Education Fund

For the past two decades we have worked with NCWC on Joint Common Programs, exploring an amazing variety of important topics and tapping into a wealth of internal and external expertise.

Some of those programs were:

• Young Women and Violence Prevention
• Securing our Future - the economics of later life action plans/curricula developed to help young women plan for a healthy economic future
• Canada's Water - an exploration of threats to its security such as water shortages, impacts of mega dams, drought, mining, deforestation, and the need for a National Water Strategy.
• The Water/Energy Connections Project - Funded by the Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation. Programs, articles, public meetings, etc., dealt with the Great Lakes, Nuclear, Soft Water/Energy Paths, Climate, Cross-Canada Survey on water/energy use and public opinion on government energy and water policies.
• Women and Mental Health - a three-part comprehensive exploration of women's unique mental health experiences, featuring speakers from advocacy groups, individuals, government, youth, aboriginal groups, and consumers.
• Listening to, learning from, acting on the recommendations of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Commission - programs with speakers such as Dr. Pamela Palmater, Senator David Arnot, and Ms. Qajaq Robinson. This will continue until mid-2023.

2023-2025 "Housing is a Human Right"

Our current Common Program, centred on "Housing is a Human Right" since May 2023 continues through to June 2025. It has been a pleasure to host five important conversations that presented a wealth of proven ideas and innovative concepts to address the complex challenges of housing and homelessness. These discussions emphasized the importance of cooperation and coordination among various governmental entities to ensure that housing, as a human right, becomes a reality for everyone..

Here’s a brief synopsis of the presentations:

• Guest speaker Kaite Burkholder Harris spoke to Ending Homelessness 101: How We Get There. Kaite is the Executive Director at the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa.
• Another engaging webinar entitled Social Housing and Human Rights: Mobilizing for Change presented guest speaker Kirsten Bernas, a coordinator of the National Social Housing and Human Rights Campaign, Director of policy advocacy at West Central Women's Resource Centre in Winnipeg, and Chair of the Provincial Working Group, Manitoba Right to Housing Coalition. To Access Recording Please Click Here Passcode: yM8Hny$4
• Ricardo Tranjan, a political economist and senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), who had previously managed Torontos Poverty Reduction Strategy and taught at universities in Quebec and Ontario, gave us an insightful presentation, The Tenant Class.
• Our panel discussion titled Housing Our Most Vulnerable: One Size Does Not Fit All featured Chief Brendan Mitchell, regional Chief for Newfoundland with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Tim Richter, President and CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEF), Donna Brooks, CEO of the Prince Albert YWCA, and our moderator was Stefani Langenegger, the host of the Morning Edition on CBC Saskatchewan.