada increased transparency by publishing GBA+ in a Gender Report.
Issue: Strategic plan for the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Forum of Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women
Recommended response
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality works collaboratively with provinces and territories on gender equality through the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Forum of Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women.
- Since its inception in 1982, the FPT Forum has undertaken many successful initiatives to advance women's equality. The Forum has supported the publication of key statistical resources, hosted policy forums and expert panels, and developed research publications on a wide array of issues.
- Ministers agreed to develop a three-year strategic plan for the FPT Forum, which will be endorsed in October 2020.
- The Forum will ensure that the strategic plan reflects issues of importance for Canadians.
- The strategic plan will be re-visited every three years and will be updated to reflect the ongoing and emerging priorities of the Forum.
Background
FPT Forum
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) plays a leadership role in advancing the Government of Canada's priorities on gender equality and women's empowerment through strong intergovernmental relations. WAGE works with provinces and territories (PTs) through the FPT Forum of Ministers responsible for the Status of Women (established in 1982).
- The Minister for Women and Gender Equality co-chairs the FPT Forum on a rotational basis with a provincial or territorial counterpart. For 2020, the co-chair is the Honourable Carol Anne Haley, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women of Newfoundland and Labrador.
- The 2019 co-chair was the Honourable Mitzi Dean, Parliamentary Secretary of Gender Equity of British Columbia.
FPT Forum strategic plan
- Since its inception in 1982, the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Status of Women Ministers' Forum has undertaken many successful initiatives to advance women's equality. The Forum has supported the publication of key statistical resources, hosted policy forums and expert panels, and developed research publications on a wide array of issues.
- In the last few years, Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women across the country have expressed a strong interest in the FPT Forum shifting from an update table to being more strategic, with efforts focused on illuminating best practices and opportunities to advance gender equality in the country. Ministers have sought to collaborate on issues and have indicated their desire to use their influence as a table to leverage change on these issues.
- Ministers have previously advanced strategic tools to assist the FPT Forum in achieving its objectives:
- In 2017, in Toronto, Ministers endorsed the adoption of the Guidelines for Identifying Good Examples of GBA+ in FPT Government Initiatives for use in all jurisdictions.
- In 2018, in Whitehorse, Ministers adopted a Statement of Principles on Collaboration, in order to promote and strengthen opportunities for FPT collaboration and action.
- In 2018, Ministers also agreed to adopt a Gender Equality Indicators Framework (the FPT Framework) which is a common set of 32 gender equality indicators. This was a first for the Forum, and for the country, and it provides an accountability mechanism by which gender equality can be measured and progress evaluated.
- Ministers agreed to indicators in the following five pillars: Education and skills development; Economic participation and prosperity; Leadership and democratic participation; Gender-based violence and access to justice; and Poverty reduction, health and well-being.
- At the 37th annual FPT ministerial meeting co-hosted with British Columbia in Victoria in December 2019, Ministers agreed to direct FPT Senior Officials to develop and refine a three-year strategic plan for the FPT Forum, for endorsement by Ministers at the 2020 FPT ministerial meeting, to be held in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (planned dates are October 14 and 15, including a pre-meeting with National Indigenous Leaders and Representatives).
- The FPT Forum strategic plan will be re-visited every three years and will be updated to reflect the ongoing and emerging priorities of the Forum. A three-year plan allows a phased approach to manage the level of change that this Forum is mandated to address.
- Ministers will still have opportunity to influence and lead change on emerging issues through other activities. For example, in the past, the FPT Forum has hosted knowledge exchange events on cyber violence and sexual exploitation, sexual violence, and more recently on women's leadership.
Issue: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Commemoration Fund
Recommended response
- The Government of Canada is committed to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
- In response to a recommendation in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' interim report, the Government of Canada established a $10 million Commemoration Fund.
- On February 2, 2019, the Department for Women and Gender Equality announced the launch of the Commemoration Fund call for proposals. The call closed on March 28, 2019. Over 140 proposals were received.
- Families, survivors and communities are at the heart of this call for proposals.
- The Fund will support Indigenous governments and organizations to work with families, survivors and communities to implement commemorative initiatives to help honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S individuals.
- Public commemoration is a powerful way to honour truths, support healing, create awareness, and to advance reconciliation.
- A key element of the funding will be flexibility for organizations to apply for funding to address their communities' specific needs.
- The Government of Canada committed to developing a National Action Plan to address violence against Indigenous women, girls, LGBTQ and two-spirit people.
- Canada also committed to ensuring the perspectives of Indigenous women, LGBTQ and two-spirit people, family members, and survivors are included in the development of a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
Background
- In November 2017, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (the National Inquiry) released its Interim Report, Our Women and Girls Are Sacred. Indigenous Services Canada, the Department for Women and Gender Equality, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are taking action to respond to recommendations in the National Inquiry's Interim Report to: better meet the needs of survivors, family members, communities, and others affected by the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls; to support commemoration activities, and; to review police policies and practices.
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality has a longstanding relationship with Indigenous organizations, particularly in addressing the issue of violence against Indigenous women and girls, both through ongoing dialogue and funding opportunities.
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality is leading the Government's response to Recommendation #5: "That the federal government establish a Commemoration Fund in collaboration with national and regional Indigenous organizations, including women's organizations, and in partnership with family coalitions, indigenous artists, and grassroots advocates who have spearheaded commemoration events and initiatives related to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S people."
- The proposal to create a Commemoration Fund responds to calls for the Government to take early action where warranted, prior to the National Inquiry releasing final recommendations. It also recognizes that the call for further support for commemoration precedes the Inquiry process.
- Over 100 projects totalling over $13 million over two years were announced on June 24, 2019, to support Indigenous government and organizations to work with families, communities, and survivors to help honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S individuals.
- In developing the Fund, the Department followed promising practices, including wisdom from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Commemoration Initiative. Building on the Government's commitment to reconciliation and relationship building with Indigenous peoples, as well as the unique needs of Indigenous women, the Department is engaging Indigenous women's organizations, families and survivors throughout the implementation of the Commemoration Fund.
- On June 3, 2019, the National Inquiry released its Final Report which included 231 Calls for Justice to be taken by federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, institutions, social service providers, industry, and all Canadians calling for transformative legal and social changes. The Final Report further calls for the decolonizing of Canadian society and reinstating the power and place of Indigenous women, girls, LGBTQ and two-spirit people by indigenizing structures, institutions, legislation, and policies.
- The Government of Canada committed to bring forward a national action plan to address violence against Indigenous women, girls, LGBTQ and two-spirit people. The Minister for Women and Gender Equality has been mandated to support the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations to continue to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' Calls for Justice in partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples.
Issue: Shelters in Canada
Recommended response
- The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that women and children fleeing violence have safe access to shelter systems, including emergency and second stage housing.
- In 2017, the Government of Canada launched the National Housing Strategy, a ten year $55 billion plan that prioritizes the most vulnerable Canadians, including women and children fleeing family violence.
- WAGE supports the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) on the National Housing Strategy.
- The National Housing Strategy increased funding and support for Indigenous peoples, including women and children.
- In addition, the National Housing Co-investment fund, an initiative under the National Housing Strategy, is providing $13.2 billion in loans or contributions for affordable housing, part of which is targeted to create or repair 7,000 shelter spaces for women and children affected by domestic violence.
- Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy led by Employment and Social Development Canada supports the National Housing Strategy with its goal to reduce chronic homelessness nationally by 50% by 2027-2028.
Background
- The National Housing Strategy (NHS) prioritizes vulnerable populations and recognizes that women and girls face a disproportionate impact from housing needs, and that intersections of identities such as race, sexual orientation, age, and socio-economic status create distinct barriers to housing for them.
- NHS targets include allocating 33% of investments for the needs of women and girls. The target is application-based.
- The $13.2 billion National Housing Co-investment Fund (NHCF) is the flagship program of the NHS. It provides capital contributions and low-cost loans for both new construction and the repair and renewal of existing affordable housing. The NHCF was intended to be a competitive process to help stimulate the best possible affordable housing solutions and to ensure that federal funding went to the highest impact opportunities.
- The Affordable Housing Innovation Fund is another key initiative under the NHS. The goal of the Innovation Fund is to encourage new funding models and innovative building techniques in the affordable housing sector. The Innovation Fund will support the development of innovative approaches to affordable housing, create inclusive and accessible communities, and contribute to the fight against homelessness
Shelters
- The NHS is also building and repairing at least 4,000 shelter spaces for survivors of family violence, which is expected to help reduce the wait-list for shelter spaces. This is in addition to the 3,000 shelter spaces from Budget 2016.
Indigenous
- As part of Budget 2016, the CMHC completed construction of the five additional shelters on reserve for persons fleeing domestic violence in First Nation communities across Canada. The five shelters will receive operational funding from Indigenous Services Canada, and will be integrated into the existing network of 41 shelters serving women and children living on reserve in provinces and in the Yukon.
- 12 shelters are anticipated to be built stemming from MMIWG recommendations.
Provinces and territories
- Under the Investment in Affordable Housing, over $106 million from the federal, provincial and territorial governments supported the creation, repair or renewal of over 5,200 spaces for survivors of domestic violence.
- Provinces and territories are responsible for the design of programs to deliver funding that flows under NHS bilateral agreements. CMHC advances to provinces and territories the full value of federal funding up-front for commitments they make under these programs. Provinces and territories have the flexibility to implement operational policies to advance funding for these commitments in order to support projects and the achievement of outcomes.
- To date, CMHC has signed new bilateral agreements with 12 provincial and territorial partners representing $8.2 billion in housing investments.
The GBV Strategy is funding the following related to shelter systems:
- Rowan House Society: an alternative to women's emergency shelters in rural southern Alberta
- Fédération des maison d'hébergements pour femmes: to improve child protection intervention when there is family violence
- Family Transition Place: a rural response programme in Orangeville, Ontario
The Women's Program is funding the following related to shelter systems:
- Regroupement provincial des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale: to improve protection of women and children victims of spousal abuse
- Canadian Network of Women's Shelters and Transition Houses: focus on advancing the coordination and implementation of high quality services for women and children accessing shelters in Canada through collaboration, knowledge exchange and adoption of innovative practices
- YWCA Yellowknife: build collaboration between five family violence shelters in the Northwest Territories and community service providers to identify and pilot promising practices to respond to sexual violence against women and girls
- National Aboriginal Circle Against Family Violence: design and deliver culturally-appropriate tools and training on the legal issues resulting from family violence (for example, criminal charges, housing rights, family status), to outreach service staff in Aboriginal shelters and transition houses across Canada, as well as provide post-training support
- Alberta Council of Women's Shelters: increase the safety and reduce the vulnerability of low-income and Aboriginal women leaving domestic violence situations across Alberta by improving access to basic service needs. Lessons learned will be integrated into partners' training programs and disseminated through the provincial network of shelters
- Young Women's Christian Association of Canada (YWCA Canada): improve the delivery and coordination of community services for abused women coping with trauma, mental health and substance abuse, by adapting a service model for use in shelters and transition houses across Canada.
- Centre de prévention de la violence dans Kent: improve access to second-stage services for women victims of violence in New Brunswick
- Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter: improve first responder services and referral practices for victims of domestic violence in Calgary
- Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale: increase the safety of women victims of domestic violence and their children in 16 administrative regions of Quebec. Risk assessment tools used by Quebec City's police services will be adapted for use by regional stakeholders, such as social workers and shelters, to improve the coordination of prevention and response services for women victims of domestic violence
- Women's Shelters Canada: address the issue of violence against women by examining the multiple roles that the shelter sector plays in supporting victims
Issue: Gender-based violence at post-secondary institutions
Recommended response
- Canada is committed to preventing and addressing violence against women, girls, and LGBTQ and two-spirit people, including students at post-secondary institutions.
- The Government of Canada has committed $5.5 million over five years to develop a framework to prevent and address gender-based violence at post-secondary institutions.
- Provinces, territories, and post-secondary institutions, such as universities, colleges, and CEGEPs are already working to address these issues and respond to gender-based violence. As part of the development of a national action plan to address gender-based violence, the Government of Canada is working to complement and support the extensive efforts already made across the country.
- Funds have been committed to identify promising practices and address resource gaps for Canadian post-secondary institutions.
Background
- Data shows post-secondary students, when compared to the general population, are at higher risk of experiencing sexual violence. According to Statistics Canada (STC), in 2014, approximately 261,000 incidents of sexual assault were reported by students accounting for 41% of all self-reported incidents of sexual assaults in Canada; 90% of these students were women.
- Budget 2018 announced $5.5 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, to work with stakeholders, including provinces and territories, to develop a framework to prevent and address gender-based violence (GBV) at post-secondary institutions (PSIs) in Canada.
- WAGE is currently engaging provinces and territories to ensure the Framework complements and supports ongoing work across the country.
- In January 2019, Women and Gender Equality Canada established an Advisory Committee on the Framework to Prevent and Address GBV at PSIs for a one-year term (January 2019 to 2020) to provide advice and feedback on the development, consultation and implementation of the Framework.
- In January 2019, WAGE provided funding ($214,403) to Possibility Seeds Consulting to engage the Department's Advisory Committee and over 300 stakeholders (both comprised of representatives from student groups, colleges, universities, unions, community organizations, survivor advocates, and frontline workers) in Listening and Learning sessions. Completed in August 2019, the project report identifies promising practices and key resource gaps, such as toolkits and communities of practice for networking and information sharing.
- As a follow up to the report, in October 2019, WAGE provided additional funding to Possibility Seeds Consulting ($1.5 million) for a two-year project to address the key resource gaps identified in the Framework report.
- In order to address data and knowledge gaps:
- WAGE and STC co-developed a new national survey to collect data on experiences of unwanted sexual behaviours and sexual violence among the postsecondary student population in the provinces. The release of initial results from this survey is planned for 2020. Results will help identify students most at risk of sexual victimization, as well as to inform evidence-based initiatives to prevent and address GBV in PSIs and support survivors.
- In 2019, WAGE funded STC to examine the possibility of conducting a survey on GBV among post-secondary students in the territories. STC advised that surveys are not the best approach to measure this issue in the territories and recommended pursing qualitative research instead.
- British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec, and Prince-Edward-Island have recently passed legislation to require post-secondary institutions to enact specific stand-alone policies on sexual violence.
Issue: 'Unfounded' sexual assaults
Recommended response
- Canada is committed to preventing and addressing gender-based violence.
- It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, launched in 2017, has received over $200 million in new investments and over $40 million per year ongoing to advance efforts in three areas: preventing gender-based violence; supporting survivors and their families; and promoting responsive legal and justice systems.
- The GBV Strategy builds on current federal initiatives, coordinates existing programs and lays the foundation for greater action to prevent and address gender-based violence.
- Through the GBV Strategy, Budget 2018 provided funding to the RCMP to establish a national unit. This unit reviewed over 30,000 sexual assault case files to support proper investigation following the release of the RCMP's Sexual Assault Review and Victim Support Action Plan.
- To enhance accountability, the RCMP is providing national guidance and oversight through the creation of external review committees to ensure that RCMP investigations are trauma informed, thorough, timely, impartial and properly classified.
- The RCMP developed several training courses for all employees, to reinforce the understanding of trauma; victim rights; and myths pertaining to sexual assault. This training aims to improve capacity across the RCMP to effectively respond to gender-based violence in a trauma-informed manner that is culturally sensitive.
- In December 2017, the Department for Women and Gender Equality provided nearly $500,000 in funding to the Ottawa Coalition To End Violence Against Women to launch pilot projects for reviewing police investigations into sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
Background
- On February 2, 2017, the Globe and Mail released an investigative report titled: Unfounded: Why Police Dismiss 1 in 5 Sexual Assault Claims as Baseless. The report cited a high percentage of sexual assault investigations being categorized as "unfounded". As part of this 20-month investigation, the Globe obtained unfounded statistics for both sexual and physical assault from 873 police jurisdictions over a five-year period ending in 2014. The results showed that on average, sexual-assault complaints were nearly twice as likely to be dismissed as unfounded compared with regular assault.
- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) uses the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) definition of "unfounded" in cases when it is concluded after a police investigation that no violation of the law took place or was attempted.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
- In response to media reports, and concerns raised about the investigative treatment of sexual assault victims, the RCMP created the Sexual Assault Review Team (SART) to undertake an extensive review of "unfounded" and "not cleared by charge" cases and develop "The Way Forward – The RCMP's Sexual Assault Review and Victim Support Action Plan" to guide RCMP and SART initiatives.
- In 2017, the RCMP requested support from the Minister for Women and Gender Equality's (formerly Minister for Status of Women) Advisory Council on Gender-Based Violence to provide advice and input to the RCMP sexual assault investigative review and recommendations. Members of the Minister's Advisory Council also provided advice to the RCMP with regards to trauma-informed practices and strengthening police training in cases of sexual assault.
- Through the GBV Strategy, Budget 2018 included $10 million over five years and $2 million per year ongoing, to the RCMP for the SART, complete the file review, and implement The Way Forward – The RCMP's Sexual Assault Review and Victim Support Action Plan."
- As of spring 2019, the RCMP has concluded its review of over 30,000 sexual assault case files. Lessons from the review process will be used to strengthen police training and awareness, investigative accountability, victim support, as well as public education and communication.
- In support of the RCMP commitments made in "The Way Forward", the RCMP's sexual assault review and victim support plan, the RCMP is providing national leadership, guidance and oversight through the creation and implementation of divisional Sexual Assault Investigations Review Committees. These external committees provide an accountability mechanism and serve as an extension to the sexual assault investigation process, ensuring that investigations are trauma informed, thorough, timely, impartial and properly classified.
- The RCMP also developed several training courses and references guides, for all employees, to reinforce the understanding of: Using a trauma-informed approach; victim rights; and myths pertaining to sexual assault. This training aims to improve capacity across the RCMP to effectively respond survivors of sexual assault in a trauma-informed and culturally sensitive manner.
Statistics Canada
- As part of the "Unfounded" process, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) at Statistics Canada published several reports on unfounded sexual assaults including: Unfounded criminal incidents in Canada, 2017 and Police-reported sexual assaults in Canada before and after #MeToo, 2016 and 2017.
- Given the policing community's agreement to reinstate the standardized collection and provision of data on unfounded criminal incidents, the CCJS coordinated with police services, academics, and experts across the country to address data quality and reporting issues, and to reinstate collection of information on unfounded criminal incidents.
- In 2018, Statistics Canada released reports on unfounded criminal incidents. Highlights include:
- In 2017, 14% of sexual assaults reported to police (representing about 3,900 incidents) were deemed unfounded, down from 19% in 2016.
- The number of sexual assaults classified as founded by the police in 2017 rose by 13% from 2016; a total of 23,834 victims of founded sexual assaults for 2017.
- The number of sexual assault incidents reported to the police in 2017 was higher than it has been since 1998. The number of victims peaked in October 2017, coinciding with the widespread #MeToo social media movement.
Department of Women and Gender Equality: Gender-Based Violence Strategy
- Announced in June 2017, It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence is the Government of Canada's response to gender-based violence (GBV). The GBV Strategy builds on current federal initiatives, coordinates existing programs and lays the foundation for greater action on GBV. It is based on three pillars: Prevention; Support for survivors and their families; and Promotion of responsive legal and justice systems.
- In 2017, the Department for Women and Gender Equality provided nearly $500,000 in funding to the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW) and the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre to launch pilot projects for reviewing police investigations into sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
- Based on the "Philadelphia Model" this pilot is being rolled out in eleven communities in Ontario as well as seven in Atlantic and Western Canada. The "Philadelphia Model" is a promising model that involves experts from outside of law enforcement agencies being given secure access to police case files for review. This type of external case review allows the external experts to draw the police service's attention to any worrying trends in the investigation of sexual assault cases.
- Bill C-51, which became law on December 13, 2018, clarified and strengthened sexual assault provisions in the Criminal Code. The amendments clarify that an unconscious person is incapable of consenting to sexual activity; that the defence of "mistaken belief of consent" is not available if the mistake is based on a mistake of law; and that "rape shield" provisions include communications of a sexual nature or communications for a sexual purpose.
- The Department of Justice, through its Victims Fund, provided $30,000 in funding to the Amelia Rising Sexual Assault Centre in North Bay who will work in collaboration with the North Bay Police Service to adapt the Philadelphia Model in that community.
- At the December 4, 2019 meeting of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Forum of Senior Officials Responsible for the Status of Women, senior officials agreed to leverage Canada's GBV Knowledge Centre by exploring options to highlight FPT GBV-related work on priority issues (including sexual violence) and to continue to monitor emerging trends in supporting survivors of sexual violence.
Issue: Intimate partner violence
Recommended response
- This Government is committed to preventing and addressing gender-based violence, including protecting survivors of intimate partner violence.
