Impact Report: Fiscal Year 2025/26
This past year was one of growth, momentum and impact at YWCA BC, grounded in our commitment to advance gender equity through action.
With your support, we embraced an important milestone by changing our name from YWCA Metro Vancouver to YWCA BC. This reflects the reach of our impact to communities like Kelowna and Prince George, and our vision for the future as we offer programs across BC.
We also continued to advance our five-year strategic plan, Forward with Purpose, making meaningful progress while staying true to our vision, mission and values. Highlights include launching new employment programs, Next Step and Higher Ground, opening five new housing communities, and continuing to nurture our social enterprises, the newly renamed Hotel Willo and YWCA Health & Fitness Club.
Our goal of leading in participant-centred, integrated programs and services led us to begin developing our Impact Framework. This new approach will help us use data and storytelling to better understand how our dozens of programs and services contribute to our vision and mission while helping participants achieve their goals.
YWCA City Shift, funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada, is an amazing example of our goal to inspire transformational systems and culture change through education and advocacy. Through our first-ever Peer-Centred Advocacy Council, 21 single mothers learned how they can influence policy, raise awareness and advocate for systemic change.
Our third goal—uniting as an inclusive, responsive and thriving organization—drove us to advance our Archives Project, with the goal of better understanding, acknowledging and addressing our complicity in historic and current colonial practices.
As you read this report, you’ll see these three strategic goals coming to life through our programs, services and advocacy. None of this would be possible without you, our community of partners, volunteers and donors. Together, we’re seeing lasting change in our communities.
The audited Consolidated Financial Statements are available here.
In 2025, 824 mothers and children called a YWCA housing community home. Since late 2025, we’ve opened five additional communities, creating 213 more homes. Three more communities are currently under construction.
‘A Home to Call Our Own’
For Mallory and her three young children, choosing to leave an abusive relationship was a financial decision. Without an affordable place to live, moving felt impossible.
“I was stuck because I couldn’t afford to live on my own,” she said.
After connecting to the YWCA, Mallory secured temporary, transitional housing where she also had access to supportive programs and free child care at Crabtree Corner.
She and her children then moved to long-term housing at YWCA Left Field, one of our newest housing communities that opened in early 2026.
“It’s been amazing. My kids are really happy that we finally have a home to call our own,” she said. “Now that I have secured affordable rent, I can start focusing on our future.”
Nearly half of children in lone-parent households in BC live in poverty, with high housing costs disproportionately impacting these families. Yet we know housing is a critical foundation for single moms and their children to build safe, secure futures.
YWCA Housing Openings
In 2025-2026, with incredible support from donors and government, we opened five new housing communities, creating 213 more safe homes for women, single mothers and their children. All residents are connected to YWCA programs and services to support their overall well-being.
In December 2025, YWCA BC celebrated the opening of YWCA Cindy Beedie Place, a deeply affordable housing community in Burnaby that is now home to 56 single-mother-led families. The building includes shared amenity spaces, a communal kitchen, a residential courtyard and a children’s outdoor play area. Designed to support women and children leaving violence, this purpose-built community offers safety, stability and the opportunity to rebuild.
A unique and transformative feature of the building is the onsite, YWCA-operated child care centre, which offers 37 licensed spaces for toddlers and preschoolers, serving both building residents and families in the surrounding neighbourhood.
YWCA Cindy Beedie Place was made possible through a powerful collaboration between Cindy Beedie and an anonymous matching donor, Province of British Columbia through BC Housing’s Women’s Transition Housing Fund, ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund, City of Burnaby and YWCA BC.
YWCA Marion’s Place opened in January 2026, providing 32 affordable homes for single mothers and their children. The new housing community is located near Burnaby’s vibrant Metrotown neighbourhood, close to parks, public transit, shopping, a library, elementary schools and more. The building offers two- and three-bedroom units, a children’s play area and gathering spaces.
The community is named in honour of Marion Hope, the mother of Marg Hope, director of 625 Powell Street Foundation. The Foundation has supported the YWCA in building affordable housing throughout the region.
We are grateful to our partners Qualex Landmark, BC Housing, CMHC Canada’s Homelessness Strategy, CMHC Reaching Home and YP Heung Foundation and many donors for supporting this housing community.
We celebrated the opening of YWCA Left Field in February 2026. This new community provides 45 homes for women who have experienced intimate partner violence.
