Call for Proposals to Counter Domestic and Family Violence in Indigenous Contexts

Over the past few years, government action concerning Indigenous women and girls has changed, given numerous recent events that have highlighted major issues about gender-based discrimination and exposed vulnerabilities experienced by Indigenous women and girls in particular.

The Secrétariat à la condition féminine (SCF) is launching a call for projects to counter domestic and family violence in Indigenous contexts, with the aim of supporting Indigenous communities in developing concrete 
responses to these issues. This initiative will continue the work carried out under the 2021–2022 call for intent on sexual, domestic, and family violence in Indigenous contexts.

The general objectives of this call for proposals are as follows:

Support impactful projects aimed at preventing domestic and family violence or meeting the needs of First Nations and Inuit women and girls in urban areas and communities who are victims of this type of violence;

Support the development of culturally appropriate projects related to domestic and family violence projects for First Nations and Inuit men and their families.  

Projects must address one or more of the following priorities:

• Promotion, awareness, and prevention regarding domestic and family violence: In particular, this priority aims to support impactful projects that promote awareness of the causes and consequences of domestic and family violence experienced by Indigenous people, as well as encouraging non-violent behaviours.
• Support for victims of domestic and family violence and those around them: Among others, this priority aims to support projects aimed at developing or consolidating aid, self-help, and mentoring services, as well as initiatives to ensure the safety of Indigenous people who have experienced domestic and family violence.
• Recovery and healing: This priority aims to support projects that use culturally appropriate activities to promote the well-being of Indigenous women and men who have experienced domestic and family violence, their entourage, or the community as a whole.
• Knowledge development and transfer: This priority aims to support projects that promote cultural skills and knowledge related to preventing and responding to domestic and family violence in Indigenous contexts, such as projects to teach self-management and relationship conflict management from an Indigenous perspective.

Projects that do not address one of these four priorities, but are relevant and do meet at least one of the two main objectives of the call for projects, will remain eligible. The projects will be chosen based on their quality and expected benefits.

For the project

To be eligible, the project must:

• span two or three years;
• be submitted on a complete form (including the budget), signed and accompanied by all required documents, within the set deadlines;
• meet one of the general objectives of the call for proposals and/or fall within one of the four allocation priorities listed above;
• be submitted by an eligible applicant;
• include eligible expenditures;
• take place in the province of Québec;
• enable one or more of the following activities:
  • awareness activities
  • training activities
  • intervention activities
  • promotional and dissemination activities
  • tool creation and adaptation
  • support activities for people targeted by the project
  • research, action research, and evaluation activities
  • consultation activities aimed at documenting and prioritizing domestic and family violence issues in Indigenous contexts

For the applicant

Eligible applicants are:

• Indigenous non-profit organizations (or their equivalent)
• Non-indigenous non-profit organizations that provide services to Indigenous people
• Cooperatives and Indigenous social economy organizations
• Non-Indigenous cooperatives and social economy organizations that offer services to Indigenous people
• Indigenous communities recognized by the National Assembly of Québec
• The Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador and its commissions
• Post-secondary educational institutions, for expenses not covered by Québec government budget regulations
• Organizations in the health and social services network, and organizations in the education network, for expenses not covered by Québec government budget regulations

Ineligible applicants are:

• Individuals
• Organizations that do not offer services to the Indigenous population
• Organizations that are not established in Québec
• Private companies and for-profit organizations
• Organizations listed in the register of enterprises ineligible for public contracts (RENA)
• Bankrupt organizations

Please note:

• The organization leading the project must exist and not be in the process of being created when the request is submitted. The call for proposals is designed to provide financial support to partners that are firmly rooted in their communities and have expertise in domestic and family violence in Indigenous contexts.
• A non-Indigenous organization may apply, as long as it can demonstrate that it provides services to the Indigenous population or works closely with an Indigenous community or organization.
• An organization may submit more than one project. To do so, it must complete one form per project.

