The federal government is giving $100 million to women’s organizations. Will it end the ‘shecession’?
Why It Matters
Experts say COVID-19 has set back progress on Canadian gender equity, from workforce participation to gendered violence and more. Meanwhile, the organizations meant to support women and change sexist systems are struggling themselves. A $100 million project-based fund is helpful, but is it enough?
The Liberal government’s newly announced $100 million Feminist Economic Response and Recovery Fund is a definite win for Canadian organizations supporting women and nonbinary people, says Anjum Sultana, director of public policy and communications at YWCA Canada, but it might not be enough — or structured in an optimal way — to dig the women’s rights and support sector out of COVID-19’s devastation.
What is the fund?
Announced February 11, the Feminist Economic Response and Recovery Fund will dole out a total of $100 million to organizations working on three key objectives: “economic security and prosperity” for women and girls, promoting women’s leadership, and “ending gender-based violence.”
The fund’s focus is on initiatives that aim to create systemic change, defined as addressing or removing “the root barriers preventing gender equality, rather than seeking to change women to adapt to discriminatory systems.”
Eligible organizations include non-profit women’s organizations, non-profit Indigenous organizations, Indigenous governments, research organizations, and educational institutions. The deadline to apply is March 25.
A win for Canada’s feminist movement
“Our colleagues from coast to coast to coast have been organizing for a feminist recovery and for a gendered response to recovery,” says Sultana. “So, I’d say this type of initiative from the government is a direct result of that organizing that the feminist movement has done over the last 12 months. This is exactly what we need to see… I haven’t seen another country do this, so this is huge.” The government has “not only said the nice words — feminist recovery — but there’s actually an established fund,” she adds.
The feminist organizing Sultana is referencing includes YWCA Canada’s Feminist Economic Recovery Plan, a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the University of Toronto’s Institute for Gender and the Economy featuring 27 recommendations for the federal government on shaping a feminist recovery from COVID-19.
One of the recommendations was around “investing in the feminist movement,” Sultana says, “and I think this fund aims to do just that.” She calls the sheer size of the fund, at $100 million, “historic.”
Sultana also says the intention and focus of the fund on systemic change aligns with YWCA Canada’s blueprint for a meaningful, feminist recovery. “It’s about addressing systemic barriers,” she says,” so that’s something we were really excited to see — because it’s not just about addressing the symptoms, but looking at the systems in place that create those conditions.”
Is the fund enough?
While a chunk of funding for projects aimed at systemic, feminist change is undoubtedly positive, Sultana says, many of the eligible organizations, particularly gender-focused non-profits, are struggling on a much more existential level. “This [fund] is one piece of the puzzle, but we can’t really have gender equality if organizations that do that work are on the brink of closure,” she says.
In December, YWCA Canada partnered with Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, Canadian Women’s Foundation, G(irls)20, and Oxfam Canada to survey 117 gender equity-focused charities and non-profits across the country. They found that 51 percent of respondents have had to make cuts to vital services as a result of the pandemic — and 48 percent had to cancel their programming altogether. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they didn’t meet the criteria for the federal government’s emergency funding.
“As a result of decades of deliberate systematic defunding of the women’s rights sector under previous governments,” the report reads, “women’s organizations lost significant capacity to provide critical services and analysis in support of gender equality.”
Sultana says while program-based funding like the Feminist Response and Recovery Fund is important and helpful, the gender equity sector in Canada needs flexible, capacity-based funding, too. “The reporting requirements, the negotiations, even the act of applying can be a barrier to a lot of grassroots groups,” Sultana adds. “That is the lever that the government has for funding, but we also do have to figure out, how can we make that more inclusive?”
A respondent to the survey said, “We honestly do not have the time to research and apply for many of these [government funding supports] because we are still on the frontlines of trying to deliver services and complete projects. We don’t have the capacity.”
What’s next?
Sultana hopes the fund will take into account in the projects it funds the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on young women, something she feels hasn’t received enough attention. “This year has become a lost year for many folks,” Sultana says. “We’ll feel this for years to come, but who will feel it the most are younger folks.”
The latest Statistics Canada labour force data from January of this year found that young women represent the demographic furthest from pre-COVID employment levels. Young women are more likely to be employed in precarious, part-time, contract, or service-based work — all sectors that have been hit hard by shutdowns.
“We’re also looking at this, hopefully, as a teaser to the upcoming [federal] budget. We do want to see investments in childcare. We do want to see addressing the reskilling gap before us,” Sultana says. “We’re looking at, how do we build on this momentum?”
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