The federal government has called violence against women an epidemic in Canada. Women who experience violence often face significant barriers to achieving financial independence and stability. These barriers can include a lack of access to education, employment opportunities, and safe housing. Without the necessary supports, many women in BC find themselves and their children trapped in a cycle of violence and poverty.

The BC Society of Transition Houses (BCSTH) Bursary Fund (BBF) offers a solution to this cycle of violence and poverty. The BBF provides flexible funding to women to strengthen their economic capacity and security following experiences of violence through access to education and employment opportunities.

Our goal at BCSTH is to empower women who have experienced violence by providing them with the resources and support they need to re-build, thrive and be a role model for their children. Since 2019 the Bursary Fund has awarded $399, 862 to 146 women in BC. Our strategic priority is to raise $100,000 for our Bursary Fund by June 2025. This will support bursary recipients starting in the fall semester of 2025, enabling us to help women across BC overcome the challenges they face.

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Together, we can ensure women and their children across BC have a bright violence free future. Feel free to contact us at bbf@bcsth.ca if you have any questions about the Bursary Fund or would like further information about the BC Society of Transition Houses. 

“It’s about hope. It’s about finding a purpose in life. Getting a step ahead. Because when you’re being abused it’s all you can see, it’s all that there is. It’s not even a thought to be outside that world because it’s not possible. It’s like this is my world. Of abuse. That’s my whole world. And then there was this little piece that, getting that little piece was just everything.” – Bursary Recipient 

BCSTH Bursary Fund Program: Evaluation Highlights

BCSTH Bursary Fund Program Evaluation Report

Sincere thanks to all for this collective effort to ensure cross sectoral frontline support service workers are more easily able to access workers’ compensation caused by work-related trauma. Click here to view the Order in Council for the coming into force of these amendments.  Click here for the full press release.

We are pleased to launch the full reports for the Prevention of Violence Against Women Week 2024.

Key findings show that in just one day, 140 Transition Housing and Supports Programs and 68 PEACE Programs served 2,222 women, children and youth experiencing violence in their homes. However, a further 825 women, youth and children were unable to be served by these life-saving services during the same time period, and there were 673 children and youth on waitlists for PEACE Program services.

These numbers clearly demonstrate the lack of funding for Transition Housing and Supports Programs and PEACE Programs in BC. We call on the government to increase funding for these services to enable them to meet the needs of ALL women, youth and children who are unsafe in their homes.

Access the 2023 24 Hour PEACE Program Census Report and infographic

Access the 2023 24 Hour Women’s Transition Housing and Supports Programs Report and infographic

BCSTH will use this grant to support its members by:

• Implementing additional VIP program sites and supporting facilitators;
• Updating the VIP and BELIEVE curriculum and resources to reflect Ministry of Education and Child Care core competencies;
• Building  public awareness regarding domestic violence and services available in communities; and,
• Analyzing service demands and waitlists for PEACE and VIP programming and propose best practices to manage waitlists.

BCSTH is sincerely grateful for the funding along with the government’s recognition of the importance of the PEACE and VIP programs and the work they do every day to keep BC children, youth and their families safe and supported.

For any inquiries please contact, BCSTH Executive Director, Amy S. FitzGerald at amy@bcsth.ca or 604-669-6943, ext. 233

To read the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General’s full press release, click here.

For the full CMHC Press Release click here.

Key findings show that in just one day, 140 Transition Housing and Supports Programs and 68 PEACE Programs served 2,222 women, children and youth experiencing violence in their homes. However, a further 825 women, youth and children were unable to be served by these life-saving services during the same period, and there were 673 children and youth on waitlists for PEACE Program services.

These numbers clearly demonstrate the lack of funding for Transition Housing and Supports Programs and PEACE Programs in BC. We call on the government to increase funding for these services to enable them to meet the needs of ALL women, youth and children who are unsafe in their homes.

The full reports will follow in April – stay tuned!

