Definitions

The following terms have these meanings in this Policy:

• “Gender” - The socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a society assigns to masculinity or femininity.

• “Gender Equity” – the fair allocation of resources, programs, and decision making to all individuals without discrimination based on gender identity. Gender Equity also involves addressing any imbalances in the benefits available to individuals of different gender identities. For the purposes of this policy, when we consider gender equity issues, we are referring to the experiences of all Individuals who identify as girls and women.

• “Individuals” – Individuals employed by or engaged in activities with, the Organization including, but not limited to,, athletes, coaches, convenors, officials, volunteers, managers, administrators, committee members, parents and guardians, spectators at events, and Directors and Officers of the Organization.

Requirements for Gender Equity

Gender Equity requires:

• Ensuring that everyone has access to a full range of opportunities to achieve the social, psychological and physical benefits that come from participating and leading in sport and physical activity.
• Providing everyone with a full range of activity, program and leadership choices that meet their needs, interests and experiences; and
• Examining organizational practices and policies to ensure they do not hinder participation or leadership based on gender.

• Gender Equity does not require:
• Making the same programs, education, training, resources and facilities available to all individuals. Some may be the same as those offered to one gender, some may be altered, and some may be altogether different to satisfy the requirements for equity.

Benefits of Gender Equity[1]

The Organization recognizes the following benefits of gender equity:

• Attracting more girls and women to sport and physical activity enhances the revenue base and increases the market segment to which the sport appeals;
• Fully representing the population base and tapping the resources of every member results in a larger, stronger and more effective organization;
• Skilled girls and women can provide the organization with an important, larger talent pool of administrators, coaches, board members and officials;
• Being inclusive of all individuals in sport attracts public interest and private investment which in turn attracts more members to the organization;
• Taking the lead in promoting girls and women brings prestige, a stronger reputation and support to the organization;
• Working together, all genders can learn to build equal partnerships, increase knowledge sharing and improve the safety of sport for all;
• Providing opportunities for parents and children of girls and women to get involved can enhance both family relationships and the sport or activity;
• Sport and physical activity can provide opportunities for people to understand and respect their bodies which fosters a healthy lifestyle and mitigates health issues; and
• By fulfilling its legal responsibility to treat everyone involved in the organization fairly and making a commitment to gender equity, the organization will be better able to mitigate risk.

Purpose

The purpose of this Policy is to ensure the Organization is committed to Gender Equity in its operations, programming, and governance.

Operations

As part of its commitment to having gender equitable operations, the Organization will

• Ensure that girls and women are portrayed equitably in promotional materials and official publications, and that gender-inclusive language is used in all communications;
• Ensure that Individuals have no barriers to participation on the basis of gender in the Organization’s programs, training, and other opportunities.;
• Encourage gender-balanced representation on the Board of Directors and on all committees by working to ensure that no more than 60% of the elected positions on the Board of Directors and two-thirds of elected/appointed positions on Committees are from one gender.; and
• Handle any instance of discriminatory behaviour on the basis of gender according to the Organization’spolicies for complaints and dispute resolution.

Programming

As part of its commitment to equitable programming for Individuals, the Organization will

• Commit to the equitable allocation of resources, financial and otherwise, and the provision of services for girls and women.
• Ensure that the achievement of equitable opportunities is a key consideration when developing, updating, or delivering programs and policies.
• Provide opportunities for leadership development for girls and women.
• Collect gender-based data to monitor and evaluate the participation of Individuals from girls and women.
• Ensure Individuals are neither disadvantaged nor denied access to programming on the basis of gender.

Human Resource Management

As part of its commitment to the use of equitable human resource management practices, the Organization will

• Aim to achieve a gender-balanced representation of staff, administrators, coaches, Directors, officials and volunteers.
• Adopt, whenever possible, flexible work practices such as flex-time, job-sharing and home-based offices;
• Use interview techniques that do not discriminate based on gender; and
• Adopt a pay scale reflecting equal pay for work of equal value for its employees.

Ongoing Commitment to Gender Equity

The Organization resolves to incorporate gender equity matters in its strategies, plans, actions, and operations and will regularly evaluate its progress.

If an Individual does not believe the Organization is demonstrating its commitment to Gender Equity as described in this Policy, the Individual may submit a complaint under the terms of the Organization’spolicies for complaints and dispute resolution.

Policy

This Policy is based on a template developed by Canadian Women & Sport and Sport Law and Strategy Group in December 2019 for use within the Canadian sport sector. The Organization is encouraged to contact Canadian Women & Sport every two years for policy updates.

Refer to the Implementation Guide for the Canadian Women & Sport Gender Equity Policy for guidelines on how to enact the policy requirements described herein.

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[1] See: https://womenandsport.ca/gender-equity/what-is-gender-equity/what-is-gender-equity/menandsport.ca/gender-equity/what-is-gender-equity/