- For example, the Government changed the laws to provide five days of paid leave to workers in the federally regulated workplaces who are survivors of family violence or the parent of a child who is the victim of family violence.
- The Government of Canada has also toughened laws on domestic assault by increasing the maximum sentence, reversing the onus for bail hearings for repeat offenders, and recognizing strangulation as an elevated form of assault.
- Further, the Government clarified the definition of intimate partner violence to include current or former spouses, common-law partners, or dating partners.
- The Divorce Act has been amended to ensure that domestic violence is taken into consideration when deciding parenting arrangements and recognizes the impacts of exposure to intimate partner violence, these amendments will come into force July 2020.
Background
- Intimate partner violence (IPV), also sometimes referred to as spousal violence or domestic violence, is one of the most prevalent forms of gender-based violence (GBV). IPV refers to physical, sexual or psychological harm by a current or former intimate partner(s) or spouse(s) and can happen within a marriage, common-law or dating relationship; in an opposite-sex or same-sex relationship; at any time during a relationship and even after it has ended; and, whether or not partners live together or are sexually intimate with one another.
- IPV can occur in public spaces, private spaces, and via technology. Forms of IPV include:
- Physical violence (pushing, hitting, cutting, punching, slapping, shoving, strangulation)
- Stalking (repeated or obscene calls, following, watching, tracking, leaving threatening voice messages, contacting on the Internet, constant e-mail messages)
- Sexual violence (unwanted touching, sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape)
- Emotional violence (humiliation, criticism, downgrading someone's sense of self-worth, isolation)
- Psychological violence (threats, intimidation, blackmail, causing fear)
- Financial abuse (financial control, control of a partner's ability to access school or a job, stealing)
- Spiritual violence (using a partner's spiritual beliefs to manipulate, dominate or control them)
- Reproductive coercion (controlling reproductive choices, pregnancy outcomes and/or access to health services)
- Technology-facilitated violence (using technology to remotely observe and listen to a person, to track their location, as well as scare or intimidate a partner)
- Coercive control (a pattern of threatening and controlling behaviour that creates terror and that may or may not include physical violence)
- IPV has been identified as a major global public health concern by the World Health Organization. IPV can affect people of all genders, sexual orientations, ages, socioeconomic status, and racial, religious or cultural backgrounds. However, women are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing IPV, with Indigenous women, women living with a disability, and women living in rural areas being even more likely to experience this form of violence than other women in Canada.
Statistics
- In Canada, IPV represented almost one-third (30%) of all police-reported violent crime in Canada in 2018. During that year, a total of 99,452 incidents of IPV were reported to police services, among which 78,852 were perpetrated against women accounting for almost 8 in 10 (79%) cases. Police-reported data also show that incidents of IPV committed against women have increased 3% between 2017 and 2018, reaching the highest rate recorded since 2012 (in comparison, rates for men have decreased 1%). Perhaps even more alarming, as it is the case with many forms of violent incidents, many who experience IPV do not report to the police. As such, police-reported data are likely to underestimate the actual number of incidents of IPV in Canada. According to national data from Statistics Canada:
- In 2018, police-reported rates of IPV among women were almost four times higher than among men (507 incidents per 100,000 population versus 134, respectively).
- In 2018, women aged 25 to 34 showed the highest police-reported IPV rates of all age groups (1,104 incidents per 100,000 population).
- In 2018, police-reported data indicate that women living in rural areas experienced higher rates of IPV than women living in urban areas (789 incidents per 100,000 population versus 447, respectively).
- In 2018, police-reported data show that men living in rural areas had higher rates of IPV than their urban counterparts (218 incidents per 100,000 population versus 117, respectively), but in both cases were about four time less likely than their women counterparts to have experienced IPV.
- In 2014, self-reported data showed that Indigenous women were about three times more likely to have experienced spousal violence than non-Indigenous women (10% versus 3%, respectively).
- In 2014, self-reported data showed that women living with a disability were twice as likely than women without a disability to have experienced spousal violence (23% versus 11% respectively), and women living with a cognitive or mental health-related disability being at even higher risk (43% and 37% respectively).
Intimate partner homicide
- Not all victims of IPV survive. Between 2008 and 2018, a total of 749 women and 196 men were killed by an intimate partner in Canada, with women accounting for 79% of victims during this time period. In 2018, a total of 67 women were killed by an intimate partner, representing an average of about one woman killed every five days. In almost all cases, the person accused of committing intimate partner homicides against women is a man. Between 2008 and 2018, men accounted for 99% of the accused in intimate partner homicides involving women as victims. According to a report published by the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability, women living in rural areas (37%), visible minority women (29%), and Indigenous women (21%) were overrepresented among victims of intimate partner homicides when compared to their respective representation in the population of Canada in 2018. This same report indicated that the most common method of intimate partner homicide committed against women in Canada in 2018 was shooting (35%), followed by beating (30%), and stabbing (26%). Examining motives identified by the police is important for the development of effective prevention policies.
Federal efforts
- Since 1988, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has been leading the Government of Canada's Family Violence Initiative (FVI) and involves 15 federal departments/agencies. Through dedicated FVI funding, health programs for vulnerable populations have been supported, as well as access to shelters for victims of family violence, public legal education information, and enhancing support services for survivors.
- Through It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, three IPV-related initiatives have been funded including:
- PHAC's initiative to prevent Teen/Youth Dating Violence which supports the development, delivery and testing of innovative programs to promote healthy relationships (22 projects).
- PHAC's Training of Health and Allied Professionals initiative which has provided funding for a project aimed to prevent dating violence and promote healthy relationships by developing training and resources.
- The Department of National Defence's initiative to enhance funding for Family Crisis Teams to support Canadian Armed Forces members and their families who may be affected by GBV. This includes funding to raise awareness of GBV and gender stereotypes, provide information on accessing supports, and providing workshops on technology safety in relationships.
- Furthermore, funded through the GBV Strategy, Women and Gender Equality Canada and Statistics Canada collaborated on three new national surveys that will establish baselines of the prevalence of different forms of GBV within different populations. These surveys will provide the first national data on victimization of transgender and other gender-diverse people in Canada.
- In December 2018, the Government introduced Bill C-86. This legislation provides five days of paid leave for victims of family violence working in a federally regulated sector.
- In March 2018, the Government introduced Bill C-75, to enhance victim safety and toughen criminal laws in the context of intimate partner violence. The new legislation would clarify that abusing a current or former partner in the commission of an offence is an aggravating factor for sentencing, and allow for higher penalties in cases involving repeat offenders of intimate partner violence.
- In June 2019, the Criminal Code was amended to enhance measures to better respond to intimate partner violence. The Divorce Act was also amended in 2019 to require that the courts consider family violence and its impact on the child. There are also other changes to promote the safety of family members who have experienced family violence. Most Divorce Act amendments will come into force on July 1, 2020.
Issue: Ensuring responsive and legal justice systems/training for judges (C-5)
Recommended response
- In 2017, the Government of Canada launched It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence. One of the three pillars of the Strategy is to promote responsive legal and justice systems.
- Sexual violence is a widespread and deep-rooted problem in Canada, yet sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes.
- Criminal laws on sexual violence are robust. Yet there are media reports as well as sexual assault cases that show that myths and misinformation still prevail within the public perception of sexual assault. One of the reasons some survivors choose not to report is the retraumatisation they may face due to these misperceptions.
- The public should feel confident that the criminal justice system applies the laws in an unbiased way, without the influence of myths.
- Federally appointed judges who hear sexual assault cases should be trained on the impact of trauma and the social context.
- On February 7, 2020, the government tabled C-5 An Act to amend the Judges Act and the Criminal Code. This legislation would require aspiring superior court judges to take training on sexual assault law and the social context.
- The federal government cannot impose training on all judges as the independence of the judiciary is an important pillar of Canadian democracy. However, Bill C-5 would show strong support on the part of the federal government that survivors of sexual assault require fair treatment by the criminal justice system.
- This legislation would ensure that judges of the superior courts provide written reasons for their judgements, improving the transparency of the system.
- A recent media report on an Immigration Review Board ruling reflected that the adjudicator relied on myths and stereothypes to make a decision. The Federal Court overturned the decision because the applicant was denied right to procedural fairness and natural justice.
Background
- It is estimated that almost 90% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police. Fear of the criminal justice system and fear of shame are two of the reasons cited for why there are so few reports of sexual assaults.
- One of the objectives of the federal GBV Strategy is to work with the criminal justice system and law enforcement in order to increase reporting, to hold perpetrators accountable and for survivors of sexual assault to expect fair treatment throughout the process.
- Historically, victims of sexual violence were treated differently from victims of other offences and there was an incorrect belief that victims of sexual violence were inherently unreliable and prone to falsify sexual violence charges.
- There remains a belief that sexual assault is simply consensual sexual activity that "went too far" or "got out of hand". Unlike assault, sexual acts themselves are often socially accepted, therefore the case often revolves around consent rather than whether or not the act actually happened. In order to have fair trials, training is needed so the social context of sexual assault is understood.
- Victim reactions to sexual assaults are still not well understood in society and "rape myths" are still common. These misunderstandings, unfortunately, continue to persist in the justice system. In fact, they contribute to ongoing deficiencies in criminal justice system processing of sexual assault cases, leading to imperfect justice for victims and survivors. This has been described as the "justice gap" for sexual assault cases.
- This justice gap can, in part, be closed by enhancing training for all professionals who work in the Criminal Justice System.
- Rooted in research on the neurobiology of trauma, we know that what might appear to be an inconsistency in the way a victim reacts or how they recount the incident can actually be a typical, predictable and normal way of responding to and coping with a traumatic event. Understanding this can change the way we view a victim's credibility and reliability
- Judges are expected to use "common sense" to assess whether a victim's account is credible. If we hope for a fair process, their common sense cannot be rooted in myths and stereotypes about how victims are expected to behave during and after a sexual assault.
Issue: Sexual harassment in the workplace
Recommended response
- All people in Canada have the right to a workplace that is free from sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence.
- The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring federally-regulated workplaces, including Parliament and federal institutions, are free from sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence.
- Moreover, the Government of Canada is dedicated to supporting individuals who experience sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence in these workplaces.
- When in force, recent changes to the Canada Labour Code will require employers in federally-regulated workplaces to include a harassment and violence policy as part of their prevention activities. These employers will also be required to report on incidents brought to their attention.
- Additionally, over five years, the Government of Canada has committed:
- $34.9 million, starting in 2018-19, and $7.4 million per year ongoing, to support implementation of C-65 on workplace harassment and violence
- $25.4 million to increase legal aid across the country with a focus on supporting victims of sexual harassment in the workplace
- $25 million to better inform workers about their rights and how they can access support if they have been harassed in the workplace
Background
Bill C-65
- According to Statistics Canada's Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces, 29% of women and 17% of men report experiencing inappropriate sexual behaviour in the workplace (based on 2018 data). According to the General Social Survey, women are more likely (4%) than men (1%) to report sexual harassment at work (based on 2016 data).
- According to self-reported data, Indigenous women were nearly three times more likely than non-Indigenous women to report having been sexually harassed at work. Bisexual and lesbian women were three times more likely than heterosexual women to report those same experiences.
- On October 25, 2018, Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, received Royal Assent. It will, among other things, amend the Canada Labour Code and expand the obligations of federally regulated employers, particularly in relation to workplace harassment and violence.
- Bill C-65, which came into force in 2018, is intended to simplify the patchwork of policies and processes that previously existed regarding workplace harassment in federally regulated workplaces, including Parliament, the federal public service, and federally regulated businesses and industries. The Government of Canada has stated that it intends to bring the Act into force within two years following Royal Assent.
- Bill C-65 introduced key changes to ensure that employers are required to take steps to prevent and respond to incidents of sexual harassment and violence, and offer support to affected employees, including those in federally regulated workplaces, the federal public service, parliamentary workplaces, and political staff.
- Bill C-65 defines harassment and violence as any action, conduct or comment, including of a sexual nature that can reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or other physical or psychological injury or illness to an employee, including any prescribed action, conduct or comment.
- Key elements of the new regulatory framework includes requiring employers to:
- co-develop with their workplace committee or representative a comprehensive harassment and violence prevention policy and mandatory training programs specific to the context of their workplace
- recognize the right of the affected employee to have a voice in the resolution process
- implement measures to mitigate the risk of family violence from impacting the workplace
- provide support to employees who have been affected by harassment and violence
- report on all incidents in the workplace to the Labour Program to improve data collection
- In response to Bill C-65, the Government of Canada established the Centre of Diversity, Inclusion, and Wellness within the public service. As part of its mandate, the Centre will better support public servants in dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace.
- To support the implementation of Bill C-65 changes, Budget 2018 announced $34.9 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, with $7.4 million per year ongoing, to ensure that federal workplaces are free from harassment and sexual violence.
- The Government of Canada is investing $3.5 million of grants and contributions funding annually in projects that will create safer workplaces for federally regulated employees. Through Employment and Social Development Canada's Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Fund, organizations receive funding to co-develop sector-specific tools and resources that address these workplace issues in order to comply with Bill C-65.
Women and Gender Equality Canada initiatives
- New data will be made available to Women and Gender Equality Canada through surveys developed in collaboration with Statistics Canada. The three new national surveys will provide a more robust understanding of various forms of gender-based violence, including sexual harassment in the workplace. Data collection for the Survey on Sexual Misconducts at Work began in February 2020. The data is expected to be released in 2021.
- Women and Gender Equality Canada is supporting Treasury Board Secretariat in its efforts to: address harassment and violence in federal workplaces and promote respectful workplaces, including preparing a strategy for the public service; and work to determine how the current policy framework can be adjusted for proposed amendments to the Canada Labour Code, Part II, regarding the prevention and resolution of sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence, and the requirements of a single recourse mechanism.
Additional background
- A review of the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Commons on Sexual Harassment has been undertaken, with the most recent report having been presented to the House of Commons on June 4, 2018. The review includes recommendations to strengthen the complaint process and allow the Chief Human Resource Officer to implement additional remedies if the complainant or respondent is not satisfied with the disciplinary action proposed by the Whip.
- Harassment complaints have been raised within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). CAF initiatives such as Operation HONOUR and the Action Plan on Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour were developed to address issues within the organization.
- In January 2019, the Government accepted all of the recommendations made by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP (CRCC) and Ms. Sheila Fraser, in their respective reports related to harassment in the RCMP workplace. An Interim Management Advisory Board was established to provide the RCMP Commissioner with expert external advice on the management and administration of the RCMP, and to guide the foundational changes required to address the recommendations.
- Bill C-77, an Act to amend the National Defence Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts, received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019. The amendments create clear statutory rights for victims of service offences within the military justice system.
- Both the Department of National Defence and the RCMP are funded partners under the Gender-Based Violence Strategy; the Department will continue to support their respective efforts, as appropriate.
Issue: Sex trade/prostitution
Recommended response
- This Government is committed to preventing and addressing gender-based violence, as well as protecting those in the sex trade, whether they are there by choice or through coercion.
- It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, launched in 2017, has received over $200 million in new investments and over $40 million per year ongoing to advance efforts in three areas: preventing gender-based violence, supporting survivors and their families; and promoting responsive legal and justice systems.
- Justice Canada continues to review and monitor the impact of the 2014 Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, which responded to the Supreme Court of Canada's 2013 Bedford decision.
- The Act criminalizes the purchase of sexual services and profiting from others' sexual services, among other things, but allows for certain safety measures identified by the Supreme Court, such as the hiring of a body guard or a receptionist.
Background
- The sex trade and the legal responses to it remain a divisive and controversial issue both within Canada and internationally. The January 2020 murder of Ms. Marylène Lévesque in Quebec City in the course of selling sexual services to a parolee, who is alleged to have been told that he could purchase sexual services when on day parole, has drawn attention to the polarized debate regarding which legislative framework should govern the sex trade. The Federal Correctional Service Agency and the Parole Board of Canada are currently conducting a joint investigation into all of the circumstances that led to Ms. Lévesque's death.
- Those who support decriminalization maintain that the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA, the former Bill C-36) which came into force on December 6, 2014, contributed to Ms. Levesque's death by pushing the sex trade underground and placing her at greater risk. Those who support abolishing the sex trade through criminal offences that target the purchaser of sexual services and those who profit from others' sexual services (but not the seller of sexual services), an approach referred to as the "Nordic Model" because it was first implemented in Sweden in 1999, maintain that Ms. Levesque's death was caused by failure to enforce former Bill C-36's prohibition on purchasing sexual services.
- On December 20, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its decision in Bedford and held that three Criminal Code prostitution offences violated section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (life, liberty and security of the person) because they prevented "prostitutes" from taking steps to protect themselves when engaged in a risky but legal activity. The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (former Bill C-36), often referred to as Canada's version of the Nordic Model, responds to the Bedford case by treating the sex trade as a form of sexual exploitation of primarily women and girls.
- The Government engaged stakeholders on former Bill C-36 in its previous mandate.
- Bill C-36 criminalizes: the purchase of sexual services (section 286.1 of the Criminal Code), which makes prostitution illegal; receiving a material benefit from others' sexual services (section 286.2); and, advertising the sale of others' sexual services (section 286.4), but does not criminalize selling sexual services and allows for the implementation of certain safety measures identified by the Supreme Court of Canada in its 2013 Bedford decision, such as hiring bodyguards or receptionists and working together cooperatively. It also modernizes other prostitution offences, such as procuring (section 286.3) and criminalizes sellers of sexual services if they communicate for the purpose of selling in specific locations that are designed for the use of children, for example, school grounds, playgrounds and day care centres (subsection 213(1.1)).
- Bill C-36 also included some minor amendments to the human trafficking offences to ensure a consistent approach to both the sex trade and sex trafficking, which the Bill treats as related criminal conduct. Bill C-36 complements federal efforts to address human trafficking, for example, through Public Safety Canada's new National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking (2019-2024).
Definitions and stakeholder responses
- The term "sex work" only refers to those who are involved in the sex trade by choice. Others become involved in the sex trade because they are coerced/have no meaningful options. Coerced involvement in the sex trade constitutes a form of human trafficking.
- The sex trade is an extremely complex policy issue on which stakeholder views are polarized. Some stakeholders are of the view that the Nordic Model, including Canada's version of it as enacted by the PCEPA, pushes the sex trade underground and places sex workers, (in other words, those who freely choose to engage in the sex trade), in greater danger, does not reduce the demand for sexual services, and that it is unconstitutional, and raises similar Charter concerns that were considered in the Supreme Court of Canada's 2013 Bedford Decision.
- Many other stakeholders maintain that the Nordic model best protects the most vulnerable of those involved in the sex trade. A wide cross-section of groups and individuals support the current laws enacted by the PCEPA and argue that the failure of police to enforce the law against pimps, brothels and sex buyers as well as the complicity of parole officials allow those in the sex trade to remain acutely vulnerable to men's violence. These Stakeholders maintain that the Nordic model protects the equality rights of women and girls by disallowing a gendered practice involving predominantly men who purchase sexual services and profit form other's sexual services, and women and girls who sell those services.
The Department of Women and Gender Equality
- Announced in June 2017, It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence is the Government of Canada's response to gender-based violence (GBV). The GBV Strategy builds on current federal initiatives, coordinates existing programs and lays the foundation for greater action on GBV. It is based on three pillars: prevention; support for survivors and their families; and promotion of responsive legal and justice systems.
- The Minister's Advisory Council on the GBV Strategy was established on June 27, 2016. The Advisory Council is serving as a forum to exchange views, promising practices and research on issues related to gender-based violence. Many members of the Advisory Council support decriminalization of the sex trade and have voiced concerns regarding the importance of ensuring the distinct treatment of both sex work and human trafficking.
- Members contend that conflating the two may result in human trafficking-related offences being used as a means to penalize sex workers and increase the dangers to sex workers. A related consideration raised by sex work organization representatives is that the conflation between human trafficking and sex work perpetuates a belief that sex work is inherently exploitative and that it fuels a misconception that those in the industry are not in a position to choose their line of work.
Data and monitoring
- Statistics Canada is expected to review the statistics under former Bill C-36's new offences once 2019 police-reported and adult criminal court data become available. Justice Canada continues to review reported case law. The evidence that informed the Bill's development is referenced in Justice Canada's Technical paper, which was tabled before both Parliamentary Committees that considered Bill C-36.
- The data referenced in Justice Canada's Technical paper indicate that women make up 75 to 80% of those who sell their own sexual services, with Indigenous women and girls being over-represented.
Issue: Female genital mutilation/cutting
Recommended response
- Canada strongly condemns the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). It is a form of gender-based violence (GBV), child abuse and a violation of human rights.
- In Canada's Criminal Code, it is a form of aggravated assault.
- Through It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) is working to prevent and address all forms of GBV, including FGM/C.
- WAGE has committed close to $450,000 in funding for community organisations as well as research to work on addressing FGM/C in Canada.
