Quebec organizations helping survivors of gender-based violence are set to receive $50 million in federal funding over two years, a move advocates say will help thousands of women access safe housing and support services.
The governments of Canada and Quebec have reached an agreement to provide the funding through the Canada-Quebec Housing Agreement.
The money is intended to help survivors of family and intimate-partner violence transition to and remain in private-market rental housing, as well as provide financial assistance directly to eligible households through Quebec’s Rent Supplement Program.
The announcement comes as Quebec has recorded 14 suspected femicides so far this year, including three in the span of two weeks.
For organizations supporting women experiencing violence, the funding is being welcomed as a concrete step toward addressing the housing insecurity and other risks survivors face.
“We are together today because there are solutions for them,” said Diane Pilote, executive director of Chez Doris.
Pilote said the announcement offers hope to organizations working to address the links between poverty, homelessness and violence against women.
“Hope. It’s, it’s given all of us, all the society, we can receive that and say, okay, we are working in the same path, in the same way to give solutions. And to stop if we can this precarity and this violence that we see on women,” said Pilote.
But the risks for women fleeing violence do not necessarily end when they leave an abusive home.
For those who have nowhere else to turn, homelessness can create new vulnerabilities, said Pilote.
“In all situations of homelessness, for women it’s more, it’s an impact. It’s a direct impact,” said Pilote. “We see that every woman one, two, three nights. For sure, for sure something will happen. 100 per cent of them will have trauma, will live violence, will be abused by someone. Just because of the fact that we are more vulnerable.”
Elizabeth Liston, communications and public affairs director at Le Chaînon, one of Montreal’s oldest shelters for women, said gender-based violence can itself become a pathway into homelessness.
“It’s important to understand that being victim of gendered violence is a pathway to homelessness,” said Liston. “So the first thing we do when we welcome a woman who’s experienced domestic violence or conjugal violence is we want to place her rapidly, we want to stabilize her residential situation as fast as possible in order to avoid her going back to her aggressor — that’s the number one priority.”
Liston said the funding will also help shelters provide the broader support survivors need beyond emergency accommodation.
“Yes, they need safe housing, but they don’t just need a bed,” said Liston. “They need a team of psychosocial workers who can accompany them and support them and they need to rebuild themselves. And so that money will allow us to support that work.”
She said the $50 million represents an important recognition of the needs organizations are seeing on the ground.
“We’re thrilled about this news. 50 million will not go unnoticed. This amount will be helping thousands of women. And we’re thrilled because it’s a concrete realization and recognition of what we’re seeing every day,” said Liston.
The federal funding is expected to strengthen housing supports for survivors while helping organizations provide the services needed to help women rebuild their lives free from violence.
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