YWCA Left Field, which opened with support from BC Housing’s Women’s Transition Housing Fund, is located close to parks and within walking distance to Vancouver’s Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain Station. It features a rooftop garden and Modo carshare onsite. The new building offers rent-geared-to-income units with a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
YWCA Peggy Mackenzie Terrace features 47 units including one studio, 23 one-bedroom and 23 two-bedroom homes. It’s conveniently located on a quiet street in the vibrant, growing Willoughby neighbourhood, close to schools and green spaces.
The community, which opened with support from BC Housing’s Women’s Transition Housing Fund, is named in honour of Peggy Mackenzie, the mother of Donald Mackenzie, director of 625 Powell Street Foundation. The Foundation has supported the YWCA in building affordable housing throughout the region.
YWCA Harbour Grove offers 33 second-stage, transitional homes for women and children leaving violence. The community opened with support from BC Housing’s Women’s Transition Housing Fund. Families can stay for a year, with possible extension up to 18 months. The rent is geared to income or the shelter portion if on income assistance. Support staff are onsite Monday through Friday.
With the high cost of rental housing across the Lower Mainland, more than 1,000 single-mother-led families apply each year to be on a YWCA housing waitlist. To respond to this persistent need, we created the YWCA Housing Action Fund.
The YWCA Housing Action Fund helps move new, affordable housing projects from concept to construction. Without these funds already in place, projects may be delayed or reduced in scale.
“Stable housing gives mothers the ability to work, to study and to rebuild. It gives children the consistency they need to feel safe, to stay in school and to thrive. And yet, far too many families are still forced to make impossible choices between rent, food and their future.” - YWCA Housing Action Fund Campaign Chair Diana Chan
YWCA BC operates 504 homes in 21 housing communities across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. There are three communities under construction.
In 2025, 618 mothers and children took part in 19 YWCA Single Mothers’ Support Groups.
Connection, Strength, Community
YWCA Single Mothers’ Support Services bring moms together in weekly meetings where they can build bonds, develop financial literacy skills and share resources.
Read Erica’s story as she shares how a Single Mothers’ Support Group gave her connection, strength and community.
"Before I found the YWCA’s single mothers' group, I was at one of the lowest points in my life. I became a single mom when my youngest was only eight months old, and I also had a toddler and a seven-year-old. I left my relationship because of substance abuse and escalating violence. There were nights I had to wake my kids quietly, bundle them into the car, and escape to my sister’s house while he was passed out or in the shower. We were living in constant fear.
At the time, I was running a daycare from home, but the long hours—5:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.—were unsustainable. I was exhausted, barely earning enough to survive, and my children were suffering. I eventually closed the daycare, but I had no clear plan for what came next. I went back to a previous job in Richmond, but the commute was long, and I barely saw my kids. We were all miserable. I had a breakdown and realized I couldn’t keep living like that. Something had to change.
I heard about the YWCA’s Single Mothers’ Support Group through a parenting class facilitator. They mentioned free dinner and childminding—and honestly, that was all I needed to hear. I figured if nothing else, I’d get a hot meal and a moment of peace. But what I found was so much more.
It took time, but eventually I opened up. That group completely changed my life. It gave me connection, strength, and a sense of community I didn’t know I needed. I had no other single-mom friends and often felt isolated. The group gave me a place to belong—and people who truly understood.
At the time, I was on medical leave and confided in the group that I had once dreamed of becoming a teacher. I had started my education in California years ago but was devastated to learn, after moving to Canada in 2006, that none of my credits transferred. I tried again at Douglas College but had to quit because it was too much to balance full-time work and school. I became an Early Childhood Educator and worked in preschool with my son, but the pay wasn’t enough to support my family as a single mom.
When I shared all this, the group facilitator told me about YWCA scholarships and connected me to staff who helped me apply for financial support and educational programs. That’s when everything shifted. I enrolled in an Education Assistant program, then made the decision to keep going. I knew I had to become a teacher—I was meant to do this.
Today, I work as an Education Assistant, and I love it. I’ve graduated with distinction and have been accepted into SFU’s PLP to become a certified high school teacher. My job aligns beautifully with my life as a mother—I get school holidays off, and I can be there for my kids, who all have unique needs including ADHD, autism, hearing loss, dyslexia and anxiety. I’ve built a life that works for us, and I’m doing something I’m truly passionate about.
The YWCA gave me the support, hope and opportunity I never thought I’d have again. The friendships I made in that first group remain strong—we still connect, our kids are friends, and we’ve built a village together. I walked in for a meal and a break. I left with a future."
In 2025, 193 children received quality care at YWCA early learning and child care centres.
Gender Equity Through Child Care
Access to quality, affordable child care is one of the most tangible ways to advance gender equity, empowering women to enter or return to the workforce. For kids, research shows those who receive high-quality child care form stronger social connections and perform better in school.
