Deadline: 15-Feb-22
The Employment and Social Development Canada is now accepting applications for the Workplace Opportunities: Removing Barriers to Equity (WORBE) Grant Program to support employers subject to the Employment Equity Act (the Act) in their efforts to improve designated group representation in areas of low representation through partnerships and industry-tailored strategies.
Through a competitive call for concepts process, WORBE will provide funding through grants or contributions to eligible recipients to develop tailored solutions to support the four (4) designated groups under the Act (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities).
This Call for Concepts (CFC) is the first step of a 2-step intake process for the funding of WORBE projects. The second step is a targeted Call for Proposals, the Department will ask organizations that submitted successful project concepts to provide a detailed project proposal for further consideration for funding.
Objectives
- Improved representation of one (1) or more of the four (4) designated groups within workplaces, occupational groups or sectors with low representation
- Improved understanding among stakeholders of industry-specific barriers to inclusion and effective human resources practices to address them
- Development of new inclusion tools and guides tailored to industry specific needs
Funding Information
Funding of up to a total of $3 million per year is available to distribute to eligible organizations. Eligible organizations can apply for up to $500,000 per year. Eligible projects must be completed within 36 months of the project’s start date. The maximum total funding that can be provided for a project is $1.5 million.
Eligible Activities
Eligible activities may include, but are not limited to the following:
- engaging in effective partnership(s) to work with and support federally regulated private-sector employers through the creation of inclusive workplaces by identifying industry-specific barriers and solutions in order to improve the representation of designated groups in workplaces, occupational groups or sectors experiencing low representation
- enabling employers to take action by facilitating the creation of industry-specific strategies to address identified challenges
- increasing the capacity of employers to fulfil their obligations under the Act by leveraging the potential for industry to work together to develop targeted solutions
Eligibility Criteria
Your organization must be one (1) of the following types:
- federally regulated private-sector employers
- employers associations (unionized or non-unionized)
- non-governmental organizations
- not-for-profit organizations
- academic institutions
For more information, visit https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/funding/workplace-equity.html