The best initiatives are driven by members. By getting to know the membership and listening to your experiences, we can better shape initiatives that support you. Does your ACTRA Branch have a Women’s Committee? Find out by contacting your Branch office or contact the National Women’s Committee if you would like to get one started.

Send us an email for more information or if you would like to get involved!

Follow us on social media @ACTRAWomen

OUR MANDATE

The ACTRA National Women’s Committee (ANWC) is a Standing Committee of the ACTRA National Council.

The ANWC’s mandate is to recommend strategies, approaches and advice to ACTRA National Council to advance ACTRA’s advocacy efforts in support of all women’s and non-binary individuals’ voices, presentations, and stories, to increase and fight for equal rights, equal access to work opportunities, pay equity, and respectful, harassment-free work environments, which support the active participation of diverse women and non-binary individuals in influencing Canadian stories in film, television, and digital media.

The ANWC welcomes all women and non-binary individuals of every race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, diverse gender expression, genetic characteristics, sex, marital status, family status, and ability (mental, physical and emotional).

The word women/woman refers to all women of diverse and varied gender expression.

The term non-binary refers to all individuals whose gender does not fit or does not *solely* fit within the gender binary of male and female.

The ANWC will advise and support ACTRA’s advocacy efforts for accurate and inclusive representation of race, gender expression and gender identity, and address and confront age discrimination, type casting and tropes.

The ANWC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging through the creation and sharing of programs, partnerships, outreach, and initiatives that foster, support, and recognize all women and non-binary individuals in all aspects of creative and leadership roles in the Canadian recorded media industry, both nationally and globally.

OUR WORK
Check out some of the work we are doing:

Elections
Women often need encouragement to even consider becoming involved in the political aspects of our union, not to mention governance in general. As such, our committee provides moral support and encouragement to women considering running for election at the ACTRA Branch and National level. Today, several of our Branches are close to, or have achieved, equal numbers of men and women on their elected councils. We also ensure women remain active on our Bargaining Committees and in senior leadership positions within our union.

Woman of the Year
Since 2010, ahead of International Women’s Day (March 8), ACTRA honours a cis gender or transgender female member of notable acting presence by bestowing her with the ACTRA Woman of the Year Award. The award recognizes the recipient’s significant contributions to advance women within ACTRA and the recorded media industry, and their advocacy and volunteer work within society. Branches of ACTRA also recognize their own celebrated Members. Please visit our dedicated Woman of the Year page to see the women who have been bestowed this honour. Posted on ACTRA’s Youtube channel, enjoy the virtual roundtable celebrations for Juanita Peters (2022), Andrea Minard (2021) and Sarah Polley (2020).

ACHIEVEMENTS
ACTRA women have for decades worked to improve work opportunities, address inequalities and change the way women are portrayed on our screens. We have accomplished so much. Here are some of our more recent achievements:

Reel Women Seen
ACTRA production and award-winning short film Reel Women Seen is a nation-wide collaborative effort of the ACTRA National Women’s Committee created to encourage change amongst key decision-makers in the film and television industry. Directed by Amanda Tapping and written by Elvira Kurt, the short film brings awareness to the gender inequalities that exist in Canada’s film and television industry while showing solutions for change. Reel Women Seen is publicly available to stream via ACTRA National’s YouTube channel for use as an advocacy tool.

Amendments to Appendix “B” on Gender Equality Adopted
In May 2012, ACTRA’s National Council unanimously approved amendments to ACTRA’s Constitution and By-Laws that updated a 1986 Appendix on Gender Equality. The improved “Appendix B” reaffirms ACTRA’s commitment to gender equality within union governance. All ACTRA Branches have also pledged to honour requests to report their progress towards achieving gender equality on their councils, boards and committees.

Adoption of ACTRA Equality Statement
In May 2010, the ACTRA National Women’s Committee won unanimous support from ACTRA’s National Council to adopt the ACTRA Equality Statement. This inspiring document affirms ACTRA’s commitment to zero tolerance of harassment for ACTRA Members.

Canadian Unions for Equality on Screen (CUES)
CUES aims to achieve gender equality in the production of screen-based media by raising awareness of the issue and generating discussion within the industry. http://cueonscreen.ca/

Women in View
A national not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening gender and cultural diversity in Canadian media both on screen and behind the scenes. http://womeninview.ca/