Spring 2026_Changemaker_FINAL - Flipbook - Page 6
Federal Funding for Gender Equality
In October, President and CEO Mitzie Hunter was
proud to join Minister of Finance and National
Revenue François-Philippe Champagne, Minister
of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty, and
Minister of Women and General Equality Rechie
Valdez in Ottawa. Ahead of the 2025 Federal
Budget announcement, the Ministers announced
$660 million in funding for gender equality,
responding to gender-based violence, and
supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
Mitzie Hunter, Minister of Finance and National Revenue
François-Philippe Champagne, and gender equality
sector leaders and representatives at the pre-budget
announcement in Ottawa in October 2025.
• $382.5 million over five years, with $76.5 million
ongoing, to renew funding for the Women’s
Program, in support of the women’s equality
sector.
• $54.6 million over five years, with $10.9 million
ongoing, to renew funding for 2SLGBTQI+
programming.
• $223.4 million over five years, with $44.7 million
ongoing, to strengthen federal action in response
to gender-based violence.
Mitzie Hunter, Minister of Women and General Equality
Rechie Valdez, MP Leslie Church, and Canadian Women’s
Foundation staff at our offices in February 2026.
With gender-based violence at critical levels, an
unpredictable economy with disproportionate
impacts on women and gender-diverse people, and
emerging threats to the safety of girls and genderdiverse youth, the work of the Canadian Women’s
Foundation and our grantee partners has never been
more critical.
A coordinated effort between generous supporters
like you and the government is needed to help us
manage the scale and complexity of the issues we
are addressing. Alongside partners in the gender
equality sector, we advocated for greater federal
funding to support our cause, resulting in two critical
announcements over the last few months.
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In February, Minister Valdez returned to the
Foundation offices to announce $15.5 million in
federal funding to address a funding gap for
national gender equality organizations. The
Foundation was selected to administer $14.5 million
of these funds to 34 national women’s rights and
gender justice organizations — helping to build
a thriving sector. An additional $1 million was
awarded to the Canadian Research Institute for
the Advancement of Women.
Sustained funding for the gender equality sector
is vital to ensuring program doors remain open,
advocacy and research efforts can continue
without interruption, and women, girls, and
gender-diverse people know they have safe,
empowering places to be. We thank the sector in
Canada for its ongoing advocacy, and supporters
like you who share our vision.