Financial assistance for a single project may not exceed $250,000.

Eligible expenditures:

• Salaries related to project implementation (including fringe benefits);
• Project-related travel expenditures (meals, accommodation, and mileage), following Québec government parameters;
• Expenditures related to the purchase of the materials and tools needed to carry out the project. These tools do not include capital expenditures for project implementation;
• Promotional and communication activities related to project implementation;
• Project evaluation costs, up to 15% of the project’s total cost;
• Professional fees related to the project that are provided by persons other than the applicant’s own staff (e.g., graphic design, conference, or financial audit fees);
• Project management costs, up to 8% of the project’s total cost (e.g., supervision and evaluation of personnel related to project implementation, presentation of the project to partners and donors).
• For universities, up to 27% of these costs are eligible, following the provisions on indirect costs financed by the Québec government in universities under the reform related to full research costs.

These expenditures are eligible as of the moment the Minister signs the letter announcing the acceptance of the project.

Ineligible expenditures:

• Base salaries of the applicant’s staff and partners;
• Running expenses and usual operating costs of the applicant and its partners;
• Capital expenditures (e.g., construction or renovation of premises, construction of a camp on the territory, purchase of a vehicle or snowmobile);
• Expenditures incurred before the letter confirming financial assistance is signed by the Minister responsible for the Status of Women;
• Expenditures covered by budgetary regulations already approved by the Government of Québec;
• Expenditures covered by funding from the Secrétariat à l’action communautaire autonome et aux initiatives sociales (SACAIS) for advocacy activities;
• Portion of taxes for which the recipient of financial assistance is entitled to an input tax credit (ITC); an input tax refund (ITR); or a GST or QST refund, exemption, or waiver.

Submitted projects will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Relevance and quality of the project in relation to the objectives;
• Expected benefits for Indigenous populations;
• Absence of overlap or competition with existing activities or ongoing projects;
• Number and quality of partnerships;
• Support from the Indigenous community;
• Applicant’s ability to carry out the project;
• Credibility of the project timeline, budget forecasts, and overall financial package.

Receipt of financial assistance application forms

All applicants who have submitted a project will receive an acknowledgement of receipt. This does not constitute a promise of financial commitment.

Please note that if you have not received an acknowledgement of receipt, you must resubmit your project to us, as this means that we have not received it.

Eligibility check

Each request for financial assistance is reviewed for eligibility. Requests must be duly completed and submitted within the established deadlines. Organizations with ineligible projects will be notified by December 2024 at the latest.

Analysis of eligible projects

Requests for financial assistance that are deemed eligible and meet the general acceptance conditions will be further evaluated based on the aforementioned criteria.

As part of the project analysis, requests for financial assistance may be forwarded to another ministry or agency for a second opinion on their relevance, among other things.

Decision

Based on the project analyses and relevant opinions (if necessary), the SCF will select the projects and recommend them to the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. At the end of the selection process, and no later than December 2024, the SCF will inform all applicants whether their project was selected.

If the project is selected, a member of the SCF will contact the project representative to explain the next steps. A financial assistance agreement will have to be signed afterwards.

Project kickoff

The selected projects will be able to start work as soon as the Minister responsible for the Status of Women signs the letter confirming the financial assistance.

This is expected to happen in December 2024.

Here are the organizations that received funding support, for a total of $3,058,770.

Funding over two years

Sakkusivik

Organization

Saturviit Inuit Women’s Association of Nunavik

Project description

This project aims to set up workshops to train Inuit women to be healing facilitators, particularly for trauma related to domestic and family violence (DFV). An UQAM professor and an Inuit-Mohawk artist, both women, will lead these workshops in Nunavik over several days, covering topics such as healing, trauma, active listening, emotional self-awareness, and defusing dangerous situations. Ultimately, the workshops will empower Inuit women to develop initiatives in their communities to help reduce DFV and promote individual and collective healing.

