Theatre Direct Canada

Published purpose

This 29-month project will support a feminist response and recovery from the current impacts of COVID-19, through systemic change. Theatre Direct Canada will achieve this through the implementation of Balancing Act, a focused program designed to address discriminatory legislation, policies, and practices that prevent women with caregiving responsibilities from fully participating in social, political, and economic spheres in the performing arts. Through this initiative the organization will design and implement policies and practices to increase labour market participation and opportunities for artists and arts workers with caregiving responsibilities. The organization will develop and implement community-based approaches to address intersectional barriers to equality for diverse women and build relationships between equality seeking organizations and other stakeholders to collaborate across sectors to advance gender equality. At the end of the project, Balancing Act will have contributed to addressing systemic barriers facing women with caregiving responsibilities by recruiting arts organizations across the country to identify barriers and adapt systems, strategies and budgets that include emergency fund programs, childcare stipends, flexible working practices, and infrastructure that reduce economic barriers for women artists with caregiving responsibilities. Theatre Direct Canada will empower arts organizations across the country to share resources, disseminate best practices, and advocate in support of women with caregiving responsibilities through collaborative mentorship. This project will develop and deliver programming specific to caregivers who have intersectional identities including racialized, Indigenous, and other underrepresented groups of women to support an inclusive recovery. The additional funding will support the project’s potential in reaching the objective of recruiting and engaging 70+ organizations by the end of the project and accommodate staffing registrants to do so. These partnerships organizations will help identify the changes needed to support and retain women with caregiving responsibilities into the workforce; and implement the systems, strategies, policies, and budgets to make the change.