Ontario cancels $1M for rape crisis centres, prompting concerns wait times will spike

Published On: March 6, 2020

Ontario’s 42 rape crisis centres have learned the $1 million funding boost they received last year from the province will not be renewed, fuelling concerns wait times for survivors of sexual violence will spike as a result.

Deb Singh, chair of the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres, told CBC News Wednesday the centres received word directly from Ontario’s Attorney General Doug Downey last Thursday that the province would not be renewing the additional funding. Currently, Ontario’s rape crisis centres receive $14.8 million dollars each year from the Ministry of the Attorney General.

Singh, who is also a counsellor at the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, said the additional funding provided by the PC government reduced wait times for victims seeking help from 18 months in October 2018 to six months in the first months of 2020.

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