Thank you very much for the invitation to be here today. It's lovely to be here in person with you.
As the chair noted, my name is Karen Hall. I'm the associate assistant deputy minister of the income security and social development branch at Employment and Social Development Canada. I'm joined by Katie Alexander, who's a director general in the program operations branch, and Sandra Charles, who's the director for the supporting Black Canadian communities initiative.
I would like to start by providing you with some context and an overview of the supporting Black Canadian communities initiative.
Anti-Black racism impacts the lives of millions of Black people in Canada every day. It creates significant inequities and barriers that prevent the full inclusion of Black communities in all areas of life.
We also know that the COVID-19 pandemic has had disproportionate impacts on Black communities, heightening existing inequities faced by these communities.
Despite this, Canada's Black population is among the fastest growing and continues to make significant contributions to Canadian society, with the potential for an even greater impact in the future.
In response, and as part of Canada's recognition of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent, in budget 2019, the government provided $25 million over five years to establish the supporting Black Canadian communities initiative. In budget 2021, an additional $100 million was provided for the SBCCI to address systemic inequalities and support capacity building. Finally, budget 2022 provided an additional $50 million over two years for the continued empowerment of Black-led and Black-serving community organizations and their work in promoting inclusiveness. In that budget, the government also stated its intention to explore further options to continue supporting capacity building within Black-led and Black-serving community organizations in the long term.
The SBCCI is key in meeting Canada's commitments to the UN International Decade for People of African Descent. The SBCCI's implementation is informed and led by the voices of Canada's Black communities, aligning to the principle of “by us, for us”. This principle was emphasized at the National Black Canadians Summit in Halifax this past July, which I was very pleased to attend.
The SBCCI operates under three pillars. The first pillar, capacity building, strengthens foundational infrastructure and sustainability for more evidence-based decision-making, and fosters more enduring supports within communities. The second pillar, systems change, supports projects and initiatives that address the systemic barriers and inequities faced by Black Canadians. The third pillar, emerging priorities, is to address emerging gaps in priorities, as identified by Black community stakeholders and other community of practice networks.
I'll speak about these in turn, Mr. Chair, but I'm not sure how I'm doing for time.