On Friday, the federal government announced a call for proposals in an effort to increase opportunities for women in non-traditional roles.
"As we all know, women have a key role to play in Canada’s economic success. We represent nearly half the Canadian workforce but are under represented in many occupations. This is especially true in the trades, science, engineering and technology," said Rona Ambrose, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, in her speech in Edmonton.
She drew on a 2005 Royal Bank of Canada study that suggested that if women received the same employment opportunities as men, "personal incomes in Canada would be $168 billion dollars higher, and an additional 1.6 million women would be employed."
The call for proposals is called Opening Doors: Economic Opportunities for Women. The government will be accepting proposals for new projects to advance women's role in STEM occupations until May 31. It is part of the more than $6 million that has been approved for projects that support women in non-traditional roles, Minister Ambrose said.
Proposed projects should engage women directly and give women and girls an opportunity "to develop their skills, further their education and advance their careers in all sectors of the economy."
In addition, proposals are also being accepted for projects that increase economic options for women and projects that improve prosperity for immigrant women.
The announcement follows a number of similar announcements made this past month by the government. The same day, Minister Ambrose announced support for the Peel Children and Youth Initiative's project designed to "promote economic security among young women in the City of Mississauga" via $200,000 in funding that will go towards working "with young women between 16 and 24 years of age living in Mississauga's Colonial Terrace neighbourhood."
The announcements are part of the government's Status of Women Canada initiative. For more information on the call for proposals, visit the Status of Women Canada
website.
Writer: Sheena Lyonnais
Source: The offices of Rona Ambrose