On June 12, 2026, CCLA submitted a brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO) study on the role and capacity of women’s shelters and transitional housing to support women and in Canada.
The submission argues that trans women’s right to shelter is meaningless unless it includes the right to a shelter placement that aligns with their lived gender identity.
The brief grounds this call for reform in both data and law. Survey findings show that many trans and non-binary people avoid shelters altogether out of fear of discrimination while Canada’s domestic and international housing rights commitments and emerging Charter jurisprudence under sections 7 and 15 recognizes the dignity and equality interests at stake in access to safe shelter. The brief identifies persistent gaps in the current system such as inconsistent intake policies, a lack of national data on trans women’s shelter access and denials, and compounded barriers facing racialized, Indigenous, and otherwise marginalized trans women. It recommends that the federal government take seriously the need for gender-identity-aligned intake policies, invest in sector-wide training, and fund disaggregated data collection. Read CCLA’s full submission to FEWO here.
About the Canadian Civil Liberties Association
The CCLA is an independent, non-profit organization with supporters from across the country. Founded in 1964, the CCLA is a national human rights organization committed to defending the rights, dignity, safety, and freedoms of all people in Canada.
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