WSC Blog
A Look Back at the Second Stage Transitional Housing New Build Project, 2022-2026
Women’s Shelters Canada (WSC) launched the Second Stage Transitional Housing (SSTH) New Build project in 2022 to support gender-based violence (GBV) shelter organizations in creating more SSTH units. It is incredibly difficult for a small, charitable organization to take on a development project independently, requiring time, capacity, and expertise that many shelters simply don’t have. […]
Remembering December 6: Confronting Today’s Anti-Feminist Narratives
This blog was written by WSC’s Executive Director, Anuradha Dugal Does it sound intense to you when I say 14 women were killed because they were women? Because of an idea. Because of misogyny. To me, it sounds like the conversations I have every year explaining why a gunman murdered 14 women 36 years ago […]
Reflections from UNCSW69: feminist solidarity and collective care in times of global crisis
As the G7 summit unfolds and leaders meet to shape priorities for global cooperation and investment, it’s crucial that gender justice stays at the forefront. In March, I had the pleasure of attending the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW69) with the Canadian Beijing+30 Network. A galvanizing and grounding […]
The people behind the data: Reflections on surveying the shelter and transition house (TH) sector in Canada
There’s a quiet but undeniable tension in the moment right after a survey launches, when all the drafts, consultations, and dedicated revisions give way to waiting. That final decision to hit “send.” The questions you’ve obsessed over are now in the hands of the people who we have been waiting to hear from. And at […]
The High Cost of Safety: Why Funding Gaps Are Stalling the Creation of Second Stage Transitional Housing for Survivors of Violence
For many women and children fleeing violence, the path to a safe, secure, and affordable home is becoming more difficult to navigate – and in many cases, it’s a path that leads nowhere at all. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an epidemic that continues to worsen and is a leading cause of women’s homelessness. Every […]
Just Walk Away Canada: A Walk for Change
Earlier this year, Lori Haggerty called our office with her tragic but hopeful story, as well as a request to Women’s Shelters Canada. She told us about her sister, Patricia Kucerovsky, a mother of twin boys who was brutally murdered in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in 2008. Then in December 2020, Lori herself was in a […]
Five Years On: Reflecting on Circles of Safety
In 2019, Women’s Shelters Canada (WSC) launched a new project to explore whether the collaborative safety planning process known as Circles of Safety, developed in Prince Edward Island (PEI), could be useful in rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous communities elsewhere in the country. Through this project, WSC worked with Justice Options for Women Inc., the […]
Struggles in the VAW Shelter Sector: 50 Years On
In early March 2024, Meghan Tibbits-Lamirande wrote about the feminist occupation of Nellie’s Hostel. Her work documented the early activism that happened at Nellie’s in 1976, when staff and residents organized to resist funding and service cutbacks. Their action sought to address turnaways of women due to lack of space or finances; women having to […]
The Power of Connection: PEACE Training in Nunavut (Part 2)
In March 2023, Women’s Shelters Canada (WSC) had the honour of facilitating a special in-person PEACE for Canadian Children and Youth training in Iqaluit, Nunavut. A few weeks ago, we released part one of a special conversation we had with PEACE facilitators, Tracy Myers and Aline Mushyitsi. The following is a continuation of this, featuring […]
The Power of Connection: PEACE Training in Nunavut (Part 1)
In March 2023, Women’s Shelters Canada (WSC) facilitated an in-person PEACE for Canadian Children and Youth training in Iqaluit, Nunavut. PEACE facilitators Tracy Myers and Aline Mananda spoke with Jed Nabwangu (communications coordinator) and Chandra Saha (knowledge exchange coordinator) about their memorable adventures leading sessions on the transformative power of coming together. Chandra: Earlier this […]