Administrative region

Nord-du-Québec

Nation

Inuit

Amount funded

$243,700

Mirerimowin Project: Documenting and preventing domestic and family violence among Indigenous people in Lanaudière

Organization

Centre d’amitié autochtone de Lanaudière (CAAL)

Project description

The aim of this project is to document DFV among urban Indigenous populations in the Lanaudière region. Through a literature review and semi-structured interviews with Indigenous members of the Joliette community on the prevalence of, scope of, and solutions to DFV, the CAAL hopes to share its findings with its partners and develop training content to equip those working in the field. Lastly, annual activity programming will be developed and implemented at the Kitaskino healing site, in the Ouareau forest, at the Saint-Michel-des-Saints service point, at the CAAL, and in local communities.

Administrative region

Lanaudière

Nation

Atikamekw

Amount funded

$248,383

Indigenous community justice clinic – Domestic and family violence component

Organization

Val-d’Or Native Friendship Centre

Project description

The aim of this project is to set up a DFV component of the Val-d’Or Native Friendship Centre’s Indigenous community justice clinic. Proposed activities under this DFV component range from providing support and legal information to psychosocial and healing cultural activities designed to meet the multifaceted needs of Val-d’Or’s urban Indigenous community. Thanks to this project, women and girls who experience DFV will have a range of legal and social services available to them, while men struggling with violence will be supported through culturally relevant activities thanks to a partnership with SATAS, an organization that specializes in DFV.

Administrative region

Abitibi-Témiscamingue

Nation

All First Nations

Amount funded

$250,000

Developing and implementing an Atikamekw family violence intervention policy in Manawan

Organization

Conseil des Atikamekw de Manawan

Project description

This project will enable the Atikamekw community of Manawan to develop an Atikamekw DFV policy and concerted intervention frameworks in the Manawan community. Starting with formalizing Atikamekw law on DFV, the policy will be developed and then integrated into the intervention frameworks of the various stakeholders in DFV cases (community workers, police officers, and other community responders to DFV). This is intended to raise their awareness and train them in Atikamekw approaches and practices regarding DFV.

Administrative region

Lanaudière

Nation

Atikamekw

Amount funded

$250,000

Family and Domestic Violence Expertise at Isuarsivik Regional Recovery Centre

Organization

Isuarsivik Regional Recovery Centre

Project description

The aim of this project is to recruit a continuing care advisor with expertise in DFV. Practically speaking, this project aims to develop tools and protocols to equip the organization’s regular staff to intervene in DFV situations and offer support services to victims of DFV who come to the centre.

Administrative region

Nord-du-Québec

Nation

Inuit

Amount funded

$250,000

Outreach Clinic for Indigenous health

Organization

Doctors of the World

Project description

The aim of this project is to guarantee access to health and psychosocial care for Indigenous people in urban areas through an outreach clinic for Indigenous health in Montréal, located on the premises of Projets Autochtones du Québec (PAQ), a community organization. With the recruitment of a nurse practitioner specialized in primary care (IPS-PL) who is Anishinaabe herself, care will be offered to those in need in a way that is respectful of healing paces. Those benefitting will primarily be women who have experienced or are at risk from DFV. The care available will be promoted through collaboration with the Indigenous navigators responsible for guiding Indigenous people who have just arrived in the south of the province.

Administrative region

Montréal

Nation

All First Nations and Inuit

Amount funded

$250,000

Healthy Relations Project

Organization

Southern Quebec Inuit Association

Project description

This project aims to help Inuit living in southern Québec develop healthy relationships within their families, intimate partnerships, and the broader Inuit community of southern Québec, in an effort to reduce DFV. To that end, culturally relevant tools and educational materials will be developed (consent brochure, wellness plan, safety kits for Indigenous women and girls including emergency whistles, seatbelt cutters, and panic buttons) as well as modules on safety, rights, and healthy relationships to raise awareness among the organization’s clientele. The project will also include implementing cultural activities such as healing retreats for men and women, approaching DFV from a holistic perspective.

