“We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond”  
~ Gwendolyn Brooks
LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

Spring has sprung and so has collective advocacy!

After decades of bold feminist advocacy, we are proud to join child care advocates and workers across the province to celebrate Ontario signing on to the federal child care plan. While we mark this hard-won victory, we recognize our work is not done.

Ontario needs a stronger child care workforce strategy. Looking ahead, we are excited to join forces with our YWCA Ontario Coalition to launch a provincial election campaign on May 2nd. Our five-point feminist plan is sure to spur attention and galvanize voters and other residents to take a closer look at some of the issues at stake during this election. So stay tuned for more information about our campaign and please make a plan to vote! 

Attaining a truly gender-equal world will take time but we know that collective advocacy will get us there. Thank you for your continued support. 
Warmly,

Jasmine Ramze Rezaee
Director of Advocacy & Communications
YWCA Toronto 
ADVOCACY CORNER
With the help of YWCA Toronto staff, we prepared an important submission for the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. We offered over 15 recommendations that highlight the importance of a holistic and intersectional approach to gender-based violence. Recently, the federal government also released its 2022 budget.

Our analysis determined that while the government is taking steps to support gender equality, much work remains to address the growing poverty, inequity and violence across the country.

On Equal Pay Day, we made history! As members of the Equal Pay Coalition, we joined the first-ever party leader’s debate on women’s issues in Ontario.
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PROGRAM UPDATE
Expanding Affordable Housing

YWCA Toronto has provided affordable housing since 1873.

On April 4th 2022, we expanded our housing portfolio with the addition of 153 individual units in Toronto’s West End through a new collaboration with the Neighbourhood Land Trust (NLT). With NLT, we will manage these units and ensure that they remain affordable.

“YWCA Toronto is proud to partner with NLT to offer affordable housing
opportunities for existing tenants and women and gender diverse individuals and their families. We are grateful for this partnership and excited about the prospect of advancing women-focused housing.” - Heather McGregor, Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Toronto
PHILANTHROPY HIGHLIGHT
EARLY BIRD TICKETS EXTENDED UNTIL
SATURDAY APRIL 30TH

Join us for the 41st YWCA Toronto Women of Distinction Awards Gala to honour the achievements of eight remarkable women. Be inspired by the 2022 award recipients' commitment to social justice and help raise vital funds for our programs.

Early bird tickets at $195, have been extended until April 30th. Purchase your tickets or table or donate now and you can help transform the lives of women, girls and gender diverse people in our city.

For more information contact:
Claire Murray, Event and Stewardship Officer.
Photo | Courtesy of Ontario For All
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Planning ahead – policy issues that matter

Throughout March and April, Ontario for All and the United Way Greater Toronto Area hosted five roundtables for nonprofit organizations. The roundtables showcased panels with issue experts who explored policy challenges and opportunities in housing, income security, inclusive recovery, access to essential services and the future of nonprofits.

Director of Advocacy & Communications, Jasmine Ramze Rezaee joined the Inclusive Recovery and Decent Work panel highlighting challenges faced by women and gender diverse workers and those seeking employment during the pandemic. In particular, she noted the importance of taking an intersectional, gender-responsive approach to recovery efforts.
Photo | Courtesy of Ontario Nonprofit Network
Fostering The Care Economy 

We are so proud of our joint submission with Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) and YWCA Ontario Coalition on building a robust and sustainable care economy.

Women often take on the bulk of unpaid care work, particularly racialized women. And systemic inequities in the care economy impede women’s economic security. Care work creates the conditions for the economy to function, and it starts from investing in affordable, high-quality child care with decent wages for child care workers.
Edgy
Photo | Courtesy of Canva Photos

It Takes a Village

Women and racialized communities are significantly impacted by COVID-19. In our latest blog, mental health professional Tara Farahani takes a deep dive into COVID’s effects on women’s mental health and well-being. 

Tara underscores the importance of community connection and the need for more accessible and better funded health services. 
Photo | Courtesy of Toronto Star

Closing the Gender Pay Gap

April 12th was Equal Pay Day, an international event dedicated to raising awareness of the gender and racial pay gap. This year’s Equal Pay Day symbolizes how far into the year women must work to catch up to what men earned the previous year, on average.  

Fay Faraday and Jan Borowy, co-chairs of the Ontario’s Equal Pay Coalition, wrote a Toronto Star op-ed urging greater government action on women’s economic equality and further policy solutions to address the pay gap.  
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
YWCA Toronto operates on the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. We are grateful to work on this territory as we strive to build a more equitable and just city for women, girls, and gender diverse people.