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Burnaby, New Westminster organizations receive provincial grants for anti-racism data engagement

Seventy organizations across B.C. selected to participate
Jess Balzer
Jess Balzer
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The Burnaby Family Life Institute (top) and the Lower Mainland Purpose Society (bottom),Google Maps

Organizations in Burnaby and New Westminster will be helping the province build and implement anti-racism legislation. 

B.C. is contributing as much as $25,000 in funding to 70 organizations — including 10 based in Burnaby and two in New West — to help engage members on race-based data collection, according to a news release today (Dec. 9). 

Chosen organizations are set to hold engagement sessions to suggest how the province should develop and implement anti-racism legislation. 

Sessions will consist of in-person events or webinars aimed to engage about 1,500 people. 

"We made a commitment to move forward on anti-racism data legislation in partnership with communities, and I'm thrilled to see so many organizations stepping up to support this work," said parliamentary secretary for anti-racism initiatives Rachna Singh.

"I look forward to joining some of the community engagement sessions to hear first-hand their thoughts on how best to build and implement the legislation to support our work to address systemic racism and barriers in government programs and services."

Engagement sessions are expected to be done by the end of January 2022. 

Burnaby organizations included in the data-collection program are: 

  • Burnaby Family Life Institute - $25,000
  • Engaged Communities Canada Society (Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Abbotsford, Mission, Agassiz and Seabird Island First Nation) - $25,000
  • Foundation for a Path Forward (Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, North Vancouver, Abbotsford, Delta, Chilliwack, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Provincewide remote) - $25,000
  • Ghanaian-Canadian Association of B.C. (Surrey, Burnaby, Vancouver and New Westminster) - $15,000
  • HeadHeartHand Foundation [3h Foundation] (Surrey, Langley, Vancouver, Burnaby, Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops, Mission, Maple Ridge and Prince George) - $20,000
  • National Council of Canadian Muslims (Surrey, Burnaby and Victoria) - $20,000
  • Network to Eliminate Violence in Relationships Society (Burnaby, Surrey and Delta) - $18,855
  • Pacific Immigrant Resources Society (Vancouver, Burnaby) - $10,000
  • Surrey Women Centre (Surrey, Richmond, Vancouver, Coquitlam, Burnaby and North Vancouver) - $20,000
  • Lower Mainland Purpose Society for Youth and Families (New Westminster) - $2,000

In addition to the community-led engagement, the province will be extending its deadline for an online survey on anti-racism data, which will now close on Jan. 31, 2022. 

"We've had a great response to our consultation so far, with more than 2,200 British Columbians sharing stories of their experiences with providing personal information to government in the past, and we have extended the survey for another two months to give more communities the chance to add their thoughts," Singh added.

"By working with our community partners, we can be confident that we are moving forward in a culturally safe way to create a foundation for positive change to tackle racism in our province."

The provincial government is developing the legislation with Indigenous partners, based on input over several years from key stakeholders, including the B.C. Human Rights Commissioner, racialized communities and Indigenous organizations. 

The summaries of the ongoing community engagements will be shared once they have concluded in the spring.