About Our Cause

Violence against women and their children is a significant problem in all communities in Canada. We are proud to be working with women’s shelters and our national partners to provide safety and hope to women and children experiencing violence and abuse.

Research tells us the following:

• Violence against women happens in all cultures and religions, in all ethnic and racial communities, at every age, and in every income group
• Half of all women in Canada have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 161
• Every year in Canada, an estimated 360,000 children witness family violence
• On any given day in Canada, 3000 women (and their 2500 children) are living in an emergency shelter to escape family violence
• On average, every six days in Canada a woman is murdered by her intimate partner. In 2009, 67 women were killed by a current or former partner
• Physical and sexual abuse costs Canadians over $4 billion each year (taking into account social services, criminal justice, lost wages and productivity, and healthcare)

By supporting women’s shelters, we are ensuring that women and children have a safe place to go to escape domestic violence. With our national partners, we fund healthy relationship programs for youth and support programs that help women and children heal from their experiences of abuse and rebuild their lives.

For additional research on family violence, visit www.canadianwomen.org

How We Help

To make a meaningful difference at a local level, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation matches Royal LePage offices with a women’s shelter in their community. Royal LePage brokers, agents and staff are passionate champions for their local shelter. They help organize fundraising events and many agents donate a portion of the commissions they receive when they help their clients buy or sell a home. All support stays in the local community and because Royal LePage covers the administrative costs of the Shelter Foundation, one hundred percent of the funds raised goes toward our cause. Since 1998, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation has raised more than $27 million.

In addition to addressing the immediate needs women and children have for safety and support, we also take a long-term view to stopping the cycle of violence. We are a founding partner of the Fourth R, a curriculum-based education program that has been delivered in 5,500 schools across North America, and we continue to help youth develop healthy relationships through annual funding of educational programs.  With the help of our national partner, the Canadian Women’s Foundation, we support grassroots programs in every province that help women rebuild their lives after violence, that help children heal and prevent them from becoming victims or abusers themselves, and that help teenagers recognize and avoid abusive relationships. As a founding national partner of the online resource sheltersafe.ca, we are making it possible for women seeking safety to identify a shelter in a specific geographic area along with its 24 hour emergency phone line. This ensures that women and children get the help they need as quickly as possible.

Locally, we support the Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis. 

Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis is a feminist community-based organization providing services to women and their children on woman abuse and sexual violence. We believe our services must be inclusive and equitable for all individuals accessing our programs while being responsive to issues of race, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic status and/or abilities.

Our programs:

• Marianne’s Place (shelter)
• Transitional and Housing Support Program (THSP)
• Family Court Support Program (FCSP)
• Rural Women’s Support Program (RWSP)
• Sexual Assault Centre (SAC)
• 24-hour Crisis Line
• Anti-Human Trafficking Program