Status of Women Committee on May 28th, 2026

[Mylène Bigaouette]

They're exactly what you just said. Ms. St‑Pierre‑Gaudreault spoke earlier of a vicious cycle. When we talk about the spiral of homelessness for women, this is exactly what we mean. Women want to avoid ending up on the street. They're aware of the dangers involved and they also often have children. If they were to end up on the street with their children, they would probably lose custody. They'll do everything in their power to avoid ending up on the street. They'll stay with family and friends or find other temporary accommodation solutions. We've already seen women put their children up with family and friends. The women sleep in their cars or in parks to avoid overburdening their family and friends and to ensure their children's safety first. These are all effects and they have a direct bearing on what happens afterwards, unfortunately.

We're working with a researcher who is currently carrying out a longitudinal study. All the women who end up homeless have experienced violence. However, the vast majority of them have failed to find a housing solution at some point. Either they had trouble getting people to recognize the type of violence involved, or there wasn't any place for them. It's a real issue. These women have fallen through the cracks in our safety net.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Thank you, Ms. Bigaouette. I must interrupt you, unfortunately. Time flies.

Mrs. Goodridge, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to thank the witnesses for joining us today.

Ms. Bookchin, I find your effort at prevention with schools and giving space to that really important.

Could you speak for maybe a minute on the successes you've seen with that program?

[Sue Bookchin]

In the school system in Nova Scotia, we've been advocating for some years for violence prevention and healthy relationship training from primary school to grade 12. Just recently, the Department of Education invited community-based organizations to review some new curriculum outcomes, so that there would be that curriculum from primary school to grade 12.

There has been a little bit of training for teachers. It was rolled out in grade 10 this past fall, and now we understand that it's on pause because there is concern among teachers that they don't feel prepared to teach the material, to grapple with disclosures and, maybe, to deal with their own trauma they're carrying, if they get triggered. We are working with a number of community organizations to see how we can develop some tools, videos and resources to help teachers and administrators feel more comfortable and confident about teaching to those curriculum outcomes.

There are a lot of resources provided by the school system, but still, I think there's fear. It's hard to grapple with that. There's also a program called GuysWork, which was funded provincially and federally.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you. I'm sorry I had to cut you off, but I have a very limited amount of time.

Ms. De Fina, I'll switch gears and go to you now. I've had the opportunity to meet a number of survivors of human trafficking. One thing that many of these exceptionally brave and incredible women have shared with me about their path towards recovery is how complicated it was for them to go into a space, with all the trauma they had from that, and face their demons as they went through recovery without having enough wraparound supports. When I was reading up about your guys' organization, my heart melted.

I'm wondering if you could speak a little bit about how you guys get women into recovery from addiction.

[Jasmine De Fina]

Thank you so much.

When we start working with women in an outreach capacity—once we receive a referral, whether it be from a hospital, police officer or other agency—we start working with the individuals in community. We meet them where they're at. We wrap around the supports right there.

We try really hard to get them into different addictions programs throughout the country. We try within Ontario first, and then we often have to go across the country. We support them in our outreach capacity while they're still in the addictions recovery program. Once they come to our stage-two housing, it's a sober living facility. We have an addictions counsellor there who has lived experience as well. She's been doing addictions services supports for 36 years. She works one-on-one with the individuals.

We work very closely with the NA community. Once the survivors leave our home, we continue with our follow-care program to ensure that they are able to stay sober and continue on a good path.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you very much for the work you guys do. I think that's so incredibly important. I myself have had the privilege, coming from Alberta, of working with none other than the spectacular Paul Brandt and his #NotInMyCity. We named Fort McMurray, my home airport, as the third #NotInMyCity airport to be able to identify human trafficking and stop it in its tracks. Every little piece counts. A lot of people think human trafficking happens in some faraway place in some faraway area. They don't realize that it happens to the girl next door.

I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about the demographics you guys see so that people who are listening, who are tuned in today, can hear exactly how local this problem really is.

[Jasmine De Fina]

The majority of the women we support are local Canadians. Actually, I don't think we've supported anyone who's been from another country. Over the 15 years I've done this work, I've supported only a handful who came from overseas. The majority are domestic trafficking cases. They were born and raised in Canada.

A great percentage of the women we support are indigenous. I myself was a university student. I'm Métis. I'm French and indigenous.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Thank you, Ms. De Fina.

Ms. Nathan has the floor for five minutes.

[Juanita Nathan, Liberal, Pickering—Brooklin, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My first question is for you, Ms. Bookchin. I know from your work that governments often measure shelter systems based on occupancy or short-term outputs rather than long-term survivor outcomes.

What matrix should policy-makers prioritize when evaluating whether transitional housing programs are truly helping women rebuild stability and independence?

[Sue Bookchin]

That's a really good question. We have such a lack of data in Canada about the consequences of gender-based violence in so many different ways. I would love to see a longitudinal study on this. When women go to a shelter, how many of them go back to an abusive relationship? How many of them go on to second-stage housing? How many of them rebuild their lives in ways that are healthy for themselves and their children? How many of them have access to trauma-sensitive supports and mental health work? What is their financial status after they have had to abandon a home and potentially all their possessions?

