Whitney Issik, Associate Minister of Status of Women. (Government of Alberta)

By Justin Goulet/LethbridgeNewsNOW

$1 Million In Grant Funding

Province announces new grants to boost women’s economic security

Nov 26, 2021 | 12:39 PM

The province has announced a commitment of $1 million in grant funding for projects aimed at increasing women’s participation in the economy.

Under the Women’s Economic Recovery Challenge Grant program, funding is available to non-profit groups, including community organizations, municipalities, First Nations and Métis communities, industry associations and economic development organizations.

Alberta’s Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation Doug Schweitzer said, “we are funding community groups to help eliminate obstacles that keep women from participating fully in the economy.”

“When we invest in women, we create a strong foundation for long-term opportunity and economic growth for Eligible non-profits can apply for up to $250,000 in funding in the following focus areas:

• increasing the representation of women and girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics);
• increasing female entrepreneurship;
• decreasing the challenges women face in the workplace;
• helping women transition to a new career, supporting inclusive employer training and updating employment skills.

project will take one year

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Examples of eligible projects include the development and implementation of programs and educational materials, delivering training and networking opportunities and executing media or educational campaigns.

Associate Minister of Status of Women, Whitney Issik said, “Alberta’s government is stepping up to ensure that women have the support they need to succeed.”

“This new grant will help women grow their businesses, establish successful careers and create well-paying jobs in industries that are crucial to building this province’s future and economic recovery. Alberta thrives when women are able to reach their full potential.”all Albertans.”

The province noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has “disproportionally affected” female employment in Alberta. In April 2020, female employment was 83 per cent of what it was in February 2020, compared with 87 per cent for men.

By August 2021, the province reported that female employment had fully recovered to the historical norm. Employment for women in August was 99.5 per cent of the level for August 2019 and 99.7 per cent of the level for August 2018. Male employment, meanwhile, has recovered to 98.7 per cent of both August 2019 and 2018 levels.

However, the province added that female employment had not fully recovered in some industries. Female employment in accommodation and food services is 91 per cent of its pre-pandemic (August 2019) level. In ‘other services’, which includes personal services and civil society organizations, female employment has recovered to only 86 per cent of its August 2019 level.

NDP Critic for Women and 2SLGBTQ+ Issues made the following statement in response to the announcement:

“Earlier today the UCP announced a grant program that will fall significantly short of increasing women’s participation in the economy. The UCP could have funneled this money directly to employers and women entrepreneurs, but instead they chose to add unnecessary delays.

“Women have been hit particularly hard by the economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they have yet to see a forward-looking plan from Jason Kenney and the UCP to address the issues they’re facing. In fact, we learned from a study by Global Entrepreneur Monitor that women in Alberta are 30 per cent more likely to shut down their business than men, but none of the UCP’s small business supports tackled that gap.

“We have been calling on the government throughout this pandemic to address the needs of women, and specifically, in the spring, called on the UCP to develop additional support for women who own businesses. The UCP mocked us, ignored our recommendations, and failed to mention women even once in their budget address. The UCP have removed any sort of evidence-based approach to their development of these programs, and they no longer apply gender-based analysis. Additionally, they have completely decimated the Status of Women budget.

“This program does not address any of the concerns we raised when we called for an additional stream in the Small Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant specifically for women. This UCP program may only fund as few as four projects across the whole province, with the $1 million ceiling being a drop in the bucket to what women entrepreneurs need in support.

“I implore the UCP to read the recommendations we gave to them in the spring. We are happy to work with the government to develop supports that will actually help women and our economy recover.”

Applications can be downloaded here and submitted via email. The deadline to apply is January 12, 2022.

(With files from rdnewsNOW)