OTTAWA — Workers who oversee emergency shelters which help women and children escape domestic violence say new cash in the federal budget could add many new spaces.
The federal budget promised $89.9 million over two years that would allow 3,000 spaces to be renovated or created.
Lise Martin of the Canadian Network of Women’s Shelters and Transition Houses says that if half the money went to new spaces, it would mean two new shelters for every province.
Martin says those facilities would address a shortfall in spaces that in just one day last year saw shelters turn away 302 women and 221 children because of a lack of resources.
Renovations would also modernize some facilities built more than 25 years ago that shelter workers say don't meet the privacy or accessibility needs of today.
Statistics Canada's most recent report on domestic violence shelters found there were 12,058 spaces in 2014, up about five per cent from the 11,461 available in 2010.
