FEWO Committee Report

INTRODUCTION

The Government of Canada is pleased to respond to the third report of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, Funding through the Women's Program: Women's Groups Speak Out, which was tabled in the House of Commons on May 20, 2005.

The Government of Canada would like to thank the Committee members and the witnesses for taking time to prepare their presentations and to conduct such a thorough examination of important issues related to funding.

The Government of Canada is firmly committed to the advancement of gender equality. Its commitment in this respect has been reaffirmed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and through Canada's adherence to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as well as the United Nations Beijing Platform for Action (1995).

Gender equality, and the full participation of women in the economic, social, cultural and political life of Canada, is the ultimate long-term outcome to which SWC contributes in partnership with other federal departments, levels of government and stakeholders. Key amongst the many stakeholders working to advance gender equality in Canada are the women's and other equality-seeking organizations working at a national, regional and local level.

For more than 30 years, the Women's Program, currently at Status of Women Canada, has been the primary federal mechanism providing support for community-based, social change activities aimed at ensuring that the full diversity of women's voices are heard in public policy processes; promoting the development of policies and programs within key institutions that take into account gender implications and the diversity of women's perspectives and the participation of women in decision-making processes; increasing public understanding on women's equality issues; and supporting capacity building of women's organizations.

The testimony heard by the Standing Committee underscores the importance of the Women's Program while at the same time highlighting groups' perspectives on the impact of Program changes in 1998. The testimony also shed light on the diverse realities of women's organizations and, therefore, the complex context within which the Program operates.

The report of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women concerning funding to women's organizations comes at an important time as Status of Women Canada (SWC) is in the process of evaluating the Women's Program and developing a new gender equality strategy for 2005-2010. The question of how the government of Canada can support the active involvement of women's and other equality seeking organizations in advancing gender equality in Canada will be considered in the development of the strategy.

The Government of Canada is pleased to provide the Standing Committee on the Status of Women with the following responses to the ten recommendations contained in the report:

RECOMMENDATION 1

The Committee reiterates the recommendation made in its February 10, 2005 report, calling on the federal government to increase funding to the Women's Program at Status of Women Canada by at least 25% for investments in women's groups and other equality-seeking organizations.

As indicated in the Government's response to the February 20, 2005 report of the Committee, entitled Study to explore the concerns of the women's organizations and equality-seeking organizations, an external evaluation of the Women's Program was concluded in August 2005. The evaluation has sought information from funded and non-funded groups on their experience with the changes to the Program's funding mechanisms as well as with other sources of funding. In its assessment of Program efficiency and effectiveness, the evaluation will also explore alternate models of program delivery.

Status of Women Canada will respond to the recommendations of the final evaluation report by developing a number of options for the Women's Program redesign, including options for funding mechanisms. It is expected that a renewed program would be launched in 2006, subject to appropriate approval processes.

As indicated in the response to the Committee's first report, the recommendation for increased funding will be considered through the customary priority-setting exercises which occur in the lead-up to the federal budget. Once the findings of the evaluation are made available, the Government will have the necessary information to move forward within the context of the new gender equality strategy.

RECOMMENDATION 2

The Committee recommends that Status of Women Canada immediately take advantage of the ongoing review of the Women's Program to revise the funding to organizations by introducing a mix of core funding and project funding.

As noted above, the Women's Program of Status of Women Canada is currently undergoing an external program evaluation which is required when requesting renewal or replacement of program Terms and Conditions under the Treasury Board Policy on Transfer Payments.

Prior to 1998, approximately one half of the Women's Program budget was spent on program (core) funding to approximately 110 women's groups at a national, regional and local level. The other half went to project funding. The introduction of a single funding mechanism in 1998 was intended to enhance access to funding, particularly for newer organizations, and increase Program flexibility in a number of ways including the introduction of multi-year funding. The change to initiative-based funding was also made in response to the federal government's approach to modern management requiring managers to look beyond activities and outputs to focus on actual results – the impact and effects of their programs.

The evaluation will provide relevant information that will assist the Government to engage in a dialogue with women's and other equality-seeking organizations on Program redesign options, including funding mechanisms such as core and project funding. These options will be considered in the context of feedback obtained from organizations as well as the current government commitment to achieving results for Canadians and reporting on outcomes.

RECOMMENDATION 3

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada, through its central agencies, ensure that all new and renewed funding programs incorporate the commitments undertaken by the Government of Canada in the Code of Good Practice on Funding, particularly the commitment to reach decisions about the funding process through collaborative processes.

An Accord between the Government of Canada and the Voluntary Sector was signed in 2001 under the auspices of the Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI). As a horizontal initiative of Government of Canada, the overall goal of the VSI was to improve the quality of life in Canada through the twin objectives of: strengthening the relationship between the voluntary sector and the Government of Canada; and enhancing the capacity of the voluntary sector to meet the needs of Canadians. The Accord represents a public commitment to more open, transparent, consistent and collaborative ways of working together. It is based on the guiding principles of independence, inter-dependence, dialogue, cooperation and collaboration. Two Codes of Good Practice – one on Funding and one on Policy Dialogue – exist to help guide interactions between government departments and voluntary sector organizations on aspects of their relationship.

