As the economy slowly recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, some LGBTQ2S+ organizations in Canada are feeling the pinch and struggling to maintain operations, pushing advocates to lobby the federal government for a big chunk of change.
“At the end of every single fiscal year … 2SLGBTQI+ organizations are wondering if they’re going to need to close their doors,” says Tyler Boyce, executive director of the Enchanté Network, a coalition which represents more than 200 organizations across Canada that provide support services to LGBTQ2S+ people.
“For queer and trans folks living in rural and remote communities, these organizations are their only lifeline. There’s no other support for kilometres and kilometres,” he adds.
In March, CBC reported that the UR Pride Centre would be closing its off-campus community centre due to a loss of core funding. The week before, a similar organization called OUTSaskatoon announced that it would be reducing its programming and laying off a handful of staff because of financial uncertainties. Advocates like Boyce say this is becoming a trend across the queer and trans non-profit sector, which is why he’s appealing to the federal government.
“We’re looking for a $200 million investment into a first-of-its-kind endowment fund for 2SLGBTQI+ communities,” Boyce explains. “We’re in conversation with the government and what we have on our side is the fact that this isn’t a new model.”
In February 2023, the Government of Canada made a historic $200 million investment to support and empower Black-led community organizations across the country. Before that, in 2018, the government made a commitment to contribute up to $300 million to fund gender equality in Canada and abroad.
Boyce is proposing a similar initiative that would grant stable, long-term funding for LGBTQ2S+ organizations and put the decision-making power into their hands.
He says the proposed plan would generate $4 to $16 million of interest annually, and would be distributed to queer and trans organizations that provide front-line services like mental health support, housing, healthcare and emergency assistance for victims of hate crimes.
“No longer should Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ community sector be on the verge of crumbling because of changing political attitudes and the hoarding of resources away from our communities, which has been long-standing in this country, ” Boyce says. “I think our challenge is generating and sustaining political will around this issue.”
When asked about the proposal, Kareen Hashmi, a spokesperson for Women and Gender Equality Canada, did not address the status of the endowment directly, but instead pointed to other funding promises.
“2SLGBTQI+ organizations are a lifeline in their communities, and the Government of Canada remains committed to supporting their important work,” she says. “Last year, we launched a $100 million 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan with 75 percent of its funding going directly to communities.”
She adds, “We are always looking to improve and grow our work with the 2SLGBTQI+ community, including our work with Enchanté, and we welcome any future discussions about what is needed to best support them.”
Despite a disappointing 2023 federal budget that promised very little for queer and trans communities, in 2022, the Government of Canada announced that it would distribute $100 million over five years to support the implementation of its 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan to advance the rights and equality of queer and trans people.
Although Boyce and other advocates say this commitment is a step in the right direction, he is still pushing for an endowment fund; one that is led by LGBTQ2S+ organizations and not the government.
“One of the great things about an endowment is that it puts decision-making power into the hands of the people for whom the grant is meant to benefit by using a participatory process that involves all stakeholders,” Boyce says.
“There’s no longer this nebulous, detached process, where folks who have never served a day in their life working with a trans youth are making decisions for whether or not that person is able to access services.”
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