WSC’s new national report, Sheltering Under Pressure: Frontline Realities of Canada’s Violence Against Women Shelters and Transition Houses, provides a current, national overview of the state of shelters for women, children, and gender-diverse people fleeing violence.
Sheltering Under Pressure presents updated evidence on how shelters are operating under sustained strain due to chronic underfunding, aging infrastructure, workforce pressures, and the ongoing affordable housing crisis.
Drawing from data across the country, the report shows how these intersecting challenges shape shelters’ ability to provide safety, healing, and pathways to independence for women, gender-diverse survivors, and their children. It also outlines key recommendations for governments to address these pressures and strengthen the shelter system.
Tools & Resources
To support shelters, advocates, and partners in using this report for planning, advocacy, and awareness, we have developed the following resources:
These resources are designed to help you share the report’s findings, strengthen your advocacy, and bring national data into your local context.
Government Relations Two-Pagers
We have also developed ready-to-use thematic government relations (GR) two-pagers that outline key issues and policy recommendations. You can bring these two-pagers to meetings with government officials and adapt them to reflect your local context.
About the Report
Between March and July 2025, WSC administered a survey to 618 VAW shelters across every province and territory, asking them questions about shelter infrastructure, capacity and occupancy, populations served, services provided, workforce conditions, and funding. A total of 317 shelters responded, including emergency shelters and transition houses, second stage shelters, mixed shelters, and safe houses, spanning large and small centres, and rural, remote, isolated, northern, and Indigenous communities.
WSC’s national reports share what shelters are seeing and experiencing on the frontlines. The 2026 report is an update to the 2019 national study, allowing us to track emerging pressures and changes over time and to highlight where investments and policy changes are most urgently needed.
Shelters are essential, life-saving infrastructure. Understanding the realities they face is critical to ensuring that women, gender-diverse survivors, and their children can access the safety and support they need, when they need it.
This project was supported by the Royal LePage® Shelter Foundation™