We don't have that kind of data, and we really need it.

[Juanita Nathan, Liberal, Pickering—Brooklin, ON]

I'd like to pose the same question to Jasmine De Fina.

I know that your work is very longitudinal. It takes a long time for recovery. It's not like the other shelters. When it comes to your reports and statistics, and to the funding that supports that, how do you manage that?

[Jasmine De Fina]

We serve a lot more individuals in our outreach and follow-care services because our house fits only five women at a time. As you said, we are long term because it takes several years for survivors to fully get on their feet after leaving these situations. Women can stay in our program for up to seven years, but the longest we've had anyone stay in our home is about two and a half years. They did the recovery program, and then they stayed to start university or get on their feet with other jobs.

Typically, we see that it takes about seven years, I'd say, from the point at which somebody leaves a situation until they're on their feet and ready to take on their own independence. In order to do that, we just can't take as many.

[Juanita Nathan, Liberal, Pickering—Brooklin, ON]

I understand. Shelter beds, as you mentioned in your opening, are very scarce. Especially for trafficked victims, there are few and far between. Thank you for what you do.

I'm an MP from the Durham region, and I'm curious about this: What's the youngest victim you have seen trafficked?

[Jasmine De Fina]

The youngest I've personally seen was eight years old.

[Juanita Nathan, Liberal, Pickering—Brooklin, ON]

That is very scary. I can understand how you can support teenagers, but how do you work with an eight-year-old? Do you have to involve their parents? What is the care like for anyone who's under 12?

[Jasmine De Fina]

We support adult women, so those 16 plus. We don't work with children, but that was a case that was reported to us through victim services.

We'd have to work with the parents and the children's aid workers. In that situation, they would go through child welfare. There are youth homes for those 12 years old and up. I believe child welfare would handle that solely on its own.

[Juanita Nathan, Liberal, Pickering—Brooklin, ON]

I will go back to Ms. Bookchin.

Access to cultural and linguistic services can significantly affect whether survivors feel safe when seeking supports. Immigrant or marginalized women outside of major urban centres face additional barriers when attempting to access shelters and transitional housing services.

Can you talk a bit about what it is like for members of that population who are further marginalized or fall into that intersectionality?

[Sue Bookchin]

It's a huge gap, particularly in rural areas—

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Unfortunately, this will be for another round. The five minutes are up. Sorry.

Ms. De Fina, a technician will call you since your connection is poor. Please answer this call so that we can solve the problem.

Ms. Larouche, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

My goodness. I'll certainly need to follow up with the witnesses. Thank you, Ms. Bookchin, Ms. De Fina, Ms. St‑Pierre‑Gaudreault and Ms. Bigaouette. We'll need to talk again.

Your brief referred to women who are facing multiple issues and who are sometimes denied access to services owing to overly rigid criteria. How could the federal government make its programs more flexible to better take into account the journeys of these women?

When you talk about overly rigid criteria, what do you mean?

[Julie St-Pierre-Gaudreault]

Both federal and provincial action plans and strategies often address issues of violence according to categories. For example, funding is provided to combat domestic violence, homelessness or mental health issues. However, we need programs that take a comprehensive approach.

For example, we noticed that some shelters are unable to provide the services required to meet women's needs on the ground. When funding is available, it's limited to a specific area. We're calling for a slightly more comprehensive approach to the services provided.

The Fédération des maisons d'hébergement pour femmes has a specific characteristic. Some shelters provide services, but not necessarily on the basis of a one‑off experience of violence or an immediate exit from an intimate partner violence situation. The women may have endured the repercussions of the violence a few weeks or months ago. We can meet the needs of women who had to leave a violent home, who ended up in a hidden homelessness situation for a few months and who are looking for a place in a shelter. Some more rigid resources might refuse to take them in. However, when we take a broader view of their experiences and needs, we realize that we must respond.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Thank you, Ms. St‑Pierre‑Gaudreault.

I'll now give the floor to Ms. Cody for five minutes.

[Connie Cody, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I'll just reiterate my colleagues' thanks to all the witnesses. It is a big job.

I have a lot of questions, but I'll start with Jasmine De Fina, if I may.

Recently, I attended the premiere of a documentary on the prevalence of human trafficking along the 401 corridor and the unique needs of the survivors who are rescued—the supports that help them recover from the deep trauma and extreme abuse they experienced.

In your view, do you think the current shelter system provides the unique support needed for these survivors of trafficking?

[Jasmine De Fina]

Absolutely not. The shelters are designed for women fleeing intimate partner violence and domestic abuse, which are very different from extremely complex cases of human trafficking. It's not a good fit for any of the people utilizing these spaces. As was mentioned before, the staff don't have the capacity due to lack of standardized training and lack of understanding of the complexities. Simply having one staff available, sometimes, doesn't support that need.