- With Global Affairs Canada, WAGE co-chairs an interdepartmental working group on harmful practices that includes addressing FGM/C.
If pressed about statistics on FGM/C in Canada:
- The government takes the issue of FGM/C very seriously. It is very difficult to gather reliable statistics on numbers of women who have experienced FGM/C prior to immigrating to Canada, and even harder to ascertain how many girls might be at risk.
- WAGE's approaches in addressing FGM/C in Canada include collaborating with governmental and non-governmental partners, including survivors, to focus on awareness-raising, prevention and ensuring that women having experienced FGM/C have access to appropriate health and social services.
Background
- Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is when the labia majora, labia minora or clitoris of a girl or woman is excised, infibulated or mutilated, in whole or in part, for non-medical reasons. FGM/C is driven by gender inequality and is a way to control girls' and women's sexuality. The practice of FGM/C is deeply rooted in social norms and predates Christianity and Islam.
- Those who are at risk of or have experienced FGM/C are from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds and many of them have already been marginalized. Many girls undergo FGM/C as a celebratory initiation into womanhood and for social inclusion.
- Some women have testified that they experienced re-traumatisation upon arrival in Canada because they went from undergoing FGM/C in order to fit into their social group to feeling ostracised in Canada because they are seen as victims and abnormal. It is important that all work to promote the abandonment of FGM/C be done in collaboration with affected communities, and with cultural sensitivity.
- According to the World Health Organisation, FGM/C has been documented in 30 countries, mainly in Africa, as well as in the Middle East and Asia. Although we have no reliable data in Canada of survivors, we know that there are communities originating from high prevalence countries. The Immigration and Refugee Board has also granted refugee status to women fleeing FGM/C or protecting their daughters from experiencing FGM/C.
- In 1997, the Criminal Code was amended to clarify that FGM/C is a form of aggravated assault and that removing a child from Canada for the purposes of FGM/C is a criminal offence. FGM/C is also considered child abuse.
- There has been growing public attention in recent years on FGM/C, with media outlets around the world periodically profiling the issue. The World Health Organisation released on February 6, 2020, International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM/C, that the current and future financial costs of health care for women living with conditions caused by FGM/C amount to 1.4 billion (US dollars) annually.
- As part of the GBV Strategy, the Department for Women and Gender Equality co-chairs, along with Global Affairs Canada, an interdepartmental working group which brings together 13 federal departments to provide a collaborative forum to address harmful practices including FGM/C.
- In February 2020, WAGE and Global Affairs Canada met with the Stop FGM Network to discuss their work across Canada on addressing FGM/C.
- In September 2018 and again on March 18, 2019, the Department for Women and Gender Equality participated in a USA-Canada collaborative meeting to address FGM/C. One of the goals is to form an international working group on FGM/C involving Canada, USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand.
- In August 2017, the Department for Women and Gender Equality announced $352,993 in funding to the Table de concertation pour les organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes for a three year project that will provide supports for women and girls who have experienced FGM/C.
- In January 2019, following a competitive Request for Proposals process, the Department for Women and Gender Equality awarded a contract in the amount of $95,561 for qualitative research to shed light on understanding FGM/C, as well as the risk and resilience factors for this practice. Qualitative data will be collected, analyzed, and compiled in a report, to inform further research, policy, and program development.
- The Public Health Agency of Canada provided funding to Women's Health in Women's Hands to educate, sensitize and enhance supports for survivors and those at risk of experiencing FGM/C. Under the federal Family Violence Inititiave, Justice Canada also provided funding to community based organisations to address FGM/C.
- Justice Canada has two public legal education and information booklets entitled Abuse is Wrong in Any Language, available in multiple languages, and Child Abuse is Wrong: What Can I Do? that outline that FGM/C is a criminal offence and a form of child abuse.
- The Immigration and Refugee Board recognises risk of FGM/C as a form of gender-related persecution.
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is currently revising the Citizenship Study Guide and is undertaking consultations with a wide range of stakeholders, external and internal to government, to showcase Canada's diversity and better represent women, LBGTQ2+ people, persons with disabilities, and many others. The new document will include information on Canada's laws against gender-based violence, including FGM/C.
Issue: Human trafficking
Recommended response
- Human trafficking is a heinous crime that disproportionately impacts women and girls, and members of vulnerable or marginalized populations, their families and communities.
- Our government is committed to preventing and addressing gender-based violence, including protecting those who are at the risk of human trafficking.
- In September 2019, the Government launched a new comprehensive National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, a whole-of-government approach that brings together federal efforts, and is supported by an investment of $57.22 million over five years and $10.28 million ongoing.
- This builds on a previous investment to establish the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline, which was launched in May 2019, as well as ongoing work across the Government of Canada to combat human trafficking, including the RCMP which leads and supports human trafficking investigations across the country through its Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre.
- Since 2017, Women and Gender Equality Canada has provided approximately $3 million in funding towards projects that help prevent and address human trafficking.
- Through the new National Strategy, the Department received $10 million to enhance supports for at-risk populations and survivors of human trafficking.
If pressed about forced labour/labour trafficking:
- The Government takes the protection of foreign workers very seriously and will not tolerate any abuses of worker rights.
- In addition to existing Government programs such as the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, the Government is enhancing its efforts to improve ethical behaviours and prevent labour exploitation within federal procurement supply chains.
Background
- Human trafficking, also referred to as Trafficking in Persons, involves the recruitment, transportation or harbouring of persons for the purpose of exploitation, typically sexual exploitation or forced labour. Canada has been identified as a source, destination and transit country for victims of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and forced labour and, according to the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, police-reported incidents of human trafficking have steadily increased since 2010.
- Human trafficking is a highly gendered crime and a form of Gender-Based Violence as women and girls account for 95% of all police-identified human trafficking victims in Canada between 2009 and 2016, 72% were women under the age of 25, and 25% were under the age of 18.
- Most human trafficking cases in Canada involve young women who are primarily trafficked for sexual exploitation. However, cases of human trafficking for the purpose of forced labour are increasingly coming to light. Individuals at risk of victimization more generally include persons who are socially or economically disadvantaged, such as Indigenous women, youth and children, migrants, new immigrants, teenage runaways, and youth in care.
- Canada's criminal laws prohibit human trafficking regardless of whether it occurs within Canada or involves bringing persons into Canada. The Criminal Code of Canada and the Immigration and Refugees Protection Act contain specific human trafficking offences, including trafficking in adults, child trafficking, materially benefiting from human trafficking and withholding or destroying identity documents to facilitate this crime. The Criminal Code also provides comprehensive protections against all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation of children, including the prohibition against the offering or procurement of a child for illicit sexual activity.
- Following the expiry of the 2012 to 2016 National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, the Government of Canada continued to take action to address this crime, coordinated by the federal Human Trafficking Taskforce (HTT), including: enhancing funding for victims of human trafficking through Justice Canada's Victims Fund, increasing protections for temporary foreign workers and introducing legislation that provided police and prosecutors new tools to investigate and prosecute human trafficking offences (former Bill C-38) and to help address cross-border crimes (former Bill C-21).
- Budget 2018 invested $14.51 million over five years and $2.89 million per year ongoing, to establish the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline, which launched in May 2019. Operated by the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking, the hotline is a multi-lingual, 24/7, toll-free line that can receive tips and information as well as refer victims to local law enforcement, shelters, and other trauma-informed supports and services.
- In September 2019, the Government launched the new National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, supported by an investment of $57.22 million over five years and $10.28 million ongoing. The National Strategy builds on the internationally-recognized pillars of prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnerships, and incorporates a new pillar of "empowerment" to ensure the Strategy is survivor-centric and enhances supports and services to help them regain control over their lives.
- As part of the new National Strategy, WAGE received $10 million over five years and $2 million ongoing to develop the Human Trafficking Fund, under the new Empowerment Pillar. The Fund will providing funding to eligible organizations to:
- develop, deliver, and test innovative prevention initiatives for at-risk populations, including, but not limited to: women and girls, Indigenous women and girls, LGBTQ2 and gender non-binary people, immigrant and migrant women, children and youth
- develop, deliver, and test innovative short-term promising continuum of care interventions to support survivors while they transition out of human trafficking
- WAGE's Human Trafficking Fund will also contribute to other Government of Canada priorities including preventing and addressing Gender-Based Violence and implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Calls for Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice.
International trafficking in persons
- In the 2019 U.S Department of State Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, Canada ranked as a Tier 1 country (in other words, complies with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act minimum standards). Recommendations for Canada include, but were not limited to: implement a new national anti-trafficking action plan; prosecute traffickers; amend legislation to include a definition of human trafficking consistent with international law; significantly increase trauma-informed specialized services and shelter available to victims; and increase nation-wide trafficking data collection.
Issue: Forced and coerced sterilization
Recommended response
- Canada is committed to preventing and addressing gender-based violence and to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
- Canada condemns the practice of forced and coerced sterilization and acknowledges that it is a heinous form of gender-based violence and a gross violation of human rights.
- In Canada, forced and coerced sterilization has disproportionately targeted women and girls, Indigenous women and girls, and women with disabilities.
- In 2018, the United Nations Committee Against Torture recognized forced and coerced sterilization as a human rights violation and a form of torture.
- Through It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, launched in 2017, WAGE is committed to supporting federal partners in preventing and addressing forced and coerced sterilization.
Background
- Forced and coerced sterilization is the process of surgically removing or disabling an individual's reproductive organs without their free, full and informed consent.
- This form of gender-based violence is rooted in eugenics and notions of population control. Although the procedure is performed on both men and women, women are much more frequently victimized because of gender-specific situations, such as childbirth, which make them more vulnerable to non-consensual procedures. The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls indicates that language barriers may have also played a role in Inuit women's non-consensual sterilization.
- In Canada, women and girls, women with disabilities, and Indigenous Peoples were specifically targeted between 1928 and the mid-1970's. While all legislation allowing forced and coerced sterilization has since been rescinded, The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls indicates that "Indigenous women across Canada tell stories of 'coerced sterilization' that continues even today."
- The full scale of the problem is unknown because there has been no comprehensive investigation or publicly available data.
- On December 7, 2018, the United Nations Committee Against Torture officially recognized that sterilizing Indigenous women without consent is a form of torture, and called on Canada to "ensure that all allegations of forced or coerced sterilization are impartially investigated, that the persons responsible are held accountable and that adequate redress is provided to the victims." The Native Women's Association of Canada, Amnesty International Canada and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights strongly support these recommendations.
- Following the release of her co-authored report entitled "Tubal Ligation in the Saskatoon Health Region: The Lived Experience of Aboriginal Women", Senator Yvonne Boyer called for a nation-wide review of the practice of forced and coerced sterilization in November 2018.
- On December 10, 2018, FEWO was briefed by officials from Indigenous Services Canada and Health Canada on Forced Sterilizations in Canada and the steps the government is taking to address the issue.
- In January 2019, the Standing Committee on Health was briefed by officials from Health Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, and Women and Gender Equality Canada on this issue for women in Canada.
- On December 7, 2018, the Department of Justice stated it does not plan to change the Criminal Code to explicitly outlaw coerced sterilization, rejecting a resolution passed by the Assembly of First Nations earlier that month.
- The Criminal Code already prohibits touching of any kind without the consent of the person being touched. This offence applies in a medical setting; where a person has decision-making capacity, physicians must obtain consent from that person before performing a medical procedure, including surgery. The only exception relates to situations where there is an emergency situation where a person is unconscious (and so incapable of giving consent) and medical treatment is necessary to save their life. Outside of this circumstance, the absence of consent can give rise to the offence of assault.
- In August 2019, M.P. Bill Casey, Chair of the Standing Committee on Health, wrote a letter to the Ministers of Health, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Indigenous Services, which outlined the findings of the committee's study on forced sterilization in Canada. The letter offers recommendations on how the federal government could move forward immediately to address this issue, including:
- supporting more research and data collection to understand the full scope of the forced and coerced sterilization of women in Canada both in the past and today
- developing accountability and reporting mechanisms to provide a culturally safe environment for Indigenous women to report experiences of forced and coerced sterilization
- explicitly criminalizing forced and coerced sterilization under the Criminal Code
- providing reparations and supports for victims/survivors of forced and coerced sterilization
- preventing further instances of forced and coerced sterilization
- Since 2019, Indigenous Services Canada and Health Canada has led a pan-Canadian working group on measures to improve cultural safety in health systems on forced sterilisation with provincial and territorial representatives. The working group is comprised of federal, provincial, and territorial representatives, Indigenous groups, licencing bodies of medical professions, medical associations, mainstream medical organisations, and national Indigenous organizations.
- The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls states that forced and coerced sterilization "represents directed state violence against Indigenous women, and contributes to the dehumanization and objectification of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people."
- Given that the federal GBV Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence takes a whole-of-government approach, Women and Gender Equality Canada will continue to engage complementary federal departments, as appropriate.
Issue: Abortion services – Canada Health Act – Health Canada
Recommended response
- Our Government firmly supports a woman's right to choose, and believes that safe and legal abortion services should be available to all Canadian women.
- A woman should not face charges when seeking these insured services.
- This issue has been raised with the New Brunswick government and we continue to work with them to ensure access without costs for women seeking abortion.
Background
- In New Brunswick (NB), Regulation 84-20 of the NB Medical Services Payment Act limits coverage of surgical abortion services to approved hospitals (three NB hospitals currently offer the service, two in Moncton and one in Bathurst). This means that women who receive these services at the private clinic in Fredericton are required to pay out of pocket. New Brunswick is the last province with a private abortion clinic that refuses to provide coverage for services delivered there. Patient charges for abortion services received in private clinics are considered extra-billing and user charges under the Canada Health Act (CHA) and raise concerns under the accessibility and comprehensiveness criteria of the Act. The lack of coverage for abortions performed in private clinics has been discussed bilaterally with NB since 1995, without resolution.
- The Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton closed in July 2014. Clinic officials indicated New Brunswick regulations preventing coverage of abortion services provided in private clinics made the clinic financially unviable. A crowd-sourcing effort subsequently raised sufficient funds and in January 2015, it was reopened as Clinic 554. The clinic's web-site indicates abortion services cost between $700 and $850, depending on the stage of pregnancy. It also indicates financial assistance may be available from the National Abortion Federation and provides contact information. The clinic also offers primary health care services and services to the LGBT community, all of which are covered under the provincial health insurance plan, according to the clinic director. It claims a roster of 3,000 patients.
- Clinic 554, which is the only facility in the area providing surgical abortion services, may close due to the lack of public funding for these services. In early July 2019, former Minister Petitpas Taylor met with the NB Health Minister to discuss the accessibility and comprehensive concerns related to this issue, including the patient charges being levied by the clinic for the abortion services. These concerns were reiterated in the Minister's follow-up letter sent on July 24, 2019. NB has not formally responded to the July letter. However, the NB Health Ministry has repeatedly stated publicly that the government has no intention of changing its position on the issue, most recently in its October 2019 response to a request to fund the services that came from the health authority (Horizon Health Network) responsible for the delivery of health services in Fredericton area.
- Access to abortion services has improved in New Brunswick in recent years, under policies initiated by the previous provincial government. In 2015, the province increased the number of hospitals providing the service from two to three, reduced restrictions on referrals for the service, and eliminated the requirement that the service be provided by a specialist. In 2017, the province became the first province to provide universal coverage for Mifegymiso, under the provincial health insurance plan.
- There are CHA concerns regarding abortion services in other provinces. In summer 2019, media reports indicated that Ontario women are encountering patient charges for abortion services when they sought insured services in certain private clinics in the GTA. Health Canada officials met with their colleagues from Ontario, which committed to investigating and eliminating these patient charges.
- Access to abortion services is challenging for women in a number of provinces, where the distance travelled to seek surgical abortions or referrals for medical abortions can be great.
- On an annual basis, provinces and territories are required under the Canada Health Act to submit financial statements of patient charges to Health Canada. To date, New Brunswick has not included patient charges for abortion services received in the Fredericton clinic in its financial statements although they have been specifically asked to do so this year.
Issue: Firearms (banning assault-style firearms)
Recommended response
- Our government is committed to making our communities safer, including by strengthening gun control and addressing the social conditions that contribute to violence.
- From coast to coast to coast we have seen a strong consensus that more must be done to keep our communities safe from firearms.
- We have taken decisive action to strengthen gun control and intend to ban assault-style firearms and offer a buyback option for Canadians who currently own them.
- We will also continue to protect the rights of hunters, farmers, and lawful firearms owners.
Background
- Since 2013, firearms-related violent crime, including homicides, has increased significantly. This rise has fuelled public concerns and have given rise to demands for federal action to curtail the availability of firearms in Canada.
- In 2017, the Government of Canada launched the Initiative to Take Action Against Guns and Gangs, supported by an investment of $327.6 million over five years and $100 million ongoing. The majority of resources, approximately $214 million over five years is allocated to provinces and territories to combat the issue of gun and gang violence in communities across Canada.
- In June 2019, the Government of Canada passed legislation (former Bill C-71) that included provisions that strengthened the eligibility criteria to possess a firearm, established licence verification protocols for the sale of a firearm, improved vendor record-keeping requirements, and to grandfather four models of the CZ and 16 models of the SAN Swiss Arms firearms.
- While some technical amendments came into force immediately, others including licence verification, business record keeping, transportation provisions and grandfathering for CZ/SA owners will come into force by Order-in-Council at a later date.
- In addition to the assault-style firearm ban, the Government of Canada has committed to: working with provinces and territories to give municipalities the ability to further restrict or ban handguns; strengthening firearm storage regulations as a theft deterrent, developing a mechanism for suspending licences for those who pose a danger to themselves or others, and providing additional resources to the RCMP and CBSA to detect and stop gun smuggling.
Key statistics
- In Canada, firearm-related violent crime declined 33% between 2009 and 2013; however, has increased by 42% between 2013 and 2017.
- In each year since 2009, approximately 60% of firearm-related violent crimes involved handguns.
- Since 2013, 43% of the national increase in violent crimes involving firearms is due to more victims in Toronto; although 16 of Canada's metropolitan areas saw increases in their rate of firearm-related crime
- Firearm-related homicides doubled from 2013 to 2017, but fell slightly in 2018.
- According to police-reported data, gang violence accounted for approximately 50% of firearms-related homicides in 2017 and 2018.
- In 2016, 2.8% of all police-reported violent crimes involved a firearm.
Intimate partner violence in Canada
- In 2018, intimate partner violence (IPV) accounted for 30% of all victims of police-reported violence crime in Canada.
- A weapon (knife, club, firearm, other) was present in about 15% cases of police-reported IPV.
- The presence of a weapon was more common in IPV involving male victims (24%) than female victims (13%).
- The presence of a firearm was present in 1% of police-reported incidents of IPV.
Issue: Women's economic security
Recommended response
- The Government is taking steps to address the root causes of women's economic vulnerability through several measures, including:
- increasing women's participation in the workforce:
- new programs to support women in the skilled trades
- pilot programming to support labour market pathways for newcomer women
- Women Entrepreneurship Strategy to support and grow women-led business
- ensuring a fair and safe workplace:
- pay equity legislation and pay transparency measures
- supporting the implementation of Bill C-65 to prevent and respond to workplace harassment
- better addressing systemic vulnerabilities:
- investments through the National Housing Strategy in projects for women fleeing violence
- providing paid leave from work for victims of family violence
- ensuring better access to the Canada Child Benefit for families who most need it
- establishing a Guaranteed Paid Family Leave program to ensure that parents who would not receive sufficient funds through Employment Insurance will receive a guaranteed income during the first year of their child's life
- investing in Early Learning and Child Care to support low income families
- increasing the Guaranteed Income Support for vulnerable seniors; and improving access to the Canada Worker Benefit
- increasing women's participation in the workforce:
- In fall 2017, the Department for Women and Gender Equality launched two calls for proposals, representing approximately $15 million, to increase the economic security of women in Canada. Of the $15 million, $5 million was to support Indigenous women's economic success.
Background
Poverty reduction strategy
- In August 2018, the Government of Canada released Opportunity for All: Canada's First Poverty Reduction Strategy, which targeted a 20% reduction in poverty by 2020 and a 50% reduction in poverty by 2030, relative to 2015 levels. The government met its first poverty reduction target a full three years ahead of schedule. Between 2015 and 2017, the poverty rate fell by more than 20% to 9.5%. Key investments include the Canada Child Benefit, the Canada Workers Benefit, the Guaranteed Income Supplement, and the National Housing Strategy (details below).
Canada's statistics on populations living in a low income situation
- Since August 2018, the Market Basket Measure (MBM), which defines low income in relation to the cost of a predefined set of goods and services, is used as Canada's official poverty line.
- In 2017, 9.6% of females and 9.4% of males lived below the poverty line (MBM), compared to 12.3% of females and 11.9% of males in 2015.
