Why Support Canadian Women’s Foundation?

We believe that Canada can only reach its true potential when women and girls are able to reach theirs: that is, when all women and girls are empowered to become economically self-sufficient, free from violence and strong contributors to society.

If you want to change the lives of women and girls across Canada, supporting the Canadian Women’s Foundation is the way to do it.

  • We focus on helping women and girls who have the least access to resources and opportunities. This includes those who are geographically-isolated in rural or northern areas, immigrant and refugee women and girls, older women, Black women and women of colour, Aboriginal women and girls, and women and girls with disabilities.
  • We maintain a database of over 3,000 women’s organizations across the country, and use it to seek out funding applications nationwide.
  • Rather than treating women and girls as victims, CWF invests in the strengths and potential of women and girls and supports initiatives that use a holistic approach in helping them change their lives.
  • CWF invests the time and money it takes to dismantle barriers and create opportunities for women and girls. We are committed to achieving sustainable, long-term change, not offering band-aid solutions.
  • CWF engages in a rigorous evaluation process to ensure that your investment goes to the initiatives that have the greatest impact on women and girls.
  • A spirit of true partnership and collaboration among individuals, corporations and organizations drives our work, and we are committed to honesty, accessibility, accountability and respect.

The challenges facing women and girls in Canada

Equality

Canada no longer has laws that discriminate against women and girls, but women and girls continue to face many challenges in Canadian society. Real equality means three things: freedom from violence, economic independence, and equal access to opportunities. And these are the three areas on which CWF focuses its funding.

Violence against Women

  • 51% of Canadian women have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16.1
  • One to two women are murdered by a current or former partner each week in Canada.2
  • Every year in Canada, up to 360,000 children are exposed to domestic violence.3 This results in emotional and physical damage, makes them less productive, less healthy, and more prone to continuing the cycle of violence themselves.
  • To say that women’s shelters alone will solve the problem of violence is like saying that food banks are the answer to hunger. Shelters are critical, but we have to do more than respond to the crisis. We have to prevent violence from happening in the first place.

Learn about the work we do to end violence against women

Women and Poverty

  • One in seven women4 (2.4 million5) in Canada lives in poverty.
  • When mothers are poor, their children are poor: more than one million children live in poverty in Canada6 and poverty is strongly linked to poor scholastic achievement.7
  • Income level is a key determinant of health8 and women and children living in poverty are more susceptible to poor physical and mental health.9
  • Women living in poverty are more likely to experience violence and abuse.10

Learn about the work we do to move low-income women out of poverty

Girls in Canada

  • Girls start out their lives better than boys. When they arrive at school, they are more likely than boys to do well; especially at reading and writing, and forming relationships with their peers. Yet, many girls face a serious loss of self-esteem as they approach early adolescence: starting around grade six (age 11) girls are less confident and less happy than boys.11
  • Girls are more likely than boys to be dissatisfied with their appearance12, to wish they were someone else, and to be on a diet.13
  • Girls are much more likely than boys to be coerced into having sexual relationships when they do not want to; this is especially true for girls who have special needs or disabilities.14

To learn more about girls in Canada, read the Girls in Canada Report, a research study commissioned by CWF to learn more about the challenges girls face and the programs available to them.

Learn more about the work we do to build resiliency in girls

  1. Statistics Canada, The Violence Against Women Survey, The Daily, November 18, 1993
  2. Dauvergne, M., (2002), Homicide in Canada - 2001, Juristat 22(7), Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.
  3. Behind Closed Doors, The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children, Joint report by Unicef, the Body Shop International and the Secretariat for the United Nations Secretary-General's Study on Violence Against Children, 2006.
  4. FAFIA, A Decade of Going Backwards: Canada in the Post-Beijing Era (Ottawa, 2004) p. 4
  5. Womennet.ca, “Income and Poverty Gaps between Women and Men Persist Despite,” (2004) Available online at http://www.womennet.ca/news.php?show&1587
  6. Campaign 2000, One Million too Many: Implementing Solutions to Child Poverty in Canada 2004 Report Card on Child Poverty in Canada (Ottawa, 2004) p. 1.
  7. Canadian Institute of Child Health, The Health of Canada’s Children: A CICH Profile (Ottawa, 1989) p. 98
  8. National Forum on Health, Canada Health Action: Building on the Legacy (Ottawa: Minister of Public Works, 1997)
  9. See National Forum on Health, Canada Health Action: Building on the Legacy (Ottawa: Minister of Public Works and Government Services, 1997); Robert Chernomas, The Social and Economic Causes of Disease (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 1999); Agnieszka Kosny, “The Social Determinants of Health - Equity Across the Lifespan” Synthesis paper prepared for the Made to Measure symposium. (Halifax: Maritime Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health, 1999)
  10. Recommended action resource: Jane Gurr and Louise Mailloux, Breaking the Links Between Poverty and Violence Against Women: A Resource Guide (Ottawa, Family Violence Prevention Division, Health Canada, 1996) Available in hard copy or at www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hppb/familyviolence/html/1breaking.htm
  11. King, Trends in Health of Canadian Youth, 1999
  12. Boyce, Young People in Canada: Their health and well being, 2004
  13. The McCreary Centre Society, The Girls’ Report, 2001
  14. Boyce, The Canadian Youth Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Study, 2003

Statistics Canada information is used with the permission of Statistics Canada. Users are forbidden to copy the data and redisseminate them, in an original or modified form, for commercial purposes, without permission from Statistics Canada. Information on the availability of the wide range of data from Statistics Canada can be obtained from Statistics Canada's Regional Offices, its Web site at www.statcan.ca, and its toll-free access number 1-800-263-1136.