On April 26, O’Regan invited those eligible recipients — which include Indigenous band councils, tribal councils and self-governing entities — to submit their project ideas by 3 p.m. EDT May 24, 2022, through the application webpage.
Successful applicants will be invited to submit their detailed project proposals — with the selected projects to begin running in 2023, for a maximum of three years.
“Canadian workers know how to make their workplaces safer and more welcoming for vulnerable people,” O’Regan said in a press statement. “We’re funding projects, led by workers and vulnerable communities, to get it done — because if you’re not including everyone, you’re not getting the best.”
The fund “aims to guide culture change around harassment and violence in federally regulated workplaces,” according to a press release from Employment and Social Development Canada.
The federal government makes $3.5 million available annually to fund projects designed to help workplaces comply with recent Canada Labour Code amendments (Bill C-65) which target the prevention of harassment and violence, including sexual harassment and violence, in federally regulated industries and workplaces.
The beefed-up framework for the prevention of harassment and violence came into force Jan. 1, 2021.
Ottawa said it is “helping eligible recipients to develop sector-specific tools and resources related to harassment and violence prevention, aiming at supporting behavioural changes in the workplace, and to provide guidance to workers regarding the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations.”
Projects that have received funding in the past include the development and delivery of anti-harassment and anti-violence training to managers and workers in the trucking sector and the provision of culturally sensitive workplace harassment and violence prevention tools and resources to First Nations communities and individuals.
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