- Some populations of women face particular barriers: 27.1% of children in female lone-parent families lived below the poverty line, compared to 6.8% for those living in a couple families in 2017. In 2015, 36.4% of children in female lone-parent families lived below the poverty line.
- 4.2% of elderly women (aged 65 and older) and 3.6% of elderly men lived below the poverty line (MBM) in 2017, compared to 5.7% of elderly women and 4.5% of elderly men in 2015.
- Indigenous women are particularly vulnerable, as they continue to be less likely to be part of the paid workforce, have fewer post-secondary qualifications and worse health outcomes than non-Indigenous women.
- When using the Low Income Measure (LIM), which is another indicator of income inequality and insecurity (based on the distribution of household income across the population in Canada), the prevalence of low income (LIM-AT) among Indigenous people, excluding those living in territories and on reserves, was 24%: 25% for Indigenous women and 22% for Indigenous men in 2016. In comparison, it was 13% for all Canadians (13.8% for women and girls and 12.2% for men and boys) in 2016.
- The labour force participation rate of Indigenous women in the core working ages (25 to 54) and living off reserve was 75.1% in 2019, compared to 83.6% for Indigenous men, 83.9% for non-Indigenous women, and 91.5% for non-Indigenous men.
- Almost 70% of Indigenous people (aged 25 to 64) had completed a high school diploma or equivalency certificate in 2016, compared to 86% for Canadians aged 25 to 64. The proportion of Indigenous people aged 25 to 64 with no certificate, diploma or degree was higher among Indigenous men than Indigenous women: 29% for Indigenous men compared to 23% for Indigenous women.
Measures to support families and care-related responsibilities
- Women also continue to take on the majority of care-related responsibilities, which impacts their labour market attachment and their long-term economic prosperity, a fact particularly true for single mothers. The Government is addressing this through a number of measures including:
- EI flexibilities: Budget 2018 announced $1.2 billion over five-years starting in 2018-2019 and $344.7 million per year to support the new EI Parental Sharing Benefit. As of March 17, 2019, parents can receive extra weeks of Employment Insurance (EI) parental benefits so that they can share raising their children more equally.
- Early Learning and Child Care: The Government is supporting the creation of affordable, high-quality child care spaces for low and modest income families, with the goal of supporting up to 40,000 new subsidized child care spaces over the next three years. The Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments reached an historic agreement on a Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework on June 12, 2017. The Government is committed to providing more accessible and affordable childcare, including the creation of a national secretariat that will lay the groundwork for a pan-Canadian childcare system.
- Extended Claim Provisions: Working While on Claim provisions will be extended to EI maternity and sickness claimants, as well as legislated to make the initiative permanent. While few mothers work while receiving maternity benefits, this measure will benefit those in low-income households who are facing financial pressures that require them to work. The measure will also support people with longer-term illnesses, or chronic illnesses to gradually return and stay connected to work.
- Guaranteed Paid Family Leave (GPFL): The new GPFL program will aim to improve and integrate the existing Employment Insurance-based system of maternity and parental benefits, as well as the Canada Child Benefit. GPFL has to ensure that parents who do not qualify for paid leave through Employment Insurance (EI), or who do not receive enough money because they are between jobs, earn little, or have not worked enough hours, will receive a guaranteed income during the first year of their child's life.
- Paid Parental Leave for Student Researchers: $37.4 million over five years starting in 2019-20, and $8.6 million ongoing to expand parental leave coverage from 6 to 12 months for students and postdoctoral fellows, with amending legislation.
- Canada Workers Benefit: This is a refundable tax credit intended to supplement the earnings of low income workers and improves work incentives for low-income Canadians. The Government strengthened the program by making it more generous, and making the benefit more accessible. For example, a low-income worker earning $15,000 a year could receive up to nearly $500 more under the program for the 2019 tax year than for 2018. This means more support to help cover essential expenses and real help to more than two million Canadians who are working hard to join the middle class.
- Canada Labour Code: The Budget Implementation Act, No. 2 (Bill C-86) amended the Canada Labour Code to provide an employee who is the victim of family violence, or who is the parent of a child who is the victim of family violence, up to ten days leave per calendar year. Up to five days paid leave is provided where the employee has completed at least three consecutive months of continuous service.
- Income Tax Act: Bill C-86 also amended the Income Tax Act so that a person can no longer be excluded from the definition of "parent" in that Act solely because they receive federal or provincial social assistance based on having a child. This exclusion could have caused parents to be disqualified from receiving the Canada Child Benefit.
Measures to enhance women's economic participation
- The Government of Canada is taking steps to enhance women's economic participation in the workforce:
- Funding for new programs in the skilled trades, with a focus on newcomer and Indigenous women, and women with disabilities:
- $19.9 million over five years for Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women
- $10.0 million over three years for Women in Construction Fund
- $46 million over five years and $10 million per year after for the Pre-Apprenticeship Program (now known as the Skilled Trades Awareness and Readiness Program)
- Pilot programming for newcomer women: $32 million for three years to support pathways to the labour market for newcomer women who are also visible minorities.
- The Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES):
- In Budget 2018, the Government of Canada announced the launch of the first ever Women's Entrepreneurship Strategy, a $2 billion investment that seeks to double the number of majority women-owned small and medium enterprises by 2025. The Strategy is focused on four areas of action: helping women-led business grow; increasing women's access to capital; improving access to federal business innovation programming; and enhancing data and knowledge.
- Funding for new programs in the skilled trades, with a focus on newcomer and Indigenous women, and women with disabilities:
- The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring fair and safe workplaces:
- Supporting the implementation of Bill C-65: $25.4 million for five years will increase access to legal aid across the country with a focus on supporting victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.
- An additional, $25.0 million for five years to develop a pan-Canadian outreach program to better inform workers about their rights and how they can access help if they have been harassed in the workplace.
Measures to address women's economic insecurity
- The Government of Canada is taking steps to better address women's systemic vulnerability to economic insecurity through:
- Investing $40 billion over ten years in the National Housing Strategy (NHS), with 25% of funds to projects for women, girls and their families fleeing violence. The initiatives under the NHS started rolling out in April 2018.
- Increasing income support for vulnerable seniors through the Guaranteed Income Supplement. Enhancements have resulted in 750,000 single seniors receiving an increase of up to $947 each year and lifted 900,000 vulnerable seniors, including 70% senior women, out of poverty.
- Recognizing the importance of poverty data in evidence-based decision-making by all levels of government by investing $12.1 million over five years, and $1.5 million per year after, to address key gaps in poverty measurement in Canada.
- Budget 2019 announced further projects that will strengthen women's economic security:
- Guaranteed Income Supplement Enhancement (ESDC): Increase exemption amount to $5,000 per year and extend eligibility for the earning exemption for self-employment income.
- Expanding the Rental Construction Financing Initiative (CMHC): an additional $10 billion over nine years in financing through the Rental Construction Financing Initiative, extending the program until 2027-28, for a total investment of $829.5 million over 19 years. This program provides low-cost loans encouraging construction of rental housing across Canada where the need is clearly demonstrated.
- First Time Home Buyer Initiative (CMHC): Increase eligibility to the program for individuals that experience the breakdown of a marriage or common-law partnership, even if they do not meet the first-time home buyer requirement.
- In fall 2017, the Department launched two calls for proposals representing an investment of approximately $15 million to increase the economic security of women in Canada. Investments focused on collaborative projects that addressed the root causes (for example, pay inequity, accessibility of childcare, wage gap) that limit the economic security of women in Canada, as well as projects that identified opportunities for Indigenous women's economic success and take action to implement solutions.
Issue: Gender wage gap
Recommended response
- Closing the gender wage gap is crucial to advancing gender equality and women's economic security.
- According to Statistics Canada, in 2019, women earned 88 cents for every dollar earned by men.
- The Government of Canada has put in place several measures to improve women's labour market outcomes, including proactive pay equity legislation, pay transparency measures, and the Early Learning and Child Care initiative.
- The Government is committed to building on this progress and to taking continuous action to reduce the gender wage gap.
- In December 2018, proactive pay equity legislation for the federal government and federally-regulated private sector became law.
- And in September 2019, the Canadian Human Rights Commission named its first Pay Equity Commissioner.
- Through Budgets 2017, 2018, and 2019 the Government took numerous actions to improve women's labour market outcomes, including:
- implementation of pay transparency measures to provide more information and to hold federally-regulated employers accountable for wage gaps
- $7.5 billion over ten years to address early learning and child care needs announced in Budget 2016 and 2017. 21,205 affordable childcare spaces have been created as of March 2018, on track to meet the target of 40,000 childcare spaces by March 2020
- Canada Labour Code amendments for flexible work arrangements for federally regulated employees;
- introduction of the EI Parental Sharing Benefit, with options for earlier access to maternity benefits and for extended parental benefits
- the Women's Entrepreneurship Strategy to address the challenges women face in business, such as lack of access to capital
- new programs to support more women to enter and succeed in well-paying careers in STEM and the skilled trades, such as the Women in Construction Fund
- The government also made additional commitments that will advance gender equality and women's economic security, including:
- invest in the creation of up to 250,000 additional before- and after-school spaces for kids under 10, including new spaces that allow for care during extended hours
- develop a Guaranteed Paid Family Leave program to provide a guaranteed income during the first year of a child's life
Background
Statistics from Canada on the gender wage gap
- The gender pay gap is the difference between the earnings of women and men, typically expressed as a proportion of men's earnings.
- When comparing average hourly wages of women and men (aged 15 and over) in 2019, women earned 88 cents for every dollar earned by men suggesting a gap of 12%. The gap has narrowed since 2015, when it was 86 cents.
- The gender gap was wider among immigrants, especially "recent immigrants", with women who had landed in Canada within five years prior to the 2018 Labour Force Survey(LFS) earning, on average, 81 cents for every dollar earned by immigrant men who landed in Canada during the same period (compared to 80 cents in 2017).
- Earning inequalities between women and men tend to increase with age because women experience more employment interruptions than men, and because older women generally have lower levels of educational attainment and work experience than younger women.
- A study released in January 2020 by the University of Ottawa and the Labour Market Information Council (with the support of Statistics Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada) suggests that an annual earning inequality also seems to appear immediately after postsecondary graduation and widens notably in the first five years in the workforce.
- When comparing annual earnings of women and men with the same credentials, the study found that women earn 2% to 21% less than their male counterparts in the first year after graduating.
- When comparing annual earnings of women and men with the same credentials and within the same field of study, the study found that five years after graduation, women earned less than their male counterparts in every field of study at all credential levels, with the biggest annual earning gaps in the STEM fields.
- Furthermore, Indigenous women continue to experience persistent obstacles to their economic wellbeing, as demonstrated by labour force participation rates and prevalence of low income:
- In 2019, 75% of Indigenous women (this excludes those living on reserves and other "Aboriginal settlements" in the provinces as well as those living in the territories) in the core working ages of 25 to 54 participated in the labour force, compared to 84% of Indigenous men.
- In 2016, the prevalence of low income among Indigenous women was 25% compared to 14% for the total population of women and girls in Canada.
- There are a number of factors that contribute to the gender wage gap:
- societal norms and biases influence the value of jobs and wages, so that sectors and jobs where women and men work are differently valued, with women-dominated occupations and industries being undervalued
- the unbalanced share of unpaid care work between men and women and insufficient options for child care and elder care result in women doing more unpaid caregiving, having less time for paid work, and having more family-related work interruptions, which may impact their career path
- in 2015, a greater proportion of women performed unpaid work activities than did men (89.9% versus 80.1%):
- women aged 25 to 54 spent an average of 3.9 hours daily on unpaid work as a primary activity, compared to 2.4 for men
- the number of hours per day spent on unpaid domestic and care work by Indigenous women aged 25 to 54 was the same (3.9) as the number of hours spent by non-Indigenous women, compared to 2.5 for Indigenous men
- women aged 15 to 64 (measure used by OECD) spent an average of 4.1 hours daily on unpaid work, compared to 2.6 for men
- Gender bias and discrimination (intentional and unintentional) in business practices prevent women from achieving their full economic potential, such as access to capital.
- Accordingly, the gender wage gap must be tackled on a number of fronts.
Measures to remedy the undervaluing of women's work
Pay equity
- Pay equity is equal pay for equal work or work of equal value. It remedies wage discrimination by requiring that women's and men's jobs be evaluated in a non-discriminatory way by identifying and valuing the skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions of the job.
- The Pay Equity Act (An Act to Establish a Proactive Pay Equity Regime within the Federal Public and Private Sectors) creates a proactive pay equity regime that will ensure that women and men working in federally regulated workplaces, including the federal public and private sectors, parliamentary workplaces and the Prime Minister's and Ministers' offices, receive equal pay for work of equal value. Introduced on October 28, 2018, the legislation received Royal assent on December 13, 2018 and is expected to come into force in 2020.
- The Pay Equity Act will reduce the portion of the gender wage gap in federally regulated workplaces that is due to the undervaluation of work traditionally performed by women.
- Budget 2018 estimated this could reduce the gender wage gap by about 2.7 cents for the core public administration (to 94.1 cents on the dollar), and by about 2.6 cents in the federal private sector (to 90.7 cents on the dollar) with implementation. This analysis will be refined further as the legislation moves forward.
Pay transparency
- Transparency in pay reduces pay discrimination, provides incentives for employers to enhance their reputations, or avoid reputational harm, by examining their practices and potentially showing leadership in reducing unfair wage gaps.
- Employment and Social Development Canada committed $3 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, to implement pay transparency. The Government will publicly provide more information on pay practices of employers in the federally regulated sector.
- This would include converting existing pay information filed by federally regulated employers under the Employment Equity Act into more user-friendly online content, with specific attention paid to making existing wage gaps more evident.
- This will help to highlight employers who lead in equitable pay practices, while holding employers accountable for wage gaps that affect women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and visible minorities.
- Budget 2019 announced amendments to the Employment Equity Act and to Employment Equity Regulations to introduce pay transparency measures for federally regulated employees.
Measures for care-related responsibilities
- EI flexibilities: Budget 2018 announced $1.2 billion over five years starting in 2018-2019 and $344.7 million per year to support the new EI Parental Sharing Benefit. As of March 17, 2019, parents can receive extra weeks of Employment Insurance (EI) parental benefits so that they can share raising their children more equally.
- Early Learning and Child Care: The Government is supporting the creation of affordable, high-quality child care spaces for low and modest income families, with the goal of supporting up to 40,000 new subsidized child care spaces over the next three years. 21,205 affordable child care spaces have been created by March 2018. The Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments reached an historic agreement on a Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework on June12, 2017.
- Flexible work arrangements: As part of the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2 (Bill C-63), the Government of Canada amended the Canada Labour Code to give federally regulated workers the right to request flexible work arrangements to improve work-life balance. These amendments came into force September 1, 2019.
Measures to remove barriers to women's economic participation
Entrepreneurship
- The Women Entrepreneurship Strategy: $105 million over five to support investment in women-led businesses; $10 million over five years to expand Business Women in International Trade programs; $1.4 billion over three years in new financing through Business Development Bank of Canada; $250 million over three years through Export Development Canada to support women-led businesses looking to begin exporting or already exporting; and $9.5 million over three years to support research and data development and dissemination.
Skilled trades
- $46 million over five years ($10 million ongoing) for the Skilled Trades Awareness and Readiness Program (the Pre-Apprenticeship Program), which will help Canadians in underrepresented groups explore the trades to make informed career choices, gain work experience, and develop the skills to find and keep good, well-paying jobs in the trades.
- $19.9 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, to pilot an Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women to further support women in entering, progressing, and completing their training in Red Seal trades where women are underrepresented.
- Women have been recipients of over 2,300 of these grants.
- $10.0 million over three years to launch the Women in Construction Fund in 2018-19, which will build on proven models that have attracted women to the trades, providing coaching and tailored supports that help women progress from training to finding and retaining jobs in the trades.
- This investment is expected to benefit approximately 2,800 women.
- The Government also launched the new Union Training and Innovation Program, a $25 million annual investment (Budget 2016). A key component is to support women to enter and succeed in the trades.
- So far, the Government has approved 109 projects in total.
Issue: Women entrepreneurs
Recommended response
- The Government of Canada recognizes that women's economic empowerment is central to realizing women's rights and gender equality. It is also good for the economy and for Canadians.
- Announced in Budget 2018, the nearly $2 billion Women Entrepreneurship Strategy is a comprehensive and whole-of-government plan to help women grow their businesses with access to financing, talent, networks and expertise.
- The Women's Entrepreneurship Strategy aims to help women-led businesses grow, increase access to capital, improve access to federal business innovation programming and enhance data and knowledge.
- Key initiatives include building skills development and networking to help women-led businesses grow and increase the participation of women-owned enterprises in federal procurement and exporting. The Strategy aims to increase the participation of small and medium-sized women-owned enterprises in federal procurement from 10% to 15%.
- The Business Development Bank of Canada expanded its support for women entrepreneurs, with the goal of lending $1.4 billion to women-owned businesses over three years.
- In 2019, Business Development Canada also committed to invest $200 million over five years to help bridge the gap of under-funded and under-represented women-led technology firms.
- In 2018, the Government of Canada awarded Ryerson University up to $8.62 million over three years to establish the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub. This Hub helps to benchmark and track the status of women's entrepreneurship in Canada, and strengthen collaboration and sharing of best practices.
Background
- Failing to address persistent gender gaps in the Canadian economy will hinder Canada's long-term economic growth. A 2017 study by McKinsey Global Institute estimates that advancing women's equality in Canada has the potential to add $150 billion in incremental GDP to the Canadian economy by 2026.
- Statistics Canada's (STC) Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamics Database (CEEDD) indicates 275,300 enterprises were women majority-owned on average each year from 2005 to 2013. These enterprises accounted for 18% of private enterprises and 15% of employment in private enterprises. According to the Survey of Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SFGSME), in 2014, only 15.7% of SMEs were women majority-owned.
- Further, women-owned enterprises are less likely to engage in international trade compared to men. Only 8.4% of majority female-owned SMEs export, compared to 12.8% of majority male-owned SMEs and 11.0% of those owned equally by males and females. This represents a significant gap in women's economic engagement, as leaders of innovation and drivers of economic growth.
- Barriers for women in entrepreneurship include lack of access to capital and other business supports and services such as networking, mentorship and training.
- The Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES) is a comprehensive effort to break down the barriers to women's entrepreneurship that will include new direct funding from the regional development agencies targeted to women entrepreneurs, mentorship and skills training, as well as targets for federal procurement from women-led business.
- The WES and other Budget 2018 initiatives align with the report from the Canada-US Council for the Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders to encourage more women to start, sustain, and grow their businesses.
The WES includes four pillars:
Helping women led business grow
- $105 million over five years to the Regional Development Agencies to support investment in women-led businesses, helping them to scale and grow, as well as support regional innovation ecosystems, including incubators and accelerators, and other third-party programs supporting mentorship, networking and skills development. Comprises:
- The Ecosystem Fund: $85 million over five years to strengthen capacity within the entrepreneurship ecosystem and close gaps in service for women entrepreneurs.
- The Women Entrepreneurship Fund: a $20 million investment to assist women-owned and/or women-led businesses to grow their existing businesses and enable them to pursue opportunities in domestic and global markets.
- Commitment to fill the gap in knowledge and review potential options related to recommendations for a set-aside for federal procurement.
- Intention to introduce measures to increase the percentage of women-led SMEs participating in federal procurement by 50% (to at least 15%).
- Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) to coordinate a series of bootcamps for promising women entrepreneurs.
- $10 million over five years to connect women with expanded export opportunities and services.
Increasing women's access to capital
- $1.4 billion over three years in new financing through BDC, in addition to a previous commitment of $200 million for investment in women-led tech firms over five years from the BDC's Women in Technology Fund.
- $250 million over three years for financing and insurance solutions through ESDC to support women-led business looking to begin exporting or already exporting.
- Improve the representation of women among venture capital (VC) firm managers to insure that VC firms are investing in women-led businesses.
- The Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (Budget 2017) will require proposals to demonstrate how they will improve gender representation among VC fund managers and portfolio companies.
Improving access to federal business innovation programming
- Coming reforms to federal innovation programs will include a universal goal to improve the participation of under-represented groups, including women entrepreneurs, in the innovation economy.
Enhancing data and knowledge
- Ryerson University is spearheading a consortium leading the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub. The consortium will draw on the expertise of all participants to help address the diversity of women entrepreneurs across Canada.
Small business tax rate
- The Government is committed to gender-based analysis, and will continue to consider the gender impacts of the measures related to tax changes. The Department for Women and Gender Equality is supporting the Department of Finance and the Canada Revenue Agency to undertake gender-based analysis.
- The Government is considering whether new changes, including actions to limit unfair advantages available to high-income and wealthy Canadians, would impact men and women differently.
- A detailed analysis of the gendered impacts related to passive income proposals will be conducted before the Government decides on a final design of the new tax rules.