This report evaluated the BC Society of Transition Houses (BCSTH) Bursary Fund (BBF), a flexible financial assistance program that provides survivors who have accessed BCSTH member programs with bursaries of up to $3,000 for education and employment opportunities to support themselves to become financially independent.

Online surveys, focus groups and interviews were conducted between June – November, 2023 with women who have received a bursary and the anti-violence workers who have supported them, to understand more about the impacts this program has had since it was launched five years ago.

You can find the report, along with supporting handouts on the BBF webpage.

“We have a great deal of work underway in B.C. to help address the systemic issue of gender-based violence,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Finance. “Today, we move forward with our next steps, in alignment with our partners and community service providers, in supporting survivors and making our communities safer.”

Safe and Supported: B.C.’s Gender-Based Violence Action Plan reports on vital work underway across government and actions that will be coming next year and beyond. The actions include boosting programming and supports for survivors, strengthening government’s response to the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and ramping up prevention and awareness campaigns. Initiatives were developed in consultation and co-operation with Indigenous partners, and with advice from community service providers and advocates.

The federal government is committing $61.9 million in new investments over four years for the plan under a new Canada-British Columbia bilateral agreement to end gender-based violence announced Dec. 8, 2023. This funding will help reduce critical wait lists, build capacity for community-based services, and address gaps for underserved communities. More than half of new funding will be invested in Indigenous-led initiatives to be announced in the coming months.

“We are working together to end isolation, stigma and apathy when it comes to gender-based violence, and make sure survivors can access the care and supports they need,” said Kelli Paddon, Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity. “With this action plan, we are lifting up Indigenous-led approaches, breaking cycles of violence and working with communities to strengthen safety and supports for survivors.” 

The new funding will contribute to transformational investments already underway in B.C., including: $1.2 billion over 10 years to create safe spaces and housing for women and children leaving violence; expanded cell service to make travel safer; 75 new sexual assault programs, including five sexual assault centres; new 24/7 crisis lines; new policing standards; and stronger victim supports and other programming supported by more than $60 million from the Province each year for gender-based violence supports and services.

“This action plan builds on new victim-centred and trauma-informed policing standards we’ve put in place to support survivors and respond to gender-based violence,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “Everyone deserves fair and empathetic treatment after they have experienced devastating trauma, supports that are critical while we work towards a world where every woman, girl and gender-diverse person is able to live free from violence.”

The plan recognizes that gender-based violence is highly pervasive. Indigenous women and girls, and other racialized people, newcomers and 2SLGBTQIA+ people are especially affected by violence, as well as those living in poverty, in rural and remote communities, and those living with disabilities.

In particular, addressing the national crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people requires commitment and action from all levels of government. The Safe and Supported plan moves critical work forward in response to the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and the 231 calls for justice.

The action plan has been informed by perspectives and recommendations from Indigenous leaders, community members, service providers, advocates, and survivors and their families. To continue to support collaboration in addressing gender-based violence, B.C. is expanding the mandate of the Gender-Based Violence Action Plan Advisory Committee, which was established in 2022 to provide guidance and feedback. The advisory committee, comprised of Indigenous partners, community service providers and advocates, will work with government to learn and monitor progress throughout the life of the plan.

Based on the advice of Indigenous partners and the advisory committee, B.C. will continue to strengthen initiatives and identify further actions in the future years of this three-year plan. To best meet the needs of survivors and service providers, Safe and Supported will be updated on an ongoing basis. A key foundation of the plan is continuous learning to monitor progress.

The Province also works collaboratively with the federal government and responds to priorities that support Canada’s recently released National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.

Learn More:

To read the Gender-Based Violence Action Plan, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/SafeandSupported_GenderBasedViolenceActionPlan_Dec2023.pdf

To read A Path Forward: Priorities and Early Strategies for B.C., B.C.’s response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/about-bc-justice-system/inquiries/mmiw/mmiwg-status-update-2023.pdf

To learn about StrongerBC Safe Communities, visit: https://strongerbc.gov.bc.ca/safer-communities

Please read the full News Release here.