Canada has a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
Most people have never heard of it. Even fewer know it’s in danger of collapsing before it ever really began.
In 2022, the Government of Canada launched the National Action Plan—a 10-year strategy built on decades of advocacy by survivors, feminist organizations, and frontline workers. It promised coordinated, sustained action on the crisis of violence that impacts women, girls, and gender-diverse people in every province and territory.
But in 2025, in the middle of escalating violence against women and femicide, the federal government is slashing the department responsible for implementing the plan by 80%.
What do you call a plan with no budget, no oversight, and no urgency?
A press release.
What the Plan Was Supposed to Do
The National Action Plan was designed to:
- Support survivors and their families
- Prevent violence before it starts
- Build a responsive justice system
- Advance Indigenous-led approaches
- Strengthen housing, healthcare, and social infrastructure
And for the first time, it came with federal funding—coordinated through Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) and delivered through bilateral agreements with provinces and territories, including British Columbia.
But now, with WAGE facing an 80% budget cut by 2027, the Plan is no longer national, no longer coordinated, and no longer credible.
British Columbia: One Year from Expiry, with No Path Forward
In 2023, British Columbia signed a bilateral agreement under the National Action Plan, backed by federal funding. That agreement expires in 2026. That gives us one year left to act.
Despite rising femicides and public commitments to a safer province, there is currently no plan—and no funding—to continue this work beyond next year.
The provincial strategy, Safe and Supported, was launched with strong language about equity, prevention, and accountability. But language doesn’t protect women. Funding, enforcement, and political will do.
Right now:
- No new core funding has been committed to frontline services.
- Risk assessments remain voluntary, inconsistently applied, and unenforced.
- Crown Counsel continues to deny or drop charges in high-risk IPV cases.
- There is no independent oversight to ensure that BC delivers on the promises it made.
Without renewed federal investment—and without concrete action from the province—Safe and Supported risks becoming just another government announcement.
This is not a planning phase. This is the moment to deliver.
Read our open letter https://www.criaw-icref.ca/statements/statement-on-wages-budget/
Send your own letter here: https://win.newmode.net/actioncanadaforsexualhealthrights/protectgenderequality