Inclusive procurement
- The Government recognizes the importance of ensuring that women-owned businesses have equal opportunity to participate in federal procurement opportunities. The Government has committed $196.8 million over five years to establish an e-procurement platform to help SMEs better access opportunities to work with the Government
- E-procurement will support the Government's commitment as part of the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy to increase the participation rate for women-owned small and medium-sized businesses in the federal procurement supply chain to 15%, and efforts to ensure that diverse suppliers are provided with more opportunities to compete in federal procurement processes.
Canadian Experiences Fund
- The Fund is proposed in Budget 2019 to provide support to businesses and organizations to create or expand tourism related infrastructure, including Indigenous and LGBTQ2 community tourism.
Issue: Senior women
Recommended response
- The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to age with dignity.
- Senior women experience lower income at a higher rate than men, and the Government is working to support seniors at risk of economic insecurity.
- Through its Women's Program, Women and Gender Equality Canada provides funding to support projects working to advance systemic change for women's equality. The Women's Program supports a wide range of organizations and projects in order to address the challenges different women face, including senior women.
- Other Departments also provide supports for senior women in need of economic and health supports:
- The Guaranteed Income Supplement was increased by up to $947 annually for the lowest-income single seniors. This change more than doubled the previous maximum benefit. Further enhancements to the Guaranteed Income Supplement will ensure that more income stays in the hands of working seniors.
- In 2017, automatic enrolment in Old Age Security was extended, so that everyone enrolled is also assessed for the Guaranteed Income Supplement.
- The National Housing Strategy was launched in 2017, and will aim to help those most in need, including seniors, and women and children fleeing situations of domestic violence.
- Caregivers that provide care for seriously ill adult family members now have access to an Employment Insurance caregiving benefit of up to 15 weeks. This is in addition to the Compassionate Care Benefit, which provides up to 26 weeks for a caregiver providing end-of-life care.
- Between 2004 and 2019, the New Horizons for Seniors Program has supported over 23,000 projects to advance objectives such as expanding awareness of elder abuse, social participation, and capital assistance for community programs for seniors. In 2019, the Government of Canada provided an additional $100 million over five years to ensure New Horizons' continued success.
- Additionally, Budget 2019 committed to investing $50 million over five years for a National Dementia Strategy.
Background
Data on senior women
- In 2017, about 9.5% of people were living below Canada's official poverty line (the Market Basket Measure (MBM)). That same year, about 4.2% of senior women, and 3.6% of senior men were living in poverty, with rates substantially higher among unattached senior women (8.4%) and men (8.4%).
- The median yearly income for senior women has risen from 2003 to 2019. However, given that senior women had a lower median income compared with senior men, whose income also rose during this time period, the median income of senior men remained approximately 1.5 times higher than that of senior women in 2019.
Government initiatives
- In Budget 2016, the Government cancelled the increase in the age of eligibility for Old Age Security (OAS) benefits from 65 to 67. This restoration will allow future 65 and 66 year-old individuals to receive, on average, over $10,400 per year in OAS and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) benefits.
- The Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) provides assistance to close to 900,000 low-income seniors, 70% of whom are women. It is estimated that increasing the GIS by up to $947 lifted 57,000 seniors out of poverty (based on the Market Basket Measure), and reduced the depth of poverty for the remaining single GIS recipients by an average of $700, or 34%. Of these 57,000 seniors lifted out of poverty, approximately 38,000 were women.
- Together, the change in the age of eligibility and the GIS increase will have prevented approximately 157,000 seniors from falling into poverty by 2030. Among these, about 60% are senior women.
- Announced in Budget 2019, the eligibility of the earnings exemption for the GIS was extended, and now provides a full or partial exemption of up to $15,000 for annual employment or self-employment. This increased the amount of the full exemption from $3,500 to $5,000, and introduced a partial exemption of up to $10,000. The changes mean that seniors who would like to work can do so without sacrificing their other benefits.
- Budget 2019 also proposes that by 2020 all eligible seniors aged 70 or older will be proactively enrolled in the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). It will also extend the opt-out period from 6 months to a year so that seniors have time to assess how the CPP income will interact with federal or provincial benefits, and avoid disadvantaging anyone.
- In November 2017, the Government launched Canada's first ever National Housing Strategy. This is a 10-year, $40 billion plan, which is the result of federal, provincial and territorial collaborative work and will focus on meeting the needs of vulnerable populations, including seniors. Budget 2019 committed to enshrining the National Housing Strategy in legislation.
- Senior women are disproportionately affected by dementia, making up two-thirds of this population. Also, many women take on the caregiving responsibilities for family members living with dementia.
- Budget 2018 funded the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) with $20 million over five years to fund community based projects that address dementia. This funding will help to improve the lives of those living with dementia and lessen the burden of care work for their families and primary care givers (the majority of whom are women). This commitment was taken further by Budget 2019, which announced $50 million over five years to implement a National Dementia Strategy.
- In Budget 2017, the Government of Canada committed to making it easier to access Employment Insurance caregiving benefits. In the same year, the Family Caregiver benefit for adults of 15 weeks was launched for those supporting a family member over the age of 18 who is recovering from serious illness or injury. This is in addition to the Compassionate Care benefit for end-of-life care for a person of any age (up to 26 weeks) and the Family Caregiver benefit for children who are critically ill or injured (up to 35 weeks).
- Employment and Social Development Canada's New Horizons for Seniors Program encourages seniors to share their knowledge and lived experience, and supports seniors in need by: promoting volunteerism among seniors; engaging seniors in the mentoring of others expanding awareness of elder abuse, including financial abuse; supporting social participation and inclusion of seniors; and providing capital assistance for new and existing community projects for seniors. Budget 2019 increased funding by $100 million over five years with $20 million a year ongoing.
- On June 17, 2019, the Standing Committee on the Status of Women presented their report on the challenges faced by senior women. The report made 27 recommendations that focus on:
- Senior women's income and financial security
- Access to affordable housing
- Social isolation
- Health and access to health services
- Experiences of discrimination and gender-based violence
- Among the recommendations, the report calls for a national seniors strategy, as well as stronger application of gender-based analysis plus, particularly to research and address gaps in knowledge about the experiences faced by LGBTQ2 seniors.
Issue: Women in leadership and decision-making
Recommended response
- The Government is committed to increasing the representation of women in positions of leadership and decision-making, in both the public and private sector.
- To that end, the Government now requires that all federally-incorporated organizations disclose the diversity of their senior management and board of directors. This will increase corporate transparency and advance gender equality and diversity in Canada's boardrooms.
- Since its launch in 2016, the new selection process for Governor in Council appointments, which is open, transparent, and merit-based, has shown a significant increase for women.
- The current GIC population is made up of over 50% women, 6% Indigenous Peoples, 3% of persons with a disability and, 8% persons who identify as a visible minority.
- WAGE also continues to work to increase the number of women in senior decision-making positions across government, and to support continued gender equality and diversity in Canadian companies.
- For example, through its Women's Program, WAGE has invested $25 million in projects to advance women's representation in leadership and decision-making roles, including:
- $18 million to fund roughly 50 projects that engage some 150 women leaders from across the country working to advance gender equality locally and as part of a pan-Canadian network.
Background
- The United Nations suggests that women should represent at least 30% of a decision-making body in order to meaningfully influence decision making processes. In Canada, this threshold is not achieved in most forms of leadership for both the private and public sector.
- Canadian Board Diversity Council's 2018 Report Card indicates that women hold 24.4% of FP500 board seats. This is an increase from 2015 when women held 19.5%.
- On May 1, 2018, Bill C-25 received Royal Assent. This Bill amends the Canada Business Corporations Act to require corporations to disclose diversity information to their shareholders, including representation of women, Indigenous Peoples, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities' on their boards of directors and senior management teams.
- However, some of this information, particularly with respect to gender, is already required by most provincial securities commissions
- If policy disclosures are not made, boards will have to explain why to their shareholders
- In February 2016, the Government established an open and transparent process for selecting Governor in Council appointees. This process has helped strengthen trust in Canada's democracy and ensure the integrity of its public institutions.
- Most notably, women have been appointed for the first time to a number of leadership positions, including: the Chief Science Advisor, the Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission, the Chair of Via Rail, the President of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the President of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, the Executive Director of the Standards Council of Canada, the Chief Public Health Officer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Chairperson of the Infrastructure Bank.
- Women have also been appointed to other key leadership positions such as the Chairperson of the Parole Board of Canada, the RCMP Commissioner, the Chairperson of the Royal Canadian Mint, and two Agent of Parliament positions, the Information Commissioner and the Commissioner of Lobbying.
- Budget 2019 announced amendments to the Federal Financial Institutions Statutes which will introduce new requirements for federally regulated financial institutions to disclose policies aimed at promoting gender diversity on boards and in senior management.
- Budget 2018 announced that the Government would invest $210 million over five years, starting in 2018-19 with $50 million per year ongoing, for the Canada Research Chairs Program to better support early-career researchers, while increasing diversity among nominated researchers, including increasing the number of women nominated.
- This investment led to the highest number of nominations of women submitted (43%).
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality, through the Women's Program has approved over $18 million to support organizations to work with some 150 women leaders in various sectors and communities, as well as in a pan-Canadian network that will support collaborative action to advance gender equality in Canada.
- The 2019 mandate letter directed the Minister for WAGE to renew her commitment to a Federal Plan for Gender Equality, which will also support the work in advancing gender equality in leadership and decision-making positions.
- The mandate letter also directed the Minister for WAGE to work with the President of the Treasury Board and the Prime Minister to increase the number of women in senior decision-making positions across government, particularly in central agencies and in our security services. In addition, the Minister for WAGE will work with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to support continued gender equality and diversity in Canadian companies.
Issue: Women in politics
Recommended response
- When women participate fully in the public life of our country, we all benefit from the diversity of perspectives, talent and experience they contribute.
- Accordingly, the Government is supporting efforts to overcome systemic barriers that keep women out of politics, for example by:
- Providing funding to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to develop a national strategy to address barriers that impede women's active political participation.
- The Government has also taken steps to ensure the House of Commons is flexible, compassionate and reasonable in making accommodations for Members to improve work-life balance, such as:
- Enacting legislation to ensure that federally-regulated workplaces, including Parliament Hill, are free from harassment and sexual violence;
- Introducing a first-ever parental leave program for MPs that allows them to be absent for up to a year. This applies for caring for a newborn or newly-adopted child, meaning male MPs can claim this time as well.
- Introducing a change to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons to allow an infant being cared for by a Member of Parliament to be present on the floor of the House of Commons.
- Providing childcare access and designated spaces for Members with infants and children.
- Budget 2019 announced that the Government will invest $160 million over five years, starting in 2019-20, to enhance the Women's Program to advance gender equality in Canada, including support for projects that will encourage women and girls in leadership and decision-making roles.
- In fact, since 2015, the Department for Women and Gender Equality has invested over $27 million in projects that strengthen women's leadership. For example:
- Providing funding to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to develop a national strategy to address barriers that impede women's active political participation.
- AnanauKatiget Tumingit Regional Inuit Women's Association Inc. is building leadership capacity and creating a collaborative process for engagement and action for Labrador Inuit women in five communities in Nunatsiavut. This project is bringing Inuit women together to identify priority issues affecting their communities and to develop their skills and knowledge in public and community engagement, political action, and personal awareness.
- In fact, since 2015, the Department for Women and Gender Equality has invested over $27 million in projects that strengthen women's leadership. For example:
Background
- Barriers that prevent women from becoming involved in politics include a lack of support from and for their families, fear of negative attacks based on gender norms, difficulty obtaining private donations, and societal perceptions of appropriate career paths for women.
- In December 2017, the Canadian Press surveyed current female MPs. Of 89 female members of Parliament, 38 chose to respond to the voluntary survey: nearly fifty-eight per cent said they had personally been the target of one or more forms of sexual misconduct while in office. Three MPs said they were victims of sexual assault and four said they were the targets of sexual harassment. Of the 22 MPs who had experienced sexual misconduct, 15 said the misconduct was committed by another MP.
- While the Canadian House of Commons currently has a record-high rate of female representation at 98 of 338 or 29%, Canada ranks 58th among 191 countriesFootnote [4] when comparing presence of women in national parliaments.
- Nonetheless, Parliament has made progress to improve work-life balance in the House of Commons, including:
- scheduling votes after Question Period instead of in the evenings
- publishing the House of Commons calendar earlier to allow easier planning for members and coordination with school calendars
- working with the House of Commons Administration to ensure that special accommodations are guided by principles of flexibility, compassion and reasonableness
Budget 2019 initiatives
- To enable further community action to tackle systemic barriers impeding women's progress, including related to women and girls in leadership and decision-making roles: $160 million over five years, starting in 2019-20, to enhance the Women's Program to advance gender equality in Canada, including support for projects that will encourage women and girls in leadership and decision-making roles.
Budget 2018 initiatives
- To ensure that federal workplaces, including Parliament, are free from harassment and violence:
- $34.5 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, and $7.4 million per year ongoing, to support implementation of Bill C-65
- $25.4 million over five years to boost legal aid funding to support victims of sexual harassment in the workplace
- $25.0 million over five years to better inform workers about their rights and how they can access help if they have been harassed in the workplace
- To ensure that the House of Commons is flexible, compassionate and reasonable in making accommodations for Members, a commitment to work with Parliament to improve work-life balance and provide childcare access and designated spaces for Members with infants and children.
- To allow an infant being cared for by a Member of Parliament to be present on the floor of the House of Commons, introducing a change to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons.
- To make it possible for Parliamentarians to take maternity and parental leave, bring forward amendments to the Parliament of Canada Act.
Complementary initiatives
- December 13, 2018, Bill C-76 became law amending the Canada Elections Act. Amendments include: allowing candidates to use their own funds, in addition to campaign funds, to pay for disability-related, childcare, or other relevant home- or healthcare expenses; and to increase the reimbursement rate to 90% for such expenses and exempt them from campaign spending limits.
- On April 10, 2019, the Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO) tabled its final report on the barriers facing women in politics in Canada, entitled Elect Her: A Roadmap for Improving the Representation of Women in Canadian Politics. This report covers four main topics: The barriers facing women who choose to run for elected offices, in all levels of government; the recruitment of women from diverse backgrounds; the barriers facing women running for elected office in Canada's electoral system; and the difficulties for women working as elected officials in Canada. No government response was tabled due to the election timing.
- The Department created the Indigenous Women's Circle, which brings together Indigenous leaders to offer guidance and expertise, and inform the department's efforts to address systemic inequalities experienced by Indigenous women, including in leadership roles. It will provide an opportunity to learn from Indigenous-led activities showing success.
- In November 2018, the Department provided $547,300 in funding to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for a project to encourage more women to get involved in public life and help attain greater parity on municipal councils across the country. FCM is engaging partners (for example, provincial and territorial municipal associations, Equal Voice, the Canadian Women's Foundation and the private sector) to develop a national strategy and offer support to women to participate in municipal politics.
- In October 2018, the Government announced $3.8 million in funding to Equal Voice for a project to empower the next generation of women leaders, and increase women's participation in politics with a view to creating more gender-balanced governments. In April 2019, young women engaged in events in the House of Commons and are developing community pilot initiatives in their ridings and benefiting from mentorship by former Members of Parliament and Senators, and women in elected positions across Canada.
Issue: Women in science. Technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and non-traditional employment
Recommended response
- Increasing women's participation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as the skilled trades, is good for the economy and for Canadians.
- Having more women in these fields helps to close the gender wage gap, bring more Canadian families into the middle class, and ensure a skilled and diverse workforce able to drive Canadian innovation.
- The Government of Canada is committed to advancing gender equality in STEM and skilled trades, and has made a number of investments.
- This includes funding through the Skilled Trades Awareness and Readiness Program for a two-year project that aims to attract female high school students to careers in the skilled trades.
- About 5,000 girls across Canada will benefit from exploratory workshops where they can "try a trade" and have access to an online resource where they can connect with professional skilled tradeswomen.
- Through Budget 2019, the Government of Canada provided $37.4 million over five years, and $8.6 million ongoing to expand parental leave coverage to 12 months for students and postdoctoral fellows who receive granting council funding.
- Budget 2019 also made important investments in Let's Talk Science for their work in engaging youth through hands-on STEM learning, and promoting STEM to girls and other under-represented groups.
- To support more women to enter and succeed in the skilled trades, Canada has invested in several programs including the Skilled Trades Awareness and Readiness Program, Apprenticeship Incentive Grants for Women, and the Women in Construction Fund.
- Since November 2015, the Department, through the Women's Program, has approved some $11.3 million in support of projects to advance women's participation in non-traditional professions in which they are underrepresented, including in STEM.
Background
- Despite significant increases in women's levels of education and participation in the labour market, the gender wage gap remains as other barriers continue to prevent women from reaching their full economic potential.
- Among these are the effects of occupational segregation by gender. As a result, women are over-represented in low-paying and part-time occupations and underrepresented in full-time high-paying ones. Having more women participate in STEM and skilled trades will help to close the gender wage gap.
- There is additional urgency to increasing women's participation in these fields given the challenges related to climate change. Responding to these challenges will require everyone's contribution, which should see increases in green job creation. Women could get left behind given their persistent underrepresentation in STEM and skilled trades.
Government of Canada initiatives: STEM
- Announced in Budget 2018, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Canadian Institutes of Health Research are tasked with developing new plans to achieve greater diversity among research funding recipients. To support these goals, the Government is investing:
- $210 million over five years ($50 million ongoing) for the Canada Research Chairs Program to better support early-career researchers, while increasing diversity among nominated researchers, including the number of women nominated
- $6 million over five years ($0.5 million ongoing) for surveys to collect improved data on underrepresented researchers
- $15 million over five years to implement programs (like Dimensions, and Canadian Athena SWAN) that support improving equity, diversity and inclusion at post-secondary institutions
- these commitments build on 2017 actions to require universities to develop their own equity, diversity and inclusion action plans to address the underrepresentation of employment equity groups among their research chairs, including in STEM
- Budget 2019 provided $37.4 million over five years, $8.6 million ongoing to expand parental leave coverage to 12 months for students and postdoctoral fellows who receive granting council funding.
- Budget 2019 also provided $10 million over two years to Let's Talk Science for their work engaging youth in hands-on STEM learning, including promoting STEM to girls and other under-represented groups.
Government of Canada initiatives: Skilled trades
- The skilled trades offer women opportunities for well paying, rewarding jobs in sectors across the economy. The Government is investing in supporting more women to enter and succeed in the skilled trades:
- $46 million over five years ($10 million ongoing) for the Skilled Trades Awareness and Readiness Program (the Pre-Apprenticeship Program), which will help Canadians in underrepresented groups explore the trades to make informed career choices, gain work experience, and develop the skills to find and keep good, well-paying jobs in the trades.
- $19.9 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, to pilot an Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women to further support women in entering, progressing, and completing their training in Red Seal trades where women are underrepresented. Under the grant, women receive $3,000 for each of their first two years of training up to $6,000.
- Women have been recipients of over 2300 of these grants.
- $10.0 million over three years from Employment and Social Development Canada's existing resources to launch the Women in Construction Fund in 2018-19, which will build on proven and effective models that have attracted women to the trades, providing coaching and tailored supports that help women progress from training to finding and retaining jobs in the trades.
- This investment is expected to benefit approximately 2,800 women.
- The Government also launched the new Union Training and Innovation Program, a $25 million annual investment (Budget 2016). A key component is to support women to enter and succeed in the trades.
- So far, the Government has approved 109 projects in total.
Canada's statistics on women in STEM
- In 2016, the percentages of men and women with bachelor's degree or higher were 25% of women aged 15 and over compared with 22% of men of the same age group. Despite this, 23% of people employed in natural and applied sciences and 22% in technical occupations related to natural and applied sciences were women.
- Women also accounted for 19% of engineering and engineering technology and 27% of mathematics and computer and information science postsecondary graduates.
- In 2016-17: Women made up 16% of full-time university teachers in architecture, engineering and related technologies; 21% in mathematics, computer and information sciences; and 25% in physical and life sciences, and technologies.
- As of June 2019: 34% of Canada Research Chairs are held by women.
- This is an increase of 5 percentage points since April 2016, when the Government first signalled its plan to achieve greater diversity among research funding recipients institutions.
Canada's statistics on women in skilled trades
- In 2019, women represented 7% of skilled trades workers in Canada:
- 4% of workers in industrial, electrical and construction trades and 5% in maintenance and equipment operation trades
- 16% of other installers, repairers and servicers and material handlers
- 8% in transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
- 7% in trades helpers, construction labourers and related jobs
Women's Program
- Since November 2015, the Department, through the Women's Program, has approved some $11.3 million in support of projects to advance women's participation in non-traditional professions in which they are underrepresented, including in STEM. Projects work in collaboration with industry associations, employers, communities and other key stakeholders to identify priorities and take action. For example:
- A project by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta is working to increase the participation of women in STEM professions through consultations, an analysis on diversity and pay equity, and the development and piloting of a workplace culture policy.