Along with advocating for more affordable child care, YWCA BC operated four early learning and child care centres in 2025. Three of these centres are $10-a-day sites. The fourth offers free, short-term care for families in the Downtown Eastside.
In 2026, we opened our fifth early learning and child care centre, YWCA xʷp̓ip̓q̓əyasəm, which means “Place of Butterflies” in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓. We would like to thank the Musqueam Indian Band for gifting us with this name. This new centre offers 37 licensed spaces for toddlers and preschoolers, serving both YWCA Cindy Beedie Place residents and families in the surrounding neighbourhood. We are grateful to Cindy Beedie, her friends and ChildCareBC’s New Spaces Fund for funding this new centre.
In 2025, Crabtree Corner offered 19 programs for participants ranging from infants to seniors, served 48,515 free meals through food programs and welcomed 83 children to our free drop-in early learning and child care.
Support for All Ages at YWCA Crabtree Corner
At YWCA Crabtree Corner on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, our hub model comes to life. In one building, people of all ages build community and access multiple services like housing, family and parenting programs, free early learning and child care, nutritious meals, cultural and Indigenous programming, and more.
“All the people who work here are very kind. They help us with the challenges of motherhood. It’s difficult for me because I don’t have family in Canada. Crabtree Corner is my family,” says Alba, who has participated in several Crabtree Corner programs.
In 2025, 1,529 job seekers received employment support through 17 specialized YWCA programs.
5,488 people accessed job search assistance through YWCA-operated WorkBC Centres.
'Meaningful Support'
Having access to stable employment can have life-changing impacts for families. That’s why YWCA BC’s employment programs support people across ages, experiences and cultures to gain new skills and build the confidence to pursue work and further education. In 2025, we launched two new employment programs: YWCA Higher Ground and YWCA Next Step.
YWCA Higher Ground launched in 2025 thanks to a $5.56 million gift from the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation, in conjunction with Seaspan Shipyards. Women make up nearly half of Canada’s workforce, yet only 5.3% of the construction trades workforce in BC. Gender stereotypes, stigma, safety concerns and limited awareness of opportunities remain key barriers.
YWCA Higher Ground aims to address these barriers and support women to pursue a career in the skilled trades. The program offers hands-on experience in various trades, includes industry site visits, facilitates employer connections, provides ongoing one-to-one career coaching and workshops focused on building confidence and skills. Women participating in the program also receive wraparound supports, including child care, transportation, education assistance and accessibility accommodations. Eligible Higher Ground participants who meet BCIT requirements have access to the BCIT Trades Discovery for Women program, with tuition costs fully covered.
“As a participant in YWCA Higher Ground, I experienced firsthand how the program supports women to explore skilled trades in a safe, supportive and empowering environment. The opportunity to learn about different trades, receive individualized guidance and access meaningful supports helped me build confidence and clarity about my career path.” -Marina, YWCA Higher Ground Participant
YWCA NextStep launched in 2025 to address the significant challenges youth face when they’re looking for a job. Many youth aged 16 to 30 navigate limited work experience, lack of financial resources, gaps in education or skills, and the impact of trauma or systemic inequities.
YWCA NextStep Youth Program, funded by BC’s Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction is a free, 12-week employment and life skills program designed to support youth as they build confidence and employment skills while gaining hands-on experience. Through a blend of group workshops, one-to-one support, a community project as well as certifications, participants have opportunities to receive individualized guidance tailored to their needs. This unique approach supports youth to realize their career or educational goals.
“I used to get really anxious about writing resumes and cover letters. Now I feel much more comfortable and don’t overthink it as much. The mock interviews helped a lot because they felt realistic without being too intimidating. Hearing feedback afterward was valuable because it helped me understand what I could improve.” - Destiny, YWCA NextStep Participant
YWCA BC youth programs empower young people to ask difficult questions, make friends, learn from mentors and build skills for their future.
In 2025, approximately 2,500 youth took part in YWCA programs that supported their transition to high school and helped them gain skills to develop healthy relationships.
43 Indigenous teen girls, Two-Spirit and non-binary youth were connected to Indigenous community and cultures in the YWCA Indigenous Mentorship program.
Advocating for Change
Bold, systemic change is needed to ensure everyone has equitable access to safe, affordable housing, child care, training and employment, and freedom from violence and discrimination. YWCA BC works alongside communities to advance equity and justice for women and families, people who experience gender discrimination, and Indigenous peoples.
