Access to safe and affordable housing is a human right. It’s also a critical part of the social infrastructure needed to end gender-based violence.   

Canada’s housing crisis is deeply gendered. Women and gender-diverse people are experiencing the most significant housing need across the country.  

This crisis is even more urgent for survivors of gender-based violence. Lack of adequate shelter and housing is one of the most significant barriers preventing women, girls, and gender-diverse folks from being able to leave situations of violence. For survivors staying at emergency shelters, lack of access to affordable, quality housing means an extended stay, which in turn leads to shelters being forced to turn survivors and emergency shelters away due to lack of space. The impact of the housing crisis is felt in communities across Canada nightly: domestic violence shelters turn away nearly 1000 women and their children every night due to lack of space. 

For survivors of gender-based violence, ensuring the right to housing is about more than four walls and a roof—it’s also about providing the wraparound services and supports that survivors and their families need to thrive. 

Across the country, YWCAs are working to end homelessness and support survivors by operating emergency shelters and supportive housing, raising awareness about the scale and impact of the gendered housing crisis and actively building the social infrastructure that will make the right to housing a reality for all women, girls and gender diverse people in Canada.

Scroll down and read more about the programs and services YWCAs are offering to help end homelessness: