We, the undersigned, celebrate this week’s announcement by The Honourable Rechie Valdez, The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, and The Honourable Mandy Gull-Masty on the Federal Government’s $660 million investment in the Department of Women and Gender Equality. We extend our heartfelt thanks to them and to their colleagues in the Liberal Women’s Caucus for their leadership and steadfast championing of this vital investment in gender equality work.
When governments invest in women’s rights and gender equality, they’re investing in what holds us together. Across this country, people are holding a lot together. A mother working night shifts while caring for her kids and her aging parents. A young person looking for safe birth control options they can actually afford. A family looking for gender-affirming care for their trans child. A mom with a disability and her kids in an unsafe home trying to find a place to stay where she’ll be believed and protected.
These are the stories that make up the real infrastructure of our lives, the networks of care, trust, and safety that allow everyone to live a good life, to show up for a good job, to raise their kids in safe and healthy communities, to dream big.
While building thriving communities is a cross-government, cross-sector, and multi-generational effort, it is important to see this recognition that gender equality work is foundational to keeping our communities strong and safe. The work this enables is part of a wider ecosystem that includes counsellors, shelter workers, educators, nurses, and advocates on the frontlines alongside the economists, lawyers, researchers, policy experts, and organizers working to reform the systems that shape people’s daily lives. Together, they are making classrooms safer for every child, closing banking gaps that trap women in economic violence, strengthening laws and policies that uphold equality, and ensuring women’s health and autonomy are prioritized in research and care. This investment strengthens crucial capacity to sustain that collective work so that everyone, no matter their income, gender, Indigeneity, or ethno-racial background, can make choices about their bodies and their futures.
This announcement invests in the organizations who make sure no one is left to face harm alone, who help parents find care for their kids, who ensure that women, girls, and gender-diverse people have real access to health care, safety, and opportunity. It also invests in organizations committed to systemic change, so we can work toward a world where everyone is equal and no longer facing barriers in their lives.
This moment is proof of what’s possible when people come together and make their voices heard. Communities across Canada have shown that when we speak up for fairness and care, our leaders respond. This investment is a testament to generations of people who have fought to build a country where care and equality are cornerstones of public life.
As we celebrate, we also look ahead. In the coming days, we’ll see the full picture of this year’s budget, and with it, whether the same commitment extends to the broader social infrastructure that makes gender equality possible. Because lasting progress depends on more than moments, it depends on continued thoughtful investment in decent employment, the care and health systems, and the community supports that hold us all up, especially those who are most marginalized.
This week, we celebrate a step forward! One built by people, power, collective vision, and care. And tomorrow, we’ll keep building on it, ensuring that every policy, every investment, and every budget strengthens the foundation of a Canada that truly works for all of us.
Signatories:
Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
Action cancer du sein du Québec / Breast Cancer Action Quebec
Action ontarienne contre la violence faite aux femmes
Afghan Women's Organization Refugee and Immigrant Service (AWO)
Anova: A Future Without Violence
Armagh
Armagh
Association féministe d’éducation et d’action sociale (Afeas)
Atira Women's Resource Society
Aura Freedom
Avalon Sexual Assault Centre
Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic
BC Society of Transition Houses (BCSTH)
Be the Peace Institute
Bethesda House
Bien ici - Centre de santé mentale et services communautaires
Birchway Niagara
Black Women Connect Vancouver
BWSS Battered Women’s Support Services
Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW)
Canadian Labour Congress
Carrefour des femmes du Sud-Ouest de l'Ontario
Centre de sante communauataire Hamilton/Niagara
Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children, Western University
Centre Victoria pour femmes
CHADWIC Home
Child Care Now
City of Vancouver, Women’s Advisory Committee
Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC
Conseil d’intervention pour l’accès des femmes au travail (CIAFT)
Counselling and Family Service Ottawa / Service familial et counseling Ottawa
DAWN (DisAbled Women’s Network) Canada
Disability Justice Network of British Columbia
Domestic Violence Association of New Brunswick
Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre
EFry Hope and Help for Women
EFryNB
Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario
Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario
Elizabeth Fry Society Kingston
Elizabeth Fry Society of Cape Breton
Elizabeth Fry Society of Northeastern Ontario
Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa
Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women
Embrave Agency to End Violence
Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada
Family Service Toronto
FCJ Refugee Centre
Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ)
Fédération des maisons d'hébergement pour femmes
Focus for Ethnic Women
Gender Equality Coalition of Ontario
Gillian’s Place
Hiatus House
Kamloops and District Elizabeth Fry Society
Kingston Interval House
Ksan Society
L’Alliance des maisons d’hébergement de 2e étape pour femmes et enfants victimes de violence conjugale (Alliance MH2)
La Fédération des maisons d’hébergement pour femmes (FMHF)
Lanark County Interval House
L’R des centres de femmes du Québec
Luke's Place
Maison d'amiitié
Maison d'hébergement pour femmes francophones de Toronto-La Maison
Maison Interlude House Inc.
Manitoba Association of Women's Shelters
Muskoka Parry Sound Sexual Assault Services
National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL)
Nellie's
Nelson House of Ottawa Carleton
New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity
New Starts for Women
Newcomer Women's Services Toronto
Nipissing Transition House
Nisa Foundation
North York Women's Centre
Northwestern Ontario Women’s Centre
Oasis Centre des femmes
OCASI - Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
Ontario Association of Interval & Transition Houses
Oxfam Canada
Pacific Immigrant Resources Society
Regroupement Naissances Respectées (RNR)
Regroupement québécois des CALACS (RQCALACS)
Relais-Femmes
Ribbon Community Society
Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre
Sarnia Lambton Coordinating Committee on Violence Against Women
SAVIS of Halton
Scarborough Women's Centre
Sexual Assault Services of Saskatchewan
Sexual Assault Survivors' Centre Sarnia-Lambton
South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
South Asian Women's & Immigrants' Services Inc
South Asian Women's Centre
Surrey Women's Centre Society
SWAN Vancouver
The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS)
The Denise House
The Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver
The Prince George Sexual Assault Centre
The Redwood…for Women and Children Fleeing Abuse
The Windsor Women Working With Immigrant Women
The Women's Centre Grey Bruce
Three Oaks Foundation
Thrive Counselling
Timmins and Area Women in Crisis
Transition House Association of Nova Scotia (THANS)
Unifor
United Way Centraide Canada
West Coast LEAF
Westcoast Community Resources Society
Western University, Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing
WILPF Canada
WMRCC of Durham
Women’s Centre for Social Justice (WomenatthecentrE)
Women's Enteprise Skills Training of Windsor Inc.
Women's Health in Women's Hands CHC
Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)
Women's Multicultural Resource and Counselling Centre of Durham (WMRCC)
Women’s Shelters Canada
Women's Shelter, Saakaate House Inc
Women's Support Network of York Region
Women Transforming Cities
Working Women Community Centre
Yukon Status of Women Council
YWCA British Columbia
YWCA Canada
YWCA Hamilton
YWCA NWT
YWCA Peterborough Haliburton
YWCA Sudbury
YWCA Toronto