Canada’s first violence against women shelters opened in 1973. Within six months, there were five shelters in different cities across the country.* The first provincial associations were created in 1978 in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. Today, there are associations in every province except Prince Edward Island.
In November 2012, the Canadian Network of Women’s Shelters and Transition Homes (CNWSTH) was officially incorporated. One of the unique features and strengths of the organization was that it was created by the provincial and territorial associations, with its roots firmly based in the provinces and territories. These associations were then the members of the organizations and remain so to this day. In 2017, the name was officially changed to Women’s Shelters Canada (WSC). Today, WSC has a staff team across Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, and a membership of 16 provincial and territorial associations.
* For a full history of Canada’s first women’s shelters, see Margot Goodhand, Runaway Wives and Rogue Feminists: The origins of the women’s shelter movement in Canada, Fernwood, 2017
Check out the timeline below of key moments in WSC’s history.
2008
The Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS) holds the first-ever Global Shelter Network Conference in Edmonton, acting as a catalyst for the development of a national Canadian organization
2009
A meeting in Ottawa with interested sheltering organizations from around the world culminates in the creation of the Global Network of Women’s Shelters.
December 2009
Three-year funding announced for ACWS to establish the national shelter network
September 2012
National meeting of sheltering agencies in Montreal
November 2012
The Canadian Network of Women’s Shelters and Transition Homes (CNWTH) is officially incorporated with 12 founding members (the associations); each member has a seat on the Board of Directors
February 2013
First meeting of the Board of Directors
April 2013
First Executive Director, Lise Martin, begins her work
October 2013
Work begins to advocate for a National Action Plan on Violence Against Women
February 2015
The Blueprint for the National Action Plan is released, with 180 organizations endorsing it
June 2015
ShelterSafe.ca is launched at the Canadian Domestic Violence Conference in Toronto
July 2016
First major grant awarded: $1 million from Status of Women Canada, enabling the organization to grow to a staff team of four
June 2018
First national shelter conference in Ottawa brings together over 600 participants
December 2018
Development of first strategic plan
May 2019
Launch of first national report on the state of the shelter sector, More Than a Bed
April 2020
WSC begins distributing over $120M of federal funding to shelters across the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
June 2020
WSC receives a gift of $4.5M from the Rogers Family Foundation, which remains its largest gift ever received
August 2022
WSC appears as an expert witness at the Mass Casualty Commission in Halifax
November 2022
The federal government launches the National Action Plan on Gender-Based Violence
March 2023
Along with the Canadian Women’s Foundation, jointly hosts the Shockproofing Communities Summit