In 2025, 21 alumni from YWCA Single Mothers’ Support Services participated in our 18-month peer advocacy program, gaining skills, knowledge and support to influence policy, raise awareness and advocate for systemic change. This program, which ran as part of YWCA City Shift, was funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada.
“If I can be a voice for somebody, if one idea I have helps make any kind of change, that would be worth it.” - YWCA Peer-Centred Advocacy Council Member
Watch the Voices for Change documentary, created by 3 Crows Productions, to learn more about the Peer-Centred Advocacy Council.
Voices for Change: YWCA Peer-Centered Advocacy Council
Advancing Truth and Reconciliation
In 2025, we continued advancing our Archives Project to better understand our role in colonial and assimilation practices. The project is guided by our Strong Women Healing Together Circle, including matriarchs from Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, representatives from the urban Indigenous community, and our Indigenous Initiatives team.
At our third annual Rhythms of Resilience event in honour of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, more than 300 community members joined us to honour Survivors and to remember the children who never came home.
Volunteers are essential to the YWCA’s impact, bringing expertise, leadership and commitment to the organization.
In 2025, 737 individuals logged 25,270 volunteer hours with the YWCA.
39 corporate groups made and served meals at Crabtree Corner, spruced up our early learning and child care centres, and much more.
In 2024, we launched our five-year strategic plan, Forward with Purpose. This plan was created with deep listening and wide collaboration, as we engaged with external and internal contributors including board members, senior management and employees.
Through this process, we confirmed three overarching goals. These goals have aligned our actions with our vision of a just and equitable world for women, families and allies. We are thrilled to share a snapshot of our progress with you as we are halfway through this five-year plan.
Impact Framework
Now in development, our new Impact Framework will help us use data and storytelling to better understand how our dozens of programs and services contribute to our vision and mission while helping participants achieve their goals.
Indigenous Initiatives and Engagement
In 2024, our Indigenous Initiatives and Engagement department expanded to welcome two full-time team members. Together, they work on a range of initiatives, from strengthening relationships with Host Nations and leading advocacy alongside Indigenous women and families, to creating meaningful opportunities for Indigenous employees to build community and strengthen culture.
Expanded Housing Communities
Since 2024, we have opened six new housing communities, creating hundreds of new, safe homes for families. Housing is a critical foundation in our hub model and residents are connected to all other YWCA programs and services.
Archives Project
With support from the UBC Community University Engagement Support (CUES) Fund, we partnered with UBC Library and Rare Books and Special Collections to catalogue, preserve and share YWCA BC’s records. Guided by the principles of Indigenous data management and sovereignty and supported by the leadership of an Indigenous researcher and advisory council, we made significant progress on our research to better understand YWCA BC’s participation in colonial assimilation practices.
Launch of Organizational Values
In 2024, we launched our organizational values, which align and unite us. These values articulate how we show up for each other. They inform our interactions, guide us in challenging situations and are reflected in our decision-making. They are: intention, courage, community and empowerment.
YW Housing Society
To diversify our revenue opportunities and create more housing for the broader community, we established the YW Housing Society. This unique, mixed‑housing model provides an increased spectrum of affordable housing by reinvesting revenue to provide more deeply affordable homes to women and their children. For example, in 2024, YWCA Sandy So Vista opened in Vancouver, providing 14 deeply affordable homes for single mothers and 56 below‑market rental units for the broader community. The rent mix and commercial tenants help keep homes affordable and allow residents to remain in a vibrant, amenity‑rich neighbourhood.
Archives Project
With support from the UBC Community University Engagement Support (CUES) Fund, we partnered with UBC Library and Rare Books and Special Collections to catalogue, preserve and share YWCA BC’s records. Guided by the principles of Indigenous data management and sovereignty and supported by the leadership of an Indigenous researcher and advisory council, we made significant progress on our research to better understand YWCA BC’s participation in colonial assimilation practices.
Launch of Organizational Values
In 2024, we launched our organizational values, which align and unite us. These values articulate how we show up for each other. They inform our interactions, guide us in challenging situations and are reflected in our decision-making. They are: intention, courage, community and empowerment.
YW Housing Society
To diversify our revenue opportunities and create more housing for the broader community, we established the YW Housing Society. This unique, mixed‑housing model provides an increased spectrum of affordable housing by reinvesting revenue to provide more deeply affordable homes to women and their children. For example, in 2024, YWCA Sandy So Vista opened in Vancouver, providing 14 deeply affordable homes for single mothers and 56 below‑market rental units for the broader community. The rent mix and commercial tenants help keep homes affordable and allow residents to remain in a vibrant, amenity‑rich neighbourhood.