Honour a mom in your life with a gift that lasts longer than flowers.

This Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating powerful stories from across the YWCA Canada movement; stories of moms who, through courage and care, reshaped their futures.  From staff and donors to program participants and volunteers, we’re honouring moms who:

  • Found the strength to leave abusive relationships and the courage to rebuild.
  • Volunteered their time to uplift and empower other women.
  • Used their voices to advocate for safety, justice, and change.

Check out these stories by following us on social media at Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook.

How YWCA Helps

Every night, thousands of women and children seek refuge in emergency shelters. 90% of families in Canadian shelters are headed by single mothers. These women carry the immense burden of keeping their children safe — often while facing the risk of losing them if they can’t secure stable, affordable housing.

YWCAs across the country offer the supports survivors say they need most:

  • Direct financial help to cover urgent costs like housing deposits, transportation, or job-related expenses.
  • Trauma-informed, culturally safe, and locally relevant services that help women leave abusive situations and rebuild.

Why a Rose?

This campaign is rooted in one of our most powerful traditions: The Rose Campaign — a symbol of remembrance and a call to end gender-based violence. 

This Mother’s Day, we invite you to give a rose that means more — a donation that supports the resilience of mothers across Canada. 

Donate Now. Honour a Mom. Change a Life. 

Make a donation in honour of a mother or caregiver, and help build a safer, more just world for everyone. We’ll send you a printable card to give to a mom in your life. 

Your Donation to YWCA Canada Supports:

  • Support for Survivors: Expanding access to supports like our National Emergency Survivor Support (NESS) Fund, offering financial assistance and trauma-informed services to survivors of violence.
  • National Outreach and Education: Engaging communities across Canada through national campaigns and initiative to recognize, prevent and address gender-based violence.
  • Policy Advocacy: Pushing for policies that protect survivors and promote gender equity across the country.
  • National Research and Awareness Building: Building evidence-based, survivor-informed research and data to shift culture and drive systems change.
  • Strengthening the National Movement: Amplifying the impact of 29 local YWCAs, including by delivering professional development and education opportunities for frontline staff throughout YWCA Canada—Canada’s oldest and largest women’s rights organization.
Donate Today

YWCA Canada is the country’s oldest and largest women’s rights organization. A secular, registered charity, we drive systemic change through powerful advocacy, collaboration, and programs that address urgent needs and advance long-term gender equity. 

Through our 29 member associations, we reach more than one million women, girls, Two-Spirit and gender diverse people nationwide. As the largest provider of gender-based violence shelters, the largest provider of employment and counseling programs for women, and the second-largest childcare operator in Canada, we directly impact the lives of more than 330,000 people each year, offering safe refuge to 1,200 people each night through our shelters.