Canada's statistics on women in construction
- There are around 186,300 women representing approximately 13% of the country's total construction workforce (over 1.4 million).
- However, they are mainly concentrated in administrative and management-related occupations:
- 71% work in administrative and management-related occupations within the Canadian construction industry; and
- 29% work in direct trades and occupations.
- This translates into only 3.8% of Canada's direct construction workforce.
- There is urgency to increasing women's participation in the trades.
- BuildForce Canada anticipates a 4% labour shortage in construction with 24% of the workforce retiring over the next decade or more than 300,000 jobs.
Women Building Futures
- Established in 1998, Women Building Futures Society (WBF) is an organization in Alberta providing leadership in the area of women in trades, with a mandate to help women achieve economic independence through trades training and employment support.
- The Department, through the Women's Program (WP), has had a long-standing relationship with WBF, beginning as one of the first funders of the organization in 1998, and has provided funding to a number of successful projects with the organization since that time.
- All of the projects funded by the WP with WBF have involved and leveraged partnerships with a variety of other government departments, levels of government, industry, unions, and associations. This approach helps to sustain the advances and changes made to encourage women to enter, remain and advance in the sector.
- WBF is currently receiving $384,000 in WP funding for a project to improve the economic prosperity of Indigenous women by supporting the hiring and retention of Indigenous women in non-traditional occupations in the construction, maintenance, and oil and gas sectors.
Issue: Gender equality in Governor in Council appointments
Recommended response
- The Government is committed to advancing gender equality, across all federal appointments, in order to increase representation within leadership and decision-making roles that reflect the diversity of Canada.
- In 2016, the Government of Canada put in place a new approach to Governor in Council appointments that supports open, transparent and merit-based selection processes.
- The current GIC population is made up of over 50% women, 6% Indigenous Peoples, 3% of persons with a disability and, 8% persons who identify as a visible minority.
- WAGE also continues to work to increase the number of women in senior decision-making positions across government, to support continued gender equality and diversity in Canadian companies.
Background
- On February 25, 2016 the Prime Minister announced an open, transparent, and merit-based selection process to selecting candidates for federal Governor in Council (GIC) appointments. GIC appointments range from CEOs of Crown corporations to members of quasi-judicial tribunals.
- This approach has led to the appointment of high-quality candidates who reflect Canada's diversity, and will help to close gaps in representation of women in GIC appointments. It applies to the majority of non-judicial appointments, and makes hundreds of part-time positions subject to a formal selection process for the first time.
- Most notably, women have been appointed for the first time to a number of leadership positions, including: the Chief Science Advisor, the Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission, the Chair of Via Rail, the President of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the President of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, the Executive Director of the Standards Council of Canada, the Chief Public Health Officer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Chairperson of the Infrastructure Bank.
- Women have also been appointed to other key leadership positions such as the Chairperson of the Parole Board of Canada, the RCMP Commissioner, the Chairperson of the Royal Canadian Mint, and two Agents of Parliament positions, the Information Commissioner and the Commissioner of Lobbying.
- The mandate letter of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development highlights that she must do her part to continue the Government's commitment to transparent, merit-based appointments, to help ensure that people of all gender identities, Indigenous Peoples, racialized people, persons with disabilities and minority groups are reflected in positions of leadership.
Issue: Department for Women and Gender Equality funding
Recommended response
- Historically, the Women's Program has been the only federal grants and contributions program exclusively dedicated to promoting and advancing women's equality.
- Budget 2019 provided a historic investment to the Women's Program with an additional $160 million over five years in, starting in 2019-20. This funding will 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.
- Budget 2019 builds on Budget 2018 gender equality milestones, which included $100 million over five years to support women's organizations to ensure a strong sustainable women's movement and $5.5 million to work with stakeholders to develop a Framework to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence in Post-Secondary institutions.
- Over the past year, WAGE has entered into three innovative funding agreements with organizations that will match up to $30 million of federal funding into gender equality efforts. The new matching partnerships with Community Foundations of Canada, Canadian Women's Foundation and Grand Challenges Canada, will provide funding to women's organizations in Canada and will accelerate gender equality from coast to coast to coast.
Background
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.
- The Women's Program is flexible and responsive, and is the Department's ear-to-the-ground, providing insight into ongoing equality challenges and emerging issues as they are experienced in communities across Canada.
- Some funded projects are collaborative in nature, involving non-governmental organizations in partnership with public institutions, other levels of government, and the private sector to create opportunities for systemic change in communities across Canada to address persistent barriers to equality in a sustainable way.
- The Program accepts applications for funding through calls for proposals for projects to respond to emerging or pressing issues, as well as on an ongoing basis in order to offer customized responses to issues impacting women.
- All proposals are assessed against standard criteria which include eligibility, alignment with the Program/call for proposals, knowledge and experience of the applicant organization, partner collaboration, and budget.
- Funding recipients are primarily not-for-profit organizations, from local grassroots organizations to large national organizations. On average, about half of the organizations funded are women's organizations.
- The Women's Program tracks and measures both its project and program outcomes in several ways, such as project monitoring, analysis of project final reports, trend and result monitoring, and evaluation.
- WAGE works with organizations on the ground to look for ways to maximize the impact of its funding. Over the past year, WAGE has also entered into three innovative funding agreements with organizations that will match up to $30 million of federal funding into gender equality efforts. The new matching partnerships with Community Foundations of Canada, Canadian Women's Foundation and Grand Challenges Canada, will provide funding to women's organizations in Canada and will accelerate gender equality from coast to coast to coast.
- Recent Women's Program investments are:
- Budget 2019: $160 million over five years, starting in 2019-20, 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. Budget 2018: $100 million over five years, starting in 2018-19 to support women's organizations to ensure a strong sustainable women's movement. The Capacity-Building Call for Proposals (CFP) was launched on October 15, 2018 and closed on December 11, 2018. Over 250 organizations have received funding to increase organizational capacity and help organizations work collectively to address gender equality issues. A key element of this funding is flexibility for organizations to address their specific needs and to enhance the unique contribution they can make to strengthen the women's movement in Canada.
- Budget 2018: $5.5 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, to work with stakeholders including provincial and territorial governments to develop a harmonized national framework to ensure consistent, comprehensive and sustainable approaches in addressing gender based violence at post-secondary institutions across the country. The Department established the Advisory Committee on the Framework to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence at Post-Secondary Institutions, which will provide advice and feedback on the development, consultation and implementation of the Framework. The members of the Advisory Committee come from a broad range of sectors and areas of expertise.
- Off-cycle: $10 million over two years, starting in 2019-20, to establish a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Commemoration Fund to support Indigenous government and organizations to work with families, communities, and survivors to honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S individuals. The CFP was launched on February 2, 2019 and closed on March 28, 2019.
- Additional CFPs implemented through the Women's Program since November 2015 are:
- Fall 2017: $15 million over three years for two CFPs for projects to increase the economic security of women in Canada. Through the Support for Women's Economic Security call, $10 million was approved in support of over 30 projects that are addressing the root causes (for example, pay inequity, accessibility of childcare, wage gap) that limit the economic security of women in Canada. Through the Addressing the Economic Security and Prosperity of Indigenous Women call, approximately $5 million was approved in support of 15 projects led by Indigenous organizations to identify opportunities for Indigenous women's economic success and take action to implement the solutions.
- Fall 2016: $18.5 million over three years to identify women leaders in various sectors, organizations, and communities, and engage them in local projects to advance gender equality. In addition to working on 52 local projects, these women leaders and their sponsor organizations are taking part in a pan-Canadian network of key woman leaders, which is supporting collaborative action to advance gender equality in Canada.
- Spring 2016: $13.9 million over two years for two CFPs for projects to increase women's participation in the democratic and public life in Canada. Through the Support for Women's Empowerment call, $8.7 million was approved in support of 17 projects for organizations to come together as co-applicants to implement sustainable, joint strategic initiatives to transform the conditions that contribute to the under-representation of women in the democratic and public life of Canada (for example, addressing barriers preventing women from running for elected positions). Under a companion call, Empowering Indigenous Women for Stronger Communities, $5.2 million was approved in support of 13 projects to strengthen the voices of Indigenous women on issues of importance to them and their communities.
Examples of projects at the local and regional levels include:
Atlantic region
- A project that will increase the representation of women in skilled trades in Nova Scotia through the development and implementation of a provincial Gender Equity Plan that is more inclusive and supportive to women obtaining apprenticeship certification. A formal network that will inform policies and practices in the apprenticeship system, and advance gender equality in the sector will also be established to make meaningful progress towards women's economic prosperity by addressing systemic barriers that women experience in trade certification.
- A collaborative project between three organizations to eliminate barriers to women's active participation in the political sphere in Prince Edward Island. Through the project, women, political parties, and community stakeholders are being engaged in the development and implementation of strategies to influence policies and practices that impede women's active participation in democratic life.
Quebec region
- A collaborative project between six organizations to provide municipal institutions with the knowledge, tools, and support to implement structural and policy changes to create more inclusive contexts that foster women's political participation. Approximately 15 regional county municipalities are engaged and working with internal committees in the development and implementation of sustainable action plans and equality policies. Promising practices related to the implementation of equality policies and action plans will be shared throughout the province of Quebec through a partnership with The Fédération québécoise des municipalités, a provincial association representing 91% of municipalities.
- A project to enhance support for women and girl victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) through the implementation and adaptation of coordinated intersectoral approaches. Activities will enable a better understanding of this issue in the six Quebec regions where the greatest numbers of affected women are found, as well as with francophone organizations in Ontario by bringing together stakeholders in the immigration, health and social services, and youth protection sectors to improve prevention, intervention and on-going support for victims.
Ontario region
- A project to strengthen the leadership of Métis women in the Métis Nation of Ontario's governance structure, policies, and practices. Through the development and implementation of a cultural-based gender framework and province-wide strategy, Métis women will be effectively supported in their respective leadership roles to advance the needs of Métis women and girls in the Métis Nation of Ontario.
- A project to improve the tracking and reporting of sexual assaults by authorities through the adaptation of the "Philadelphia model" in Ontario. Through the project, a Canadian-specific case-review model will be implemented to increase police accountability, potentially reduce the number of cases misclassified as "unfounded," and increase reporting rates and trust in the judicial system for sexual assault survivors.
Western region
- A project to increase the recruitment and retention of women in the ICT sector in Manitoba by working to eliminate systemic workplace culture barriers. The project will work with partners to develop and implement a digital economy action plan to advance women's economic success through increased opportunities, resources and supports.
- A project which will raise awareness with men and boys, alongside women and girls, towards action in eliminating gender-based violence in Edmonton, Alberta. In partnership with women's organizations, the CFL, and Edmonton Junior Football, the organization will undertake activities beginning at the 2018 Grey Cup festival to engage stakeholders to address gender based violence, trafficking, and sexual exploitation in the context of sporting events.
Province | Program | Number of agreements | Total amount of funding | % of total funding |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alberta | All programs | 44 | $12,588,384 | 5% |
Women's Program | 40 | $9,408,365 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 4 | $3,180,019 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 0 | $0 | N/A | |
British Columbia | All programs | 83 | $26,619,835 | 10% |
Women's Program | 73 | $19,421,706 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 8 | $6,798,129 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 2 | $400,000 | N/A | |
Manitoba | All programs | 37 | $12,020,007 | 5% |
Women's Program | 34 | $9,320,036 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 2 | $1,999,971 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 1 | $700,000 | N/A | |
New Brunswick | All programs | 24 | $7,091,975 | 3% |
Women's Program | 22 | $5,341,975 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 2 | $1,750,000 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 0 | $0 | N/A | |
Newfoundland and Labrador | All programs | 24 | $7,357,067 | 3% |
Women's Program | 22 | $5,357,067 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 2 | $2,000,000 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 0 | $0 | N/A | |
Nova Scotia | All programs | 23 | $8,520,824 | 3% |
Women's Program | 20 | $5,524,916 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 3 | $2,995,908 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 0 | $0 | N/A | |
Northwest Territories | All programs | 12 | $4,076,686 | 2% |
Women's Program | 11 | $3,076,686 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 1 | $1,000,000 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 0 | $0 | N/A | |
Nunavut | All programs | 6 | $2,336,015 | 1% |
Women's Program | 6 | $2,336,015 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 0 | $0 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 0 | $0 | N/A | |
OntarioFootnote [5] | All programs | 243 | $120,534,982 | 47% |
Women's Program | 222 | $104,400,460 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 18 | $15,434,654 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 3 | $699,868 | N/A | |
Prince Edward Island | All programs | 13 | $3,705,793 | 1% |
Women's Program | 13 | $3,705,793 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 0 | $0 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 0 | $0 | N/A | |
Quebec | All programs | 135 | $39,753,067 | 15% |
Women's Program | 124 | $31,646,465 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 10 | $7,856,639 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 1 | $249,963 | N/A | |
Saskatchewan | All programs | 30 | $7,691,509 | 3% |
Women's Program | 28 | $6,167,872 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 2 | $1,523,637 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 0 | $0 | N/A | |
Yukon | All programs | 10 | $4,190,975 | 2% |
Women's Program | 8 | $2,565,975 | N/A | |
Gender-Based Violence Program | 2 | $1,625,000 | N/A | |
Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program | 0 | $0 | N/A | |
Total | N/A | 684 | $256,487,119 | N/A |
Issue: Women and Gender Equality project announcements
Recommended response
- Women's organizations and gender equality seeking organizations provide vital services to our communities: supporting women and girls and people of all gender identities and expressions to be financially secure, free from violence, and able to fully participate in all aspects of our economy and society.
- Maintaining and growing their ability to do this important work is the most effective way to advance gender equality.
- Over the past few years, Women and Gender Equality Canada announced over 400 projects in an effort that everyone can participate fully as members of Canadian society.
- This includes the Capacity-building Fund, which provided $100 million over five years for over 250 women's and Indigenous organizations across Canada to continue providing essential supports to women and their families.
- This also includes the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Commemoration Fund, which provided over $13 million over two years to over 100 projects to help honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and LGBTQ and Two Spirit people.
- Women and Gender Equality Canada's expanded mandate now includes the advancement of equality with respect, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
- $2.2 million was distributed to seven LGBTQ2 organizations through the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund to help build stronger LGBTQ2 community organizations, networks, and infrastructure.
Background
Women's Program
- Through the Women's Program, Women and Gender Equality Canada invests in projects across Canada that address systemic barriers to gender 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.
- The Women's Program is flexible and responsive, and is the Department's ear-to-the-ground, providing insight into ongoing equality challenges and emerging issues as they are experienced in communities across Canada. It is the only federal grants and contributions program that is dedicated to promoting and advancing equality between women and men in Canada.
- Funded projects are collaborative in nature, involving non-governmental organizations in partnership with public institutions, other levels of government and the private sector to create opportunities for systemic change in communities across Canada to address persistent barriers to equality in a sustainable way.
- The Program accepts applications for funding through calls for proposals for projects to respond to emerging or pressing issues, as well as on an ongoing basis in order to offer customized responses to issues impacting women.
- All proposals are assessed against standard criteria which include eligibility, alignment with the Program/Call for Proposals, knowledge and experience of the applicant organization, partner collaboration, and budget.
- Funding recipients are primarily not-for-profit organizations, from local grassroots organizations to large national organizations. On average, about half of the organizations funded are women's organizations.
- The Women's Program tracks and measures both its project and program outcomes in several ways, such as project monitoring, analysis of project final reports, trend and result monitoring, and evaluation.
- In 2019, announcements included:
- The Capacity-Building Call for Proposals (CFP) was launched on October 15, 2018 and closed on December 11, 2018. On March 8, 2019, International Women's Day, funding of $100 million over five years for over 250 organizations was announced under this call. The CFP aims to increase organizational capacity and help organizations work collectively to address gender equality issues. A key element of this funding is flexibility for organizations to address their specific needs and to enhance the unique contribution they can make to strengthen the women's movement in Canada.
- The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Commemoration Fund's CFP was launched on February 2, 2019 and closed on March 28, 2019. Over 100 projects totalling over $13 million over two years were announced on June 24, 2019, to support Indigenous government and organizations to work with families, communities, and survivors to help honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S individuals.
- Budget 2019 provided $20 million over three years to enhance LGBTQ2 organizations' service capacity. To date, $2.2 million of this funding has been distributed to seven organizations with a CFP expected to be launched in 2020 to disburse the rest of the funds.
- In 2020, two CFPs are expected to be launched, the LGBTQ2 CFP and a CFP through the Women's Program.
Gender-Based Violence Program
- Following the June 2017 announcement of It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, the Department for Women and Gender Equality launched the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Program in January 2018.
- The GBV Program complements the Department's Women's Program, and helps organizations working in the GBV sector to develop and implement promising practices to address gaps in supports for survivors and their families.
- While violence affects people of all genders, ages, cultures, ethnicities, geographic locations, and socio-economic backgrounds, some populations are more at risk and face additional barriers to access services. The GBV Program responds to this need by providing funding to eligible organizations at the local, regional and national levels for projects that address gaps in supports for specific groups of survivors, including Indigenous women and their communities, and other underserved populations.
- In January 2018, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality announced $20 million in funding for a call for concepts as part of the new GBV Program. Following Budget 2018, the funding for the Program more than doubled so that more organizations, such as sexual assault crisis centers, are better able to help population groups at the highest risk of experiencing violence. In total, in December 2018, $50 million of the funding for the Gender-Based Violence Program was announced for nearly 60 projects.
Issue: Gender-Based Violence Program funding
Recommended response
- The Government of Canada is committed to addressing Gender-Based Violence. As such, since 2017, the Government has invested over $200 million to end gender-based violence, including through the first-ever federal Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-based Violence.
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality's Gender-Based Violence Program responds to the Strategy's second pillar: support for survivors of gender-based violence, and their families.
- In December 2018, $50 million of the funding for the Gender-Based Violence Program was announced for nearly 60 projects, each of which will develop and test promising practices to support survivors of gender-based violence and their families in communities across Canada.
- Through this program, the Department is particularly focused on addressing gaps in supports for Indigenous women and their communities and other underserved populations, such as those who are more at risk of gender-based violence and/or who are facing barriers to accessing support services.
- The promising practices tested with this funding will help more organizations, such as sexual assault crisis centres, better support population groups that are at the highest risk of experiencing or having experienced violence.
Background
Gender-Based Violence Program
- Following the June 2017 announcement of It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, the Department for Women and Gender Equality launched the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Program in January 2018.
- The GBV Program complements the Department's Women's Program, and helps organizations working in the GBV sector to develop and implement promising practices to address gaps in supports for survivors and their families.
- While violence affects people of all genders, ages, cultures, ethnicities, geographic locations, and socio-economic backgrounds, some populations are more at risk and face additional barriers to access services. The GBV Program responds to this need by providing funding to eligible organizations at the local, regional and national levels for projects that address gaps in supports for specific groups of survivors, including Indigenous women and their communities, and other underserved populations. These include but are not limited to: children and youth, ethno-cultural women, LGBTQ2 communities and gender-non-binary people, 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 January 2018, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality announced $20 million in funding for a call for concepts as part of the new GBV Program. Following Budget 2018, the funding for the Program more than doubled so that more organizations, such as sexual assault crisis centers, are better able to help population groups at the highest risk of experiencing violence. In total, in December 2018, $50 million of the funding for the Gender-Based Violence Program was announced for nearly 60 projects.
Call for concepts: Promising Practices to Support Survivors and their Families
- The GBV Program piloted an innovative approach to supporting community organizations, which includes:
- a longer funding period of up to five years
- a two-stage application process, which reduced the administrative burden for applicant organizations (less information was required in the initial concept phase, which meant a leaner application process for organizations)
- eligible recipients were expanded to include labour groups and unions; provinces, territories, municipalities and their agencies; research organizations and institutes, centers of expertise, educational institutions (in other words, universities, colleges, CÉGEPs, secondary schools, school boards/school districts) as well as public health institutions, hospitals, and health care service providers
- testing and evaluation of promising practices is emphasized, which will lead to clear impact and results for Canadians
- To help evaluate the call process, the GBV Program conducted a survey and results were very positive: over 88% of respondents were satisfied with the application process, and 63% of respondents required less than 16 hours to prepare the application. Respondents were also satisfied with supports provided by the GBV Program: 61% of the respondents participated in one of the eight info-sessions, and 91% of respondents consulted the frequently asked questions (FAQ) webpage. Satisfaction rates were above 90% for both mechanisms, with an impressive 95% satisfaction rate for the info-sessions.
