St. John's Status of Women Council, The Women's Centre

6. At #83 Military Road is the former home of the St. John's Women's Centre, the oldest women's centre in Canada.

This building represents the first Women's Centre in Canada to be owned by its members and is the longest continuously running Centre in the country.

The Newfoundland Status of Women Council (NSWC) was founded during the winter of 1972 after the Royal Commission on the Status of Women report was released by the federal government. The NSWC ran a Women's Centre from various rented homes in the city before buying the house on Military Road, which opened June 25, 1978.

St. John's Women's Centre
St. John's Women's Centre, 1998
83 Military Road, St. John's, NL
© 1998, Lisa LeDrew.

The actual purchase of this property is testimony to the dedication of the women involved. The Council had no money, so 20 women were asked to loan $100 each for the down payment. As well, two Council members signed personal guarantees for the mortgage. Women, hired under federal grants to train women for non-traditional trades, carried out the extensive renovations needed in the building.

Inside the St. John's Women's Centre
Inside the St. John's Women's Centre, 1998
A writer's workshop, January 1998.
© 1998, St. John's Women's Centre.

Over the years, the Women's Centre has also housed the Newfoundland Chapter of the Canadian Abortion Rights Action League, Women's Health Education Project, The St. John's Rape Crisis and Information Centre, and the committee that founded the province's first shelter for battered women and their children. Many political actions were planned at the Women's Centre, including to restore funding to women's centres across Canada in the early 1990s.

Demonstration staged at the Offices of the Secretary of State, St. John's, 1990
Demonstration staged at the Offices of the Secretary of State, St. John's, 1990
Successful demonstration to restore funding for women's centres across Canada.
© 1990, St. John's Women's Centre.

The NSWC changed its name to the St. John's Status of Women Council in the late 1980's as Status of Women Councils were created in other areas of the province.

As its mission to serve women evolved, the Centre moved to Cashin Avenue in St. John's. At that site, called Marguerite's Place Supportive Housing, the St. John's Status of Women Council supports housing, social connections and learning for women.

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