Administrative regions

Montréal, Laval, Laurentides and Montérégie

Nation

Inuit

Amount funded

$200,000

Self-defence empowerment program

Organization

Saturviit Inuit Women’s Association of Nunavik

Project description

The first component of this project involves adapting a self-defence workshop to the Nunavik context and training 8 Inuit women as instructors. For the second component, the newly trained instructors will conduct one-day self-defence workshops in Nunavik’s 14 communities and at Saturviit’s Women’s Centre in Dorval. The workshops, given in Inuktitut and English, will teach Inuit women and girls to recognize the signs of violence against women, understand the body’s response to fear, and protect themselves through de-escalation and self-defence techniques.

The self-defence workshops will also provide a safe space for Inuit women and girls to share their stories and listen to others’ experiences of domestic and family violence. They can then begin to heal from their trauma and strengthen their self-confidence. The workshops will also provide information on resources available to women in Nunavik and Montréal.

Administrative regions

Montréal and Nord-du-Québec

Nation

Inuit

Amount funded

$200,660

Funding over three years

Integrated intervention and support for countering domestic and family violence in Indigenous contexts

Organization

CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal

Project description

The aim of this project is to provide cultural safety in the services offered to the Indigenous clientele of the CIUSSS Batshaw Youth and Family Centres, who have generally grown up in or fled an environment marked by DFV. To that end, the project aims to create training modules on Indigenous realities (DFV, culture, healing, etc.) and integration activities for staff with First Nations and Inuit partners. It will also be developing culturally relevant activities for Indigenous youth who use the centre, in partnership with Native Montréal.

Administrative region

Montréal

Nation

All First Nations and Inuit

Amount funded

$250,000

Domestic violence program

Organization

Kanesatake Health Center Inc.

Project description

The aim of this project is to hire a coordinator for the domestic violence program. In addition to developing culturally relevant workshops and activities to raise awareness, the coordinator will work directly with families and individuals subjected to or responsible for DFV in the community. They will also provide referrals to useful, culturally relevant resources.

Administrative region

Laurentides

Nation

Mohawk

Amount funded

$250,000

Naskapi Men’s Retreat Activities at Fort MacKenzie

Organization

Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach

Project description

This project aims to organize 6 men’s retreats at a healing lodge at Fort MacKenzie, led by a traditional healer from the Waseskun Healing Center and a Cree positive male role model. Through traditional activities (sweat lodges, sharing circles, etc.) and sharing traditional knowledge and culture, the men will address issues of violence and DFV and seek individual and collective healing. A promotional video of the first retreat will be produced and posted on the Healing Center’s social media channels to encourage others to seek help and healing.

Administrative regions

Nord-du-Québec and Côte-Nord

Nation

Naskapi

Amount funded

$249,665

Nuna

Organization

CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal

Project description

The project aims to improve access to services for Indigenous women (mostly Inuit) who have experienced domestic and family violence (DFV) by creating a culturally safe pathway for general services. The project will have three components: preventing/raising awareness of DFV in the community, offering culturally relevant support for victims and loved ones, and supporting a culturally safe pathway for services. The project is being carried out in partnership with the Inuit Makivvik organization, which has also referred the CIUSSS to other Indigenous organizations in Montréal (Saturviit, Qavvivik, Iskew, etc.).

Administrative region

Montréal

Nation

Inuit

Amount funded

$234,832

Sessions Ishkueu

Organization

Maison communautaire Missinak

Project description

This project aims to support healing for First Nations women staying at Missinak who have experienced DFV. This will be done through traditional activities, urban support groups, and trips to the Meshkenu site accompanied by an elder. Over 3 years, nine 5-day sessions will be held on topics related to DFV, and 8 support groups will be conducted to extend the psychosocial services the organization offers.

Administrative region

Capitale-Nationale

Nation

First Nations

Amount funded

$181,530