Pandemic Recovery for Highly Impacted Communities

The purpose of the Women’s Program is to advance equality for women in Canada by working to address or remove systemic barriers impeding women’s progress and advancement. The WP supports the Government of Canada’s goal of advancing gender equality in Canada. It is consistent with Government of Canada priorities related to economic prosperity, and supports Canada’s international commitments related to gender equality. This 30-month project will support a feminist response and recovery from the current impacts of COVID-19 through systemic change. South Asian Women’s and Immigrants’ Services Inc. will achieve this by addressing systemic barriers within social policy decision making, networking and collaboration among equity-seeking organizations and initiatives, and allocation of social policy development and delivery resources; by engaging visible minority newcomer women of a community highly impacted by the pandemic as project leaders, activists, and participants; by investigating the lived experience of the pandemic by women in the project target community; and by sharing information and knowledge gained with social policy stakeholders and influencers, including sharing the pandemic response organized locally by community women leaders as a model for effective intervention by women-led community organizations. This will lead to an increased leadership role for affected women in creating pandemic recovery policy; inclusive recovery policies that increase women’s security and prosperity and an expanded role for community women leaders in social policy development and delivery. At the end of the project, the organization will have contributed to addressing systemic barriers by advancing inclusive policies and practices, supporting positive distribution of authority, voice, decision-making and resources, and developing networks and collaborations to support women’s equality. This project will engage new and existing partnerships from among organizations and initiatives addressing women’s rights, racism, immigrant rights, and worker’s rights including Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, Council of Agencies Serving South Asians, South Asian Legal Clinic Ontario, UNIFOR, and faculty of McMaster University-School of Labour Studies and University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social-Work.

Eligibility

Women and stakeholders have access to supports to address issues relating to equality between women and men.