It goes without saying, but let's say it anyway: the last 12 months have been brutal.

Throughout 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated headlines and with good reason. Every single aspect of our society has changed, and likely forever. From how we work, go to school, shop and even how we get around our neighbourhoods, our day to day lives have been completely transformed by this infectious disease. And we follow these public health precautions to stay safe from COVID-19 (some more than others) because the toll of not doing so is too high.

According to the World Health Organization, there have been over 2.4 million deaths and 108 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide at the time of writing this blog post. In Canada, we've had approximately 825 thousand COVID-19 cases, and over 21 thousand people have lost their lives to this disease.

And even with vaccines in play, Canadian public experts predict an even more vicious third wave this coming year. This is partially due to the slower than expected rollout of vaccines. Though let's be honest - it was always a tall order given the complexity of a country as vast as ours. The emergence of new variants of the disease also doesn't bode well, given that they may potentially hamper vaccine effectiveness.

That doesn't even highlight all the people that have been devastated by this crisis, economically and socially. People have lost their jobs and businesses, are struggling to pay rent and mortgages or have been evicted, and are experiencing higher rates of mental illness.

And guess what? Women, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people have faced the brunt of the pandemic's fall out.