The federal budget contains promises to queer and trans communities to the tune of 100 million new dollars to help fund the forthcoming LGBTQ2 Action Plan.
According to the Liberal Party’s election platform, this plan was supposed to have been delivered within the first 100 days of cabinet being sworn in, but they missed this February deadline—Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien’s office says they are still working on it.
Nevertheless, this is a historic amount of federal money for LGBTQ2S+ communities. The planned spending starts with $18 million in 2022/23 and peaks with $30 million in 2024/25. Over 10 years, it adds up to more than many of the government’s other Diverse and Inclusive Canada initiatives, for example, the $85 million the government intends to spend on its new Anti-Racism Strategy and National Action Plan on Combatting Hate and the $78 million dedicated to doubling the Home Accessibility Tax Credit.
The budget also notes that there is an ongoing commitment to spend $15 million over three years to establish a new LGBTQ2 Projects Fund to support “community-informed initiatives to overcome key issues facing LGBTQ2S+ communities, such as accessing mental health services and employment support,” the applications for which are due to open this spring. This project funding is separate from the LGBTQ2 Capacity Fund which was partially renewed to the tune of $7.5 million in February.
For Tyler Boyce, executive director of the Enchanté Network, which helps Canadian LGBTQ2S+ organizations connect with one another, the $100 million commitment is unprecedented. The money follows a national engagement process, which included conducting 25,000 surveys.
“We really applaud the fact that it is in addition to the $15 million Project Fund,” says Boyce, “but at the end of the day, we don’t know what is going to be in the Action Plan.”
Boyce says that Enchanté is hoping that the Action Plan will have funds to address gender-based violence, particularly for trans, non-binary and gender-diverse communities. He is also hoping for more spending on capacity funding, money used to improve organizational effectiveness, which needs to be long-term, rather than short-term funding for specific projects.
As part of their pre-budget submission, Enchanté requested funds to research the feasibility of an LGBTQ2S+ National Endowment Fund. That would involve taking a substantial amount of money and investing it ethically, with the returns providing sustainable future funding for the work of community groups. Often such funds are supported primarily by donations.
“It’s important for marginalized communities to ensure that the funding of our work is not at the whim of political attitudes of the day.”
“It’s a permanent solution, similar to models like the [Canada’s proposed] Black-led Philanthropic Endowment Fund, as well as the Equality Fund,” says Boyce. “These are sustainable, durable solutions to long-term funding, and it’s particularly important for marginalized communities to ensure that the funding of our work is not at the whim of political attitudes of the day, but rather they carry forward regardless of how the environment around us changes.”
The government’s Gender-Based Analysis-Plus (GBA+) document, which is released to accompany the budget, says that the Action Plan will “coordinate federal initiatives to remove systemic barriers on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, together with intersecting identity factors such as race, age and economic status.” The quality-of-life impacts associated with this promise include providing for unmet needs in mental health care, providing a sense of belonging in local communities, creating a positive perception of diversity and increasing participation in cultural or religious practices, recreation or sport.
What is not clear is what became of the promise in their election platform to “provide $40 million over four years starting in 2021/22 for capacity funding to Canadian LGBTQ2 service organizations.” While $7.5 million in capacity funding was extended in February for current recipients, as well as two new projects, this appears to be separate from the platform promise; the minister’s office has not given any indication as to when we will hear about the promised $40 million.
One promise that is reflected in the budget is a new medical expenses tax credit for reproductive assistance.
“Whether facing fertility issues, being part of a same-sex couple or just wanting to be able to be a mom or a dad on their own terms, some Canadians rely on surrogacy and expensive procedures in order to build the family they dream of,” the document states. “But currently the Medical Expense Tax Credit is not available to those who need to pay medical expenses of others in order to become a parent.”
To address this gap, the budget proposes allowing medical expenses related to a surrogate mother or a sperm, ova or embryo donor, as well as the reimbursement of a surrogate for in vitro fertilization, to be claimed in the 2022 taxation year and in the future. Those costs must be incurred in Canada. The credit would also be applied to fees paid to fertility clinics and donor banks.
“Given the high out-of-pocket costs, even with tax relief provided for medical expenses, intended parents using these arrangements likely have higher incomes.”
Canadian economist Lindsay Tedds tweeted that while the tax credit helps soften the blow for alternative reproduction technology, it “does not make ART affordable and accessible.”
The budget’s GBA+ analysis acknowledges this concern. “Given the high out-of-pocket costs,” it reads, “even with tax relief provided for medical expenses, intended parents using these arrangements likely have higher incomes.”
The budget also promises a Menstrual Equality Fund in order to address barriers related to affordability and stigma that some women, girls, trans and non-binary Canadians face in accessing menstrual products. To that end, $25 million over two years will be allocated to Women and Gender Equality Canada to establish a national pilot project for the fund.
The GBA+ analysis notes several other needs for the queer and trans communities which are covered by the budget, including the promise to combat misinformation and disinformation, which inordinately targets LGBTQ2S+ people, the promise to support culture change in the Canadian Armed Forces and the effort to work with provinces on the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
The analysis notes that queer and trans communities are at greater risk of being the victims of violent crime, and that there has been a higher proportion of users of the mental-health support portal Wellness Together by LGBTQ2S+ individuals. It also points to the impact of the opioid crisis on the LGBTQ2S+ communities. There was also mention in their safe sports plans for LGBTQ2S+ athletes, though no details were provided.
As part of their pledge for more legal aid for asylum seekers, the analysis includes LGBTQ2S+ claimants among those who are in need. Plans for Ukrainian humanitarian assistance also include recognition of the need to work with reliable partners in the region to ensure that LGBTQ2S+ Ukrainians are among those who should be receiving assistance.
Given that the budget also makes an allocation for the creation of 24 new superior court judges across the country, the analysis notes that seven percent of this government’s existing judicial appointments identify as LGBTQ2S+, which is above the statistical baseline of four percent of the population identifying as queer or trans.
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