Project examples
- Family Transition Place, in Orangeville, Ontario, will receive $799,867 over five years for their project entitled "Rural Response Program" to implement promising practices to support survivors and their families. The organization will work at reducing barriers to access to services for women in rural and remote communities through mobile service delivery and increased partnerships between service providers.
- The Indo-Canadian Women's Association, based in Edmonton, will receive $450,000 to create and pilot an approach for home visitors, such as nurses and Children's Services, to screen for violence when providing services to Indigenous women, newcomers, refugees or non-status women, and ethno-cultural women. This approach will be trauma-informed and culturally sensitive to enable women to safely report violence and receive much-needed support services.
- Y des femmes de Montréal (YWCA Montreal) will receive $850,000 in funding for their project entitled "The Graduation Approach and Gender-Based Violence." The project will adapt and test the Graduation Approach support model to improve the services available to newly arrived immigrant women who are survivors of gender-based violence, regardless of their legal status. Project activities will help these women and their families cope with their loss, improve their economic security and develop the ability to be independent within the community.
Issue: 2030 Agenda for sustainable development
Recommended response
- Canada is committed to implementing the 2030 Agenda at home and abroad.
- At home, our domestic priorities are already well-aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I am proud to promote gender equality and women's empowerment across this country, which coincides with SDG 5 which seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
- Internationally, Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy will play a key role in supporting this goal to empower women and girls abroad.
- Women and Gender Equality Canada appreciates and welcomes the interest in the 2030 Agenda and in ensuring that Canada is on track to effectively implement the SDGs.
- For example, Budget 2018 provided $49.4 million over 13 years to establish a Sustainable Development Goals Unit within Employment and Social Development Canada and a further $59.8 million, from existing departmental resources, for programming to support the implementation of these goals.
- In collaboration with other government departments, the SDG Unit will serve as the coordinating body to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda domestically and internationally. It is mandated to lead the development of the 2030 Agenda National Strategy to advance the SDGs, function as a hub for policy coherence, facilitate multi‑stakeholder engagement, and administer a new SDG Funding Program for innovative and horizontal initiatives that support the SDGs.
- Last year, the federal SDG unit launched a national consultation to inform the development of a 2030 National Strategy. This whole-of-society Strategy will seek to create a common understanding and vision for Canada's path forward for implementation and identify actions to be taken to advance progress on the SDGs that leaves no one behind.
- As a result of these consultations, the SDG unit published Towards Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy in June 2019. This document is a first step toward establishing the structures, process and activities that need to be in place to move the 2030 Agenda forward in a coordinated, transparent, and accountable manner.
- The SDG Unit is also working closely with Statistics Canada and other government departments on the development of a Canadian Indicator Framework so that we can track our progress using indicators adapted to the Canadian context.
Background
- In September 2015, the 193 member states of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda includes 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 169 targets to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. SDG 5 seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Other SDGs, including those related to economic growth (SDG 8) and peaceful societies (SDG 16) also include targets related to gender equality.
- With respect to SDG 5, Canada has taken concrete steps to support this goal, including the Prime Minister's appointment of a gender-balanced Cabinet, Canada's first-ever Gender Statement as part of a federal budget in Budget 2017, the announcement of a federal strategy to prevent and address gender-based violence, and strong investments in gender equality through Budget 2018 and 2019. Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy, implemented by Global Affairs Canada, will play a key role in supporting SDG 5 abroad by helping to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls internationally.
- Budget 2018 proposed $49.4 million over 13 years to establish a SDG Unit within Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and up to $59.8 million over 13 years to support the implementation of the SDGs. These funds will help support reporting and ensure continued progress and coordination of Canada's efforts on the SDGs both domestically and internationally. In addition to ESDC, key federal partners in the implementation of the SDGs include Global Affairs Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, the Department for Women and Gender Equality (formerly known as Status of Women Canada), and Environment and Climate Change Canada.
- In collaboration with other government departments, the SDG Unit serves as the coordinating body to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda domestically and internationally. It is mandated to lead the development of the 2030 Agenda National Strategy to advance the SDGs, function as a hub for policy coherence, facilitate multi‑stakeholder engagement, and administer a new SDG Funding Program for innovative and horizontal initiatives that support the SDGs.
- The SDG Funding Program will leverage the work of external stakeholders by providing funding to projects that support and further Canada's implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
- On March 15, 2019, the SDG Unit launched a national consultation to inform the development of a 2030 National Strategy. This whole-of-society Strategy will seek to create a common understanding and vision for Canada's path forward for implementation and identify actions to be taken to advance progress on the SDGs.
- In June 2019, the SDG Unit published Towards Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy as a result of these nationwide consultation activities. This interim document is a first step toward establishing the structures, processes and activities that need to be in place to move the 2030 Agenda forward in a coordinated, transparent and accountable manner. It highlights the various actors involved and the partnerships, innovation and investment required to achieve the SDGs and it establishes the foundation for developing a Canadian Indicator Framework adapted to Canadian reality to accurately report on progress made with the SDGs.
- Statistics Canada, in collaboration with the SDG Unit and other departments, is leading the development of the Canadian Indicator Framework (CIF) which will allow the Government of Canada to track progress on work directly related to the Canadian reality. Existing data sources will be used to inform the Canadian Indicator Framework.
Issue: Canada's position on gender indexes
Recommended response
- International bodies and civil society organizations use gender indexes to rank countries' progress towards gender equality. This lets countries see how they are faring compared to others, and where there is room for improvement.
- Canada performs well in global rankings on gender equality, with consistently high scores in the areas of education, and equality under law.
- In the World Economic Forum's latest Global Gender Gap Report:
- Canada placed 1st in North America
- Canada placed 19th overall, up 11 places since 2015
- We know there is still more work to be done, ensuring that women's voices are included in key decision making roles, in business and in government; closing the gender wage gap; increasing economic security; and preventing and addressing gender-based violence.
Background
- Many international bodies and civil society organizations use gender indexes to rank countries' progress towards gender equality. This allows countries to see how they are faring compared to others, and where there is room for improvement.
- Overall, Canada performs well in global rankings on gender equality, with consistently high scores in the areas of education, and equality under law. For instance, in 2019, the OECD classified Canada as having a "very low level of discrimination" stemming from formal and informal laws, attitudes and practices that restrict access to rights, justice and empowerment based on gender. Equal rights under law have a notable impact on gender equality in educational attainment, an area where Canada shines. The World Economic Forum's 2020 Global Gender Gap Report (WEF-GGR) ranked Canada 1st (tieing with 24 other countries) out of 153 countries on gender equality in educational attainment and 19th overall in economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; health; and politics. According to this measure, Canada has closed just over 77% of its overall gender gap, with a narrowing of 3% since 2015.
- The 2020 WEF-GGR ranked Canada three places lower than in 2018, not because we are doing worse, but because we have not kept pace with improvements in other countries. For example, countries such as Spain and Latvia, whose rankings have increased 21 and 6 places since 2018, respectively, have experienced improvements in political representation, which has played a critical role in their advancement in the rankings. Like most countries, Canada has more to do in the areas of equal representation in business and politics; ending gender-based violence; and addressing the gender-wage gap. Other pressing concerns, include unequal access to housing, child care and reproductive health care services.
- The Government of Canada is taking concrete actions to address these concerns including appointing the first gender-balanced federal Cabinet, passing pay equity legislation, helping women create and grow their businesses, investing in affordable childcare, making it easier for families to share child care responsibilities, and launching Canada's first ever strategy to prevent and address gender-based violence. It is also providing stable, predictable and flexible funding to women's organizations; expanding shelters and transition houses; and providing employment support and newcomer integration supports.
Issue: United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) 64th session
Recommended response
- The 64th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women is taking place from March 9 to 20, 2020. The primary focus of this year's meeting will be on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the principal international gender equality framework.
- 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action.
- In preparation for the session, Canada and other UN Member States prepared and submitted National Review Reports on their progress in implementing the Platform for Action's recommendations.
- Women and Gender Equality Canada led the development of Canada's National Review Report, with input from other federal government departments and the provincial and territorial governments. Canada's report was submitted to the UN in summer 2019.
- During the Session, the Government Canada will be emphasizing our commitment to, and progress in, advancing gender equality at home and around the world.
- I will be leading the official Canadian delegation, which will include representatives from civil society, national Indigenous leaders and organizations, and provincial and territorial goverments, as well as some Federal Parliamentarians.
- Together, we will engage in high-level dialogues and side events on a wide range of important issues to Canada, including supporting vibrant women's movements; gender-based violence; violence and harassment at work; child, early and forced marriage; LGBTQ2 rights; Indigenous women and girls; and empowering women and girls with disabilities.
- Canada looks forward to continue engaging in this important forum to advance gender equality with the international community.
Background
- Women and Gender Equality Canada leads, in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada, preparations for Canada's participation in the annual session of the UNCSW. In 2017, Canada began serving as a member of the Commission, a position that will be held until 2021. Consequently, Canada now has formal voting power and increased visibility at UNCSW's annual working session.
- The 64th Session of the UNCSW (UNCSW 64) will take place from March 9 to 20 at the UN Headquarters in New York. This year's session will focus on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of this important global gender equality policy framework (Beijing+25).
- The Canadian delegation will be led by the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and is expected to be comprised of: federal, provincial, and territorial officials; parliamentarians; representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs); as well national Indigenous leaders, representatives and youth.
- Canada will seek to deliver on its gender equality priorities at the UNCSW through strategic senior-level bilateral meetings with key partners, official interventions, including the Head of Delegation statement to the General Assembly, and high-level engagement in side events.
- This year, Canada is planning and supporting side events on important issues, such as: supporting vibrant women's movements, supports for victims of domestic violence; advancing the well-being of Indigenous women and girls; unpaid care work; child, early and forced marriage; violence and harassment in the workplace; and LGBTQ2 rights.
Issue: Gender and climate change
Recommended response
- The Government is committed to fighting climate change. In Canada, women, girls and other marginalized groups, especially Indigenous people, are disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change due to persistent social inequalities.
- Despite the greater impact on these groups, they are less likely to have a place at the decision making table where climate action policies are being developed.
- The Government is working to include women and marginalized groups in decision making and support them as leaders in the fight against climate change:
- For example, Canada provided funding to the National Adaptation Plan Global Network to help developing countries integrate gender considerations into their climate change planning processes.
- In May 2018, the Government hosted the Women Leaders Kicking it on Climate Summit, bringing together the international community to advance climate solutions.
- In 2017, the Government adopted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's Gender Action Plan, which supports women's participation in climate negotiations; strengthens gender-response policy development; and raises awareness of gender and climate change issues.
- The Government recognizes that gender and diversity considerations are key elements of good environmental policy. The new Impact Assessment Act broadens the impact assessment beyond environmental factors to include sex, gender and intersecting identities.
- Canada also works to enhance women's skills and job opportunities in clean growth, science, and environment-related fields.
- For example, it launched the women in cleantech challenge to support the creation of six new, high impact and globally significant clean technology companies led by women.
Background
Effects of climate change on women and girls
- Studies have shown that women and marginalized groups disproportionately suffer the impacts of climate change, disasters and severe weather events because of existing inequalities and the inequitable distribution of roles and resources.
- For example, climate change is threatening food security in the North as there has been a decline in availability of traditional foods for Inuit communities. Inuit women have been found to experience significantly higher rates of food insecurity compared to Inuit men, especially those who are sole heads of their households. Additionally, these same women often have greater difficulty accessing paid employment, which is rapidly replacing traditional economies.
- Climate change is also having numerous effects on human health in Canada. For example, after the 2013 floods in southern Alberta, there was an acute increase in anti-anxiety and sleep aid prescriptions among women in the affected area. There was also a rise in reports of sexual assaults during the same period.
Strengthening climate action by promoting gender equality
- Recognizing the important contributions of women as decision makers, stakeholders, educators, and experts across sectors and at all levels can lead to successful, long-term solutions to climate change. As such, capitalizing on the knowledge and capability of women and other marginalized groups is a necessary component of addressing climate change and developing effective solutions that benefit all Canadians.
- The Government of Canada will continue its efforts to advance gender equality through initiatives that intersect with climate change, such as increasing women's economic security, women in leadership and decision making, women in politics, women in STEM/non-traditional employment, as well as applying GBA+ in the development of all policies and projects. Some examples of initiatives include:
- Budget 2019 proposed a historic investment: $160 million over five years in new funding, starting in 2019-20. This funding will 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.
- The Department for Women and Gender Equality also invested $25 million in projects to advance women's representation in leadership and decision-making roles.
- The Canadian Gender Budgeting Act came into force in December 2018, and enshrines gender budgeting in the federal government's budgetary and financial management processes.
Women's employment in the green economy
- Concerns about climate change have contributed to growth in industries that promote the use of renewable resources to produce energy without causing pollution and prompted demand for more professionals who study climate change or seek strategies to repair environmental damage.
- These jobs tend to be in the STEM and skilled trades fields, where women continue to be under-represented.
- In 2016, women represented just 5% of skilled trades workers in Canada and in the same year they accounted for 19% of engineering and technology and 27% of mathematics and computer information sciences postsecondary graduates. Additionally, women represent approximately 13% of the country's total construction workforce (over 1.4 million).
- Efforts are being made to encourage women to pursue careers in these fields to not only continue closing the gender wage gap but to also to ensure their inclusion in the transitioning economy and future of work. For example:
- Budget 2019 provided $10 million over two years to Let's Talk Science for their work engaging youth in hands-on STEM learning, including promoting STEM to girls and other under-represented groups.
- In 2018-19 Employment and Social Development Canada allocated $10 million of its existing resources over three years to launch the Women in Construction Fund, which will build on proven and effective models that have attracted women to the trades, providing coaching and tailored supports that help women progress from training to finding and retaining jobs in the trades.
Issue: Canada's role in the Generation Equality Forum
Recommended response
- Advancing gender equality both in Canada and around the world remains one of the Government of Canada's most important priorities.
- This year, 2020, marks the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and its landmark document, the Beijing Platform for Action.
- Canada recognizes that while progress has been made in a number of areas with respect to advancing gender equality, important work remains to be done.
- That is why we are pleased to join the efforts of UN Women to accelerate progress towards gender equality through the Generation Equality Forum.
- Canada looks forward to engage in this important initiative to advance gender equality both domestically and internationally.
Background
- To mark the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing +25), UN Women, France and Mexico (also known as the "Core Group"), launched the Generation Equality Forum (GEF), in partnership with civil society, to reaffirm multilateralism in uncertain times for women's rights, strengthen the women's movement, and support youth and multi-stakeholder engagement for gender equality.
- The GEF will focus on action and accountability on key challenges and emerging issues for gender equality. These issues will be organised into Action Coalitions, which are intended to be innovative partnerships among civil society, Member States, and the private sector. Each Action Coalition will develop a set of concrete, ambitious, and transformative actions that Coalition members will implement over five years. The Action Coalitions will be led by two co-chairs, one from a developed country and one from the global South.
- The first ministerial-level Forum will be held in Mexico City on May 7 and 8, 2020, to mobilize other Member States and stakeholders for the GEF and discuss the Action Coalitions. The second Forum, which will be held in Paris on July 7 to 10, 2020, will announce the Action Coalitions and launch the proposed commitments. This meeting is intended to involve Heads of States. The outcomes of the year will then be taken to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2020.
- In January 2020, UN Women issued six Action Coalition themes, including on Feminist Movements and Leadership. The other themes include gender-based violence; economic justice and rights; feminist model of climate justice; bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights; and technology and innovation.
- Based on its domestic and international leadership on gender equality, Canada will lead the Action Coalition on Feminist Movements and Leadership. Canada, represented by Minister Monsef for domestic commitments and Minister Gould for international commitments, will lead along with the Netherlands, and countries from the Global South.
- On March 10, 2020, during UNCSW 64, UN Women is expected to announce the launch of the six Action Coalitions.
Issue: Gender Results Framework
Recommended response
- With Budget 2018, the Government of Canada introduced a Gender Results Framework to guide future decision making on policies and programs that are responsive to the diverse needs of people in Canada.
- The Framework represents the Government of Canada's goals with respect to gender equality, how we will get there, and how we will measure success under six pillars:
- education and skills development
- economic participation and prosperity
- leadership and democratic participation
- gender-based violence and access to justice
- poverty reduction, health and well-being
- gender equality around the world
- The Gender Results Framework online platform was launched in March 2019 to provide up-to-date information to Canadians on results.
- This Framework will be the foundation of a Federal Plan on Gender Equality.
Background
- In 2018, the Department for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) worked with the Department of Finance Canada, Global Affairs Canada and other departments to develop a whole-of-government Gender Results Framework to inform all departmental initiatives. This framework was released in Budget 2018.
- The Framework represents the Government of Canada's goals with respect to gender equality, how we will get there, and how we will measure success under six pillars: education and skills; economic participation and prosperity; leadership and democratic participation; gender-based violence and access to justice; poverty reduction, health and well-being; and, gender equality around the world.
- Each pillar is supported by relevant objectives and indicators for monitoring progress towards Canada's gender equality goals. In total, the Framework contains 35 objectives and 43 indicators, which were selected through consultation with other federal departments, by reviewing international and domestic best practices, and by consolidating these with Canada's international commitments, specifically the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Indicator Framework and the Beijing Platform for Action. In fact, in May 2019, Canada's National Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was structured against the six pillars of the Gender Results Framework.
- Through Budget 2018, the government is providing a total of funding of $25 million over five years, beginning in fiscal year 2018-19, to support research and data collection for the Gender Results Framework.
- This funding also allows WAGE to support more robust GBA+, better policy advice to other government departments and more informed decision making across the federal government. This is achieved by increasing the evidence base for gender equality through research and data collection, knowledge translation, evaluation and impact measurement, and by supporting interdepartmental coordination, monitoring and reporting of an evidence-based approach to advancing gender equality, as described in the Framework.
- With Budget 2019, WAGE launched a website outlining the framework and including up-to-date sources of data for each of the Gender Results Framework indicators. As a complement to the framework, links to key Governments of Canada initiatives (announced in Budget 2018 and 2019) that are contributing to the advancement of gender equality have also been included on the website. This public facing tool allows for regular tracking of progress against each of the goals.
- In October 2018, Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers responsible for the Status of Women identified 32 common indicators from the Gender Results Framework that will be used to monitor progress related to collaboration of Federal-Provincial-Territorial work.
- In December 2019, the mandate letter of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development included a renewed commitment for a Federal Plan for Gender Equality. The plan is to be grounded in the Gender Results Framework and other international agreements.
Issue: Recent evidence on the state of gender equality in Canada
Recommended response
- Achieving gender equality and addressing gender-based violence requires that we invest in research and stay up-to-date on emerging data. This is critical to monitor progress and support evidence-based decisions.
- Recent data show progress for women in areas such as political representation, labour force participation, hourly wages, and representation in apprenticeships. But the data also show that we need to keep pressing forward so that we see women adequately represented across fields and in leadership roles, and that caregiving is understood as everyone's responsibility.
- Gender-based violence also remains a critical concern. While overall rates of violent crimes have decreased significantly, recent data show that gender-based violence such as sexual assaults is still an important issue in Canada. According to recent data, almost 1 in 3 women have been a victim of sexual assault at least once since the age of 15.
- Research undertaken with our partners and by stakeholders across sectors is helping us better understand the factors underpinning gender inequalities including gender-based violence, so that we can take further action.
- For example, WAGE has invested $9.6 million in a new survey on gender-based violence, implemented by Statistics Canada. The data from this survey will help ensure that governments and civil society, including organizations serving survivors, better understand experiences of gender-based violence, in order to provide timely supports that meet survivors' needs.
Background
- Recent data on gender equality show small but incremental gains for women in areas such as political representation, labour force participation and hourly wages.
- As of February 17, 2020, women account for 29% of members of parliament (MPs). Over the course of the 42nd Parliament women accounted for 27% of MPs, up 2% over the previous Parliament.
- In 2019, the labour force participation rate of women in the core working age (25-54) was 83.6%, compared with 91.3% among same-aged men. The participation rates for both men and women increased slightly between 2018 and 2019. In both cases, up by about half a percentage point.
- In 2019, women earned an average 88 cents for every dollar earned by men. This reflects a 1% reduction in the gender wage gap since 2018 and a 2% reduction in the gender wage gap since 2015, based on the average hourly earnings of all workers.
- So that we can best target our interventions, WAGE is also investing in research with partners across sectors, so that we can better understand gender inequalities and the factors that impede progress. Some recent highlights have shed light on factors related to the gender wage gap, gendered educational pathways, caregiving and mental health:
- A report released by Statistics Canada showed that gender differences in part-time work and industry were the two largest factors explaining the gender wage gap in average hourly wages in 2018. Meanwhile, the narrowing of the gap between 1998 and 2018 was largely explained by changes in the distribution of men and women across occupations; women's increased educational attainment; and the decline in the share of men in unionized employment.
