Women’s Centre of York Region is a small 3-star charity that is financially transparent. It has a C+ results reporting grade which is below average. For every dollar donated to the charity, 93 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Founded in 1977, Women’s Centre of York Region (WCYR) provides support and services to boost self-reliance and confidence for women facing domestic violence, financial insecurity, and unemployment. The charity reports that Ontario witnessed 62 femicides in 2023, contributing to the national crisis where femicide occurred every 48 hours in Canada. With instances of domestic violence escalating by 30% and mental health significantly declining, gender-based violence was declared an epidemic in York Region alongside 94 other municipalities.

Women’s Centre of York Region shares “Our Way Forward”, its 2022-2024 strategic priorities. It focuses on three goals: expanding impact by enhancing services, promoting diversity and supporting staff development, and ensuring financial stability through improved fundraising and governance.

Women’s Centre of York Region provides group programs and one-on-one programs. The charity’s annual report discloses impact values for 2022 while its website discloses impact values for 2023. The charity does not provide a spending breakdown on its programs. In 2022, WCYR’s programs helped a total 749 women and their families.  

Women’s Centre of York Region runs four group programs where women attend sessions once or twice a week for five to ten weeks to develop life-improving skills. New to the charity, its First Step Program served 50 women in 2023, supporting them in program access, social service navigation, and economic readiness. In 2023, the Enterprising Careers program helped 109 women secure fulfilling and sustainable jobs through 11 career-related seminars and 15 group cycles. In 2023, the Financial Empowerment course supported 121 women and offered seven financial seminars on goal-setting, budgeting and financial saving. In 2023, the Making Changes program served 291 women through 33 groups, focusing on enhancing communication skills, building confidence, and improving personal relationships.

Women’s Centre of York Region offers three kinds of one-on-one counselling: individual counselling for women who have experienced violence, transitional counselling for those leaving abusive relationships, and housing support counselling. In 2023, WCYR supported 235 women and provided 1518 hours of counselling. Women’s Centre of York Region also provides one-on-one career and financial coaching, and an Exploring Self-Employment workshop.

Women’s Centre of York Region also runs a campaign #HelpKeepHerSafe to support women facing violence and poverty. In 2023, WCYR allocated $5,620 in emergency grocery gift cards, distributed 311 free transit fares totalling $1,207, provided $2,800 in clothing gift cards, and provided 157 women and children with $15,615 in gift cards during the winter months.

Women’s Centre of York Region is a small charity in terms of donations, with donations of $730k in F2023. It received $559k in government funding, representing 43% of total revenues. WCYR spent $879k on its programs in F2023, which is 68% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 4% of revenues and fundraising costs are 3% of donations. This results in overhead spending of 7%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 93 cents are available to go to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range of 65 to 95 cents for overhead spending.

Women’s Centre of York Region has $844k in reserve funds, which can cover almost a year of annual program costs. The charity has a surplus of $336k (26% of revenues) and no capital expenditures in F2023.

The charity reports zero part-time employees in its T3010 filing with the CRA; however, it lists spending of $224k on part-time employees. There is likely an error in its reported information.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Women’s Centre of York Region for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 25, 2024 by Alexia Tudose.