In March 2020, the Federal Department of Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) reached out to Women’s Shelters Canada (WSC) about distributing federal funds to shelters for women and children fleeing violence, given WSC’s wide network and relationship with shelters across the country. Within weeks, the first funds were flowing from WSC to individual shelters from coast to coast to coast.
From 2020 to 2024, WSC distributed over $120 million to violence against women (VAW) shelters/transition houses (THs) across the country.* These funds were desperately needed by an already underfunded sector that was now facing a health pandemic, reduced opportunities for fundraising, and increasing costs to address new safety standards. Meanwhile, shelters were also seeing an increase in both the number of crisis calls they were receiving and the severity of violence they were seeing.
WSC welcomed the opportunity to play this role in supporting the essential work done by VAW shelters and transition houses across the country.
COVID-19 Emergency Funding
In 2020, WAGE allocated $36 million of COVID-19 Emergency Funding to WSC for distribution to VAW shelters/THs. In total, 302 VAW shelter organizations received funding which, in turn, supported 182,984 individuals.
“Access to this funding was made very easy, which is deeply appreciated. It came at a time when there was a lot of uncertainty and a lot of work to be done. By making access to the funding low barrier, it helped decrease the workload.”
You can read more about how this round of funding was spent in the final report here.
Response & Recovery Funding
Between 2021 and 2024, WAGE allocated an additional $85,548,062 of COVID-19 Response & Recovery Funding for distribution through WSC.
In total, 314 VAW shelter organizations and provincial shelter associations received funding. This resulted in a total of 663,730 people who were directly supported by the funding. The total number of individuals who were indirectly served by this funding was 1,214,613. Despite reaching such a high number of people, 137,129 individuals were turned away from accessing services and/or residency due to capacity issues.
“Again, just a big thank you to the WAGE and WSC for seeing this need and offering support immediately. Your hard work and dedication made a huge impact on the most vulnerable in our communities.”
You can read more about how this round of funding was spent in the final report here.
While this funding has ended, we know that the challenges for shelters, shelter staff, and those they serve have not ended. They have, in fact, increased in severity.
WSC continues to advocate for more, consistent funding for VAW shelters. We also created the Shelter Ready Fund to continue to financially support VAW shelters and transition houses. Interested in donating? You can do so here.
* excluding those in Quebec and those funded by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) as they were funded through other mechanisms