- A study released by Statistics Canada in September 2019 showed that the introduction of public disclosure laws reduced the gender pay gap among university faculty by approximately 2.2 to 2.4 percentage points, representing a roughly 30% reduction in the gender pay gap of 7% to 8% that existed at the time of the first series of pay transparency reforms in Canada in 1996.
- A Statistics Canada article published in December 2019, showed that women accounted for 13.6% of all new apprenticeship registrations in Canada, up from 6.8% in 1991. Moreover, women have been increasingly enrolling in apprenticeship programs traditionally occupied by men, with 18.5% of women who entered into apprenticeship programs in 2018 registering as in automotive services and as electricians, carpenters, welders, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, up almost 4 percentage points since 2008. Despite this progress, in 2015, women apprentices were nine times more likely than men to report harassment or discrimination during an apprenticeship.
- A recent Statistics Canada article showed that the majority (54%) of caregivers in Canada were women in 2018. Among caregivers, women (32%) were more likely than men (28%) to report having unmet caregiving needs. Overall, unmet caregiving needs were associated with a lower level of well-being, including feeling dissatisfied with life (32%), experiencing daily stress (36%), and fair or poor mental health (23%).
- An article published by Statistics Canada in November, 2019 underlined the poorer mental health of sexual minority groups in Canada, vis-à-vis heterosexual people. In 2015, homosexual (19%) and bisexual (40%) people were more likely than heterosexual people to have been diagnosed with a mood or anxiety disorder or to have experienced thoughts of suicide (5%, 13%, and 2%, respectively) in the previous year.
- Using roughly $9.6 million of funding from It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-based Violence, Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) funded Statistics Canada (STC) to develop the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS); the first national survey dedicated to measuring self-reported experiences of gender-based violence (GBV) in Canada.
- The SSPPS fills important data gaps. Initial findings from the SSPPS were released on December 5, 2019, and key findings based on provincial data include:
- An estimated 4.7 million women have experienced a sexual assault in their lifetime (since age 15), accounting for 30% of women in Canada. In contrast, 8% of men experienced the same.
- In the 12 months preceding the survey, 3% of women and 1% of men experienced a sexual assault.
- In the 12 months preceding the survey, 32% of women and 13% of men experienced one or more unwanted sexual behaviours in public spaces that made them feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Among these people, half of women (52%) and nearly half of men (46%) reported having changed their behaviour due to their experience.
- Odds of experiencing unwanted sexual behaviours in public in the 12 months preceding the survey was about three times higher for gay (38%) and bisexual (42%) men than for heterosexual men (13%).
- Experience of online harassment in the 12 months preceding the survey was reported by 18% of women and 14% of men. Women were more likely than men to have taken measures to protect themselves online, such as deleting accounts (28% versus 19%).
The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO)
The Standing Committee on the Status of Women's mandate gives it the broad authority to study the policies, programs, expenditures (budgetary estimates) and legislation of departments and agencies, including the Department for Women and Gender Equality, that conduct work related to the status of women and gender equality.
In the 42nd Parliament, for instance, the committee tabled substantive reports on the following themes:
- the implementation of gender-based analysis plus at the federal level
- violence against women, sexual harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces
- shelters and transition houses available to women experiencing violence
- women's economic security
- senior women's experiences of poverty and vulnerability
- Indigenous women's experiences in the federal justice and correctional systems
- women's representation in politics
Two pieces of legislation were also referred to the committee in the 42nd Parliament: Bill C-309, An Act to Establish Gender Equality Week; and Bill C-337, An Act to Amend the Judges Act and the Criminal Code (Sexual Assault). As well, each fiscal year, the committee examined the main estimates and the supplementary estimates of Status of Women Canada/ The Department for Women and Gender Equality.
During their first meeting of the 43rd parliament, members agreed that witnesses who appear before the committee would have ten minutes to make opening statements, followed by a question and answer period. Questions will proceed in the following order:
Round 1: 6 minutes each, Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), Liberal Party of Canada (LPC), Bloc Quebecois (BQ), New Democratic Party (NDP)
Round 2: 5 minutes each, CPC, LPC, CPC, LPC, then 2.5 minutes each, BQ, NDP
The committee also elected Ms. Karen Vecchio (CPC) as Chair, Ms. Sonia Sidhu (LPC) as Vice-Chair and Ms. Andréanne Larouche (BQ) as Second Vice-Chair.
FEWO members
Liberal Party of Canada
Salma Zahid: returning member (Liberal)
Member of Parliament for Scarborough Centre, Salma Zahid was first elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019.
She holds a Masters in Educational Management and Administration from the University of London's Institute of Education, and an MBA from Quaid e Azam University in Pakistan. A Pakistani Canadian, Ms. Zahid has resided in Scarborough since 2000 and has worked to bring people of different communities together through initiatives such as the Scarborough Centre Multi-faith Council. Prior to being elected to Parliament, Ms. Zahid worked as a senior advisor to the Government of Ontario in a number of portfolios from Health and Long Term Care, Infrastructure, Citizenship and Immigration, and Tourism, Culture and Sports. She is also a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Since entering Parliament, Ms. Zahid has worked to raise awareness of the oppression of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar and other oppressed persons around the world, and pressed the government to take a leadership role in providing humanitarian assistance. In the 42nd Parliament, she was a member of the Standing Committee on Immigration and Citizenship. Through this committee, interventions in the House, and on her social media platforms, she continues to advocate for cultural and religious diversity. Ms. Zahid was elected chair of this committee in the 43rd parliament. Her private members motion M-155, designating June as Filipino Heritage Month across Canada, was unanimously passed by the House of Commons. Following treatment for Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin lymphoma that brought her closer to her Islamic faith, she became the first Member to wear a hijab in the House of Commons.
Also during the 42nd Parliament, Ms. Zahid served as the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. She is a strong advocate for gender equality and focuses specifically on racialized and newcomer women.
Anju Dhillon: new member (Liberal)
First elected in 2015, Anju Dhillon was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for the Quebec riding Dorval-Lachine-LaSalle in 2019.
Born and raised in Montreal, Ms. Dhillon began her political career volunteering for Paul Martin’s campaigns at age thirteen. She sat on the Executive Council of the LaSalle-Emard Federal Liberal Electoral District Association in various positions such as Youth Vice-President, Vice-President Female, Secretary, and Policy Officer. Before joining the House of Commons, Ms. Dhillon earned an Honours Bachelor Degree in Political Science from Concordia University, a Bachelor of Law from Université de Montréal, a Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Laws Degrees from Université de Sherbrooke. She was the first Canadian Sikh to practice law in Quebec.
In the House of Commons, Ms. Dhillon was a member of several Standing Committees, including Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, Scrutiny of Regulations, and Canadian Heritage. She also belonged to the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association, the Canada-United Kingdom Inter-Parliamentary Association and the Canada-China Legislative Association. In these roles, in the House of Commons, and through her social media presence, she has spoken several times on the sustainable communities and affordable housing. Since the 2019 election, she has become a member of the Status of Women Committee and the Citizenship and Immigration Committee; she remains a member of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association.
From 2015 to 2017, Ms. Dhillon was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Status of Women. She has taken a strong stance against gender-based violence and intimate partner violence. She also studied Gender Parity on the Boards and Senior Leadership Levels of Canadian Artistic and Cultural Organizations with the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. At these meetings, she stressed the need for intersectionality and consideration of marginalized women.
Marc Serré: returning member (Liberal)
Member of Parliament for Nickel Belt, Ontario, Marc G. Serré was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019.
Son of former Liberal Member of Parliament Gaetan Serré and nephew of former Liberal Member of Parliament Ben Serré, Marc Serré was born into a family tradition of politics. He is a proud member of the Algonquin First Nation in Mattawa/North Bay and a proud francophone. Before joining the House of Commons, Mr. Serré graduated from Laurentian University with an Honours Bachelor in Commerce with a specialization in Human Resources and Marketing. He is an award-wining telecom technologist specializing in research and development who founded the family run internet provider PhoneNet and received the Canadian CANARIE IWAY Award in recognition of his innovative and outstanding achievements in Internet adaptive technology. He was also the Northern Eastern Ontario Regional Director of the Canadian Hearing Society, a staff and faculty member at College Boreal and Cambrian College, and the North Eastern Ontario Managing Director at Eastlink. Mr. Serré served as a trustee at the Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario (CSCNO) and was also a Municipal Counsellor in West Nipissing.
In Parliament, he has been involved in several Standing Committees, Caucus and Parliamentary Associations including: the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Chair of the National Rural Liberal Caucus, and Chair of Northern Ontario Liberal Caucus. Mr. Serré has demonstrated his advocacy for increased rural infrastructure, affordable housing, accessibility, and seniors in and outside the House of Commons. His motion M-106, calling on the federal government to develop Canada’s first National Senior Strategy, was successfully passed in the House of Commons in May 2017.
Mr. Serré was a member of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women during the 42nd parliament. Corresponding to his previous career and the riding he represents, Mr. Serré has expressed interest in women in STEM, Indigenous women, senior women, and rural women.
Sonia Sidhu: Vice-Chair and returning member (Liberal)
Satinderpal "Sonia" Sidhu, Member of Parliament for Brampton South, was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019.
Born in India, Ms. Sidhu immigrated to Winnipeg in 1992, where she worked as small business owner, entrepreneur, and Cardiac Technologist in Victoria Hospital. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a certificate in Diabetes Education from The Michener Institute. Ms. Sidhu worked in the healthcare profession in Brampton South for fifteen years, focusing on diabetes research and education.
Since entering the House in 2015, Ms. Sidhu has strongly advocated for healthcare. She was a member of the Standing Committee on Health and advised on eighteen different reports, including the report recommending the implementation of a national pharmacare plan and the report on drinking water standards. Her report “Defeating Diabetes,” for which she crossed the country to consult with experts, was presented to the Minister of Health in 2019. Ms. Sidhu also frequently speaks about the issues faced by seniors and has worked to improve the infrastructure and employment rates in her riding.
In the 42nd parliament, Ms. Sidhu sat on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. She was also a member of the Special Committee on Pay Equity. In Committee meetings, in the House of Commons, and through her social media, Ms. Sidhu has expressed particular interest in senior women, women in politics, pay equity, and women’s health. She has highlighted the need for intersectionality when discussing women’s issues and empowerment.
Gudie Hutchings: Parliamentary Secretary (non-voting member)
Gudrid “Gudie” Hutchings was elected as the Member of Parliament for Long Range Mountains, Newfoundland in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. She is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development.
The daughter of Arthur Lundrigan, a Canadian businessman and political adviser, Ms. Hutchings was raised in the Humber Valley. She attended Acadia University and built her career as a small-business owner in the tourism industry. She spent more than ten years on the board of the Newfoundland and Labrador Outfitters Association, rising to the position of president, and served on the inaugural national board of the Canadian Federation of Outfitting Associations. She is also a former president of the Corner Brook Chamber of Commerce.
Since joining the House of Commons, Ms. Hutchings has prioritized the needs of her constituents. She is proud to hail from the Atlantic Provinces and frequently speaks about issues that affect Eastern Canada. She has advocated for investments in the fishing industry, rural infrastructure projects, and highlighted the national parks and historic sites in her riding. Ms. Hutchings was also the Parliamentary Secretary for Small Businesses and Tourism from 2015 to 2017. She utilized her experience as a business owner to highlight the work that has been done to lower taxes, invest in, and promote small businesses.
In the previous parliament, Ms. Hutchings spoke several times on the subject of women and gender equality. The two issues she highlights most frequently are women entrepreneurs and Indigenous women. She often promotes the work of women’s organizations in her riding and frequently meets with Indigenous organizations and leaders in Atlantic Canada.
Conservative Party of Canada
Karen Vecchio: Chair, Conservative critic, and returning member
Conservative Member of Parliament and Opposition Critic for Women and Gender Equality, Karen Vecchio, was elected to represent the riding of Elgin-Middlesex-London in the 2015 federal election. She was re-elected in 2019 with 50% of the vote.
Raised in Sparta, Ontario, Ms. Vecchio attended the University of Western Ontario and graduated from the dental health program at Georgian College. Before being elected to the House of Commons, she worked for Member of Parliament Joe Preston from 2004 to 2015. Prior to this, she owned and operated the café ‘Coffee Grind’ in London, Ontario. Ms. Vecchio is involved within her community as a volunteer and a leader working with the Talbot Teen Centre, Habitat for Humanity, St. Thomas and District Chamber of Commerce, and Rogers Community TV.
In the previous parliament, Ms. Vecchio served as the Opposition Critic for Families, Children, and Social Development, as well as Chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. She stood in the election to serve as the Chair of FEWO reluctantly, preferring her colleague Rachel Harder. Liberal and New Democratic Members did not allow Ms. Harder to take on the role of Chair because of her pro-life beliefs. Ms. Vecchio has previously stated that she is pro-choice and aims to focus on “ensuring the government is doing everything it can in the fight against the disgusting practice of human trafficking, as well as maximizing opportunities and support for women who are survivors of violence and abuse” in her new role. She has made many statements against the porn industry and equating sex work to human trafficking. Ms. Vecchio has also confirmed she believes being gay is not a choice.
Jag Sahota: Conservative Deputy critic and new member
Conservative Member of Parliament Jagdeep Sahota was elected to represent the riding of Calgary Skyview in the 2019 federal election with 52% of the vote. She previously ran in the 2015 Alberta provincial election for the riding of Calgary-McCall, losing to New Democrat Irfan Sabir.
Born and raised in a Sikh family in Calgary, Alberta, Ms. Sahota attended Lester B. Pearson High School and is described as “a longstanding pillar of the Calgary community.” In 2003 she graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and psychology, then completed her Juris Doctor, again at the University of Calgary, in 2007. Since being called to the Alberta Bar in 2008, she has gained extensive legal experience, especially in immigration law, while operating her own law practice in Calgary’s north east area.
Ms. Sahota has also been actively involved in many different organizations in the Calgary community such as Calgary Peter Lougheed Hospital and Renfrew Educational Services, focusing specifically on bridging the gap between younger and older generations. She has also volunteered at organizations supporting women, such as the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association, and the Elizabeth Fry Society.
As a new member of parliament, her record on issues relating to women and gender equality is not extensive. However, her first time rising in the House of Commons was to question and oppose the Prime Minister on his comments describing the negative gendered impacts of male construction workers in rural areas, in light of the high unemployment rate for young men in Alberta.
Raquel Dancho: new member (Conservative)
Raquel Dancho is the newly-elected Member of Parliament for the riding of Kildonan-St. Paul, Manitoba.
Born into a family with a long history of farming and small business, Ms. Dancho was raised in Beausejour, Manitoba and attended a French-bilingual high school. She was the first of her family to attend university. After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at McGill, she earned a competitive research internship at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Winnipeg. She then began her career within the Manitoba Government; Ms. Dancho worked for several years with the Progressive Conservative Party, while they were the Opposition and Government. She held several positions including Policy Analyst, Executive Assistant to the Minister of Sustainable Development, Special Assistant to the Minister of Sport, Culture and Heritage, and Candidate in the 2016 Manitoba provincial election. Prior to the election, she ran her own consulting business that provides policy research and web development services to the private sector. As a result of her academic and political career, Ms. Dancho gained first-hand knowledge of the mechanics of government and uses her professional media training and public speaking experience to target millennial voters specifically.
In the forty-third parliament, Ms. Dancho was named Opposition Critic to the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth. Her first speech in the House of Commons outlined her priorities as: “the inclusion of ethnically and racially diverse Canadians, freedom and equality of LGBTQ Canadians and a free, prosperous and healthy future for Canada's youth.” Her social media confirms this stance, as Ms. Dancho posts frequently about LGBTQ+ initiatives, indigenous issues, and the problems experienced by Canadian youth. She also regularly posts expressing her alliance with other Conservative women candidates and Members of Parliament.
Alice Wong: returning member (Conservative)
Current Opposition Critic for Seniors, and previous Minister of State for Seniors, The Honourable Alice Wong has served as the Member of Parliament for Richmond and Richmond-Centre since 2008.
After immigrating to Canada from Hong Kong in 1980, Mrs. Wong taught English as a Second Language and Entrepreneurship at Vancouver Community College. She also started the Centre for Small Business at Vancouver Community College, which offered the first bilingual small business management classes for immigrants. Mrs. Wong then completed her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of British Columbia in 1993 and joined Kwantlen Polytechnic University, becoming the Manager of International Programs. She has also aided her husband in running his family business and operated a consulting firm specializing in research and education.
In Parliament, Alice Wong has been a member of several Standing Committees and Interparliamentary Groups, this includes: the Library of Parliament Committee, the Citizenship and Immigration Committee, the Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and Status of Persons with Disabilities Committee and the Canada-China Legislative Association. Her priorities in and outside the House of Commons have included elder abuse, fraud against seniors, illegal border crossers, and birth tourism.
Mrs. Wong sat on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women during the 40th parliament. During this time, the Committee studied Maternal and Child Health, Increasing the Participation of Women in Non-Traditional Occupations, and Violence against Aboriginal Women. Mrs. Wong also frequently speaks about immigrant women and women who are small-business owners in the House of Commons.
New Democratic Party
Lindsay Mathyssen: NDP critic and new member
Lindsay Mathyssen, Member of Parliament for London-Fanshawe, Ontario, was elected in the 2019 federal election and subsequently named NDP Critic for Women and Gender Equality.
As the daughter of former NDP Member of Parliament Irene Mathyssen, who held the same seat in parliament from 2006 to 2019, Lindsay Mathyssen has been involved in politics since the 1990 federal election. She has worked as a political staffer since 2007, most recently for former MP Tracey Ramsey. She therefore has experience drafting legislation, navigating federal programs and departments, and working on files such as International Human Rights, Seniors Issues, Indigenous Affairs, and Anti-harassment protocol. Ms. Mathyssen also holds a Bachelor’s Degree and Professional Certificate in Non-For-Profit Management. As a union leader, she has helped to negotiate a collective agreement and has been involved in conflict management.
Following her election, Ms. Mathyssen was given the profiles of Critic for Women and Gender Equality, Deputy Whip, Critic for Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, and Deputy Critic for Export Promotion and International Trade, and Small Business. As a new Member of Parliament, she has not yet held other positions or membership on any committees. However, following her mother’s legacy, Ms. Mathyssen has stressed New Democratic priorities of pharmacare, affordable cell phone and internet fees, and stronger public services. She also plans to focus on the housing crisis experienced by individuals in her riding during her time in the House of Commons.
Bloc Quebecois
Andréanne Larouche: Vice-Chair, BQ critic, and new member
Bloc Quebecois Member of Parliament for the riding of Shefford, Andréanne Larouche, was elected in the 2019 federal election.
Ms. Larouche studied art and media technology at Cégep de Jonquière and has always been engaged locally, sitting on the board of directors for the Ecosphere Group and the Sutton Museum of Communications and History. While this is her first time in the House of Commons, Ms. Larouche holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Sherbrooke in applied politics, and worked for the former Member of Parliament for Brome-Missisquoi, Christian Ouellet and Member of Quebec’s National Assembly, Marie Bouillé. She was also a project manager for Alternative Justice and Mediation, raising awareness on elder abuse.
Ms. Larouche was appointed as the Bloc Quebecois Critic for Women and Gender Equality and Critic for Seniors. Despite her lack of experience as a Member of Parliament, she has identified several priorities for her time in the House, including affordable housing, seniors, and healthcare. Ms. Larouche’s maiden speech in the House of Commons was on the topic of the anti-feminist attack at École Polytechnique, advocating for stricter gun control to protect women against such violence.
Issue: 2019-20 Departmental overview
Background
- In December 2018, new legislation created the Department for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE), transforming the Agency named Status of Women Canada, into a full department of the Government of Canada.
- As a full department, WAGE has an expanded mandate for gender equality that includes sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. The Department will maintain and forge new connections to women's and other equality-seeking grassroots organizations, while acting as a coordinating and advisory body for gender equality issues within the Government of Canada.
- To further support the Department in its strengthened mandate and continue to advance gender equality in Canada, Budget 2019 invested $160 million over five years, starting in 2019-20 and funding of $20 million over three years for capacity building and community level work of Canadian LGBTQ2 organizations.
- The Department has an operating budget in 2019-20 of $47,692,959 (salary $27,984,558 and operations $19,708,401).
- In addition, the Department oversees a Program budget (grants and contributions) totaling $65,573,977 in fiscal year 2019-20.
- The Department has a strong program management framework in place: in recent years, there have been zero lapses in grants and contributions funding.
- The Department has three sets of terms and conditions, through which the Minister can provide grants and contributions:
- Women's Program
- Gender-Based Violence Program
- Equality for sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SSOGIE) Program
- There are currently over 300 staff members within the Department and the Department is supported by four regional offices located in Moncton (Atlantic region); Montréal (Québec region); Edmonton (western region, Northwest Territories and Yukon), and Toronto (Ontario region).
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