The Code of Good Practice on Funding builds on current funding policies and practices and includes specific recommendations to improve direct funding practices. Consistent with the financial management framework of the Government of Canada, it applies to existing and future funding arrangements between federal government departments and agencies and the voluntary sector organizations they work with at both the national and local levels.

As the federal interlocuteur between the voluntary sector and federal departments/agencies with mandates directly affecting the voluntary sector, Social Development Canada pursues collaborative working relationships with federal departments and agencies, particularly in the social issues cluster group, and their non-profit and voluntary sector stakeholders. As a horizontal Government of Canada initiative, implementation of the Accord and Codes is intended to be “championed” by and within each department and agency with respect to funding and policy dialogue practices in the course of collaboration and relationship-building.

The Government of Canada has recently announced the creation of a Task Force on Community Investments to examine federal policies and practices relating to the use of transfer payments and the funding of horizontal initiatives in support of community investments. The Task Force will make government-wide recommendations on:

1. New approaches to ensure that the Treasury Board Transfer Payment Policy is used to its full extent by federal departments so as to achieve consistency with the Code of Good Practice on Funding for the Government of Canada and the voluntary sector; and
2. New policy directions to enable and support investments in multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral and local initiatives, with appropriate accountability by departments.

It is anticipated that this work will result in more consistent, results-oriented funding practices across the federal government and a seamless, horizontal approach to supporting investments in communities.

Status of Women Canada is committed to implementing the Code as it relates to strengthening sector capacity, diversity, equitable access, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness of the sector and the relationship between the government and the sector.

RECOMMENDATION 4

The Committee recommends that Status of Women Canada take advantage of the current evaluation of the Women's Program to implement new funding processes which could position Status of Women Canada as a leader in the application of the Code of Good Practice on Funding.

Status of Women Canada is committed to playing a leadership role in the application of the Code of Good Practice on Funding. In fact, some aspects of the Program's existing funding processes support key elements of the Code, for example, the diversity of groups and communities assisted, the choice of grants as opposed to contributions mechanism for the vast majority of funding provided, and the availability of multi-year funding.

Once the current evaluation of the Women's Program is completed, Status of Women Canada will work with women's and other equality-seeking organizations in the development of options for funding mechanisms, taking into consideration the Code of Good Practice on Funding.

RECOMMENDATION 5

The Committee recommends that Status of Women Canada immediately engage equality-seeking organizations in meaningful consultation to determine future directions for the Women's Program.

The testimony heard by the Committee confirmed the importance of the Women's Program as one of the few places where women's groups can seek financial and other kinds of support for their work to advance women's equality in Canada. The future direction of the Program will be a key component for discussion at a series of consultations planned by Status of Women Canada for the fall of 2005.

Women's and other equality-seeking organizations will be invited to provide input on such issues as eligibility criteria, eligible costs and funding mechanisms. These consultations will be part of a process aimed at the development of the new gender equality strategy for 2005-2010.

RECOMMENDATION 6

The Committee recommends that Status of Women Canada develop fair and consistent practices which recognize the indirect costs to be covered by Women's Program funding, and that these practices be developed in collaboration with equality-seeking organizations.

As noted above, Status of Women Canada will be undertaking an extensive consultation process regarding the Women's Program funding criteria, including issues related to eligible costs, both direct and indirect.

RECOMMENDATION 7

The Committee recommends that Status of Women Canada work with other federal government departments to raise awareness about the importance of funding gender projects relevant to the funding mandates of those departments.

Status of Women Canada believes that working with other federal government departments is important for achieving gender equality in Canada. Given the cross-cutting nature of women's equality issues and the limited resources of the Women's Program, Status of Women Canada is committed to working with other federal government departments and agencies to examine how investments can be made towards the work of women's equality seeking organization in support of the overall objectives of the federal gender equality strategy under development.

RECOMMENDATION 8

The Committee recommends that Status of Women Canada explore eligibility criteria for Women's Program funding through meaningful consultation with equality-seeking organizations.

Consultations on funding mechanisms, eligibility criteria and eligible costs will be part of the overall development process for the new gender equality strategy. This process will take place immediately following the completion of the evaluation of the Women's Program in fall 2005.

RECOMMENDATION 9

The Committee recommends that Status of Women act now to enter into funding agreements for a minimum of three years.

As noted previously, the Women's Program implemented several changes to the Program in 1998, including the replacement of program and project funding by initiative funding, funding for initiatives up to 18 months, and multi-year funding for initiatives up to three years.

Multi-year funding was introduced in direct response to the positive feedback to the option obtained through the 1996 consultation process. Unlike other programs which provide multi-year funding for capacity building strategies, the Women's Program currently provides this type of support for strategies aimed at public policy and institutional change initiatives. This was done in recognition of the fact that this type of work takes longer than 12 months.

RECOMMENDATION 10

The Committee recommends that the Standing Committee on the Status of Women be granted intervenor status in the ongoing review of the Women's Program to ensure that the comments contained in this report are appropriately reflected in the review process.

The Government of Canada acknowledges the Committee's continuing interest in the review of the Women's Program. The Standing Committee has played a valuable role in providing a forum for women's and other equality-seeking organizations to make their views known about the Program.

As noted previously, a variety of mechanisms are being established in order to obtain input for the Program redesign process. SWC will keep the Committee informed of the results of the evaluation and find opportunities for the Committee members to participate in the consultation process for the renewal of the WP.