North York Women's Centre

What North York Women's Centre does

North York Women's Centre (NYWC) is a registered Canadian charitable non-profit (Charitable number: 140263013 RR0001) founded in 1988 in Toronto, Ontario. The organization delivers a unified suite of free, low-barrier, trauma-informed services for women, girls, and gender-diverse people affected by gender-based violence. Its core service offerings comprise four programs: an Information and Resource Line (text, phone, email, up to 30 minutes), One-on-One Support appointments (in-person, virtual, or phone, up to one hour), multi-week closed Group Programs including the Women's Empowerment Series and STEPS to Work (a 9-week employment preparation program), and The Lounge, a drop-in community space requiring no appointment. Service delivery is conducted in multiple languages including English, Farsi, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Portuguese, and Spanish. NYWC has approximately 1-10 employees and is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors elected annually by members; the board is currently chaired by Shama Rafiq with Jenn Kim as Secretary. Executive Director Iris Fabbro is on leave; Anna Syed serves as Interim Executive Director.

The underlying service model is human-delivered peer support rather than technology-mediated: staff and peer support workers are trained in trauma-informed practice, systems navigation, and active listening, and many bring lived experience as survivors, racialized women, or disabled women. NYWC's revenue model is a non-profit mix of municipal, provincial, and federal government grants (City of Toronto, Government of Canada, Government of Ontario, Ontario Trillium Foundation), individual charitable donations (including tribute, in-memory, planned giving, and vehicle donations processed through CanadaHelps, CharityCar, and Donate a Car Canada), and workplace giving through United Way. All programs are provided free of charge to remove participation barriers, with wraparound supports such as TTC passes, childminding, hygiene supplies, and menstrual products provided to reduce access friction.

NYWC is currently in the middle of a strategic relocation to a larger transit-accessible, street-facing facility in the heart of North York, with a $25,000 capital campaign underway for moving costs, private call room construction, and accessibility improvements. The organization markets its services primarily through organic social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), a monthly email newsletter, its website nywc.org, and community outreach and partner-agency referral pathways. NYWC has no mobile app, public API, or proprietary software platform disclosed.

Name

North York Women's Centre

Legal name

North York Women's Resource Centre

Website

https://nywc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

North York Women's Centre is a Toronto-based registered charity, founded in 1988, that delivers free, trauma-informed peer support, group programs, an employment-readiness curriculum, and a drop-in community space for women, girls, and gender-diverse people affected by gender-based violence.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Support Services

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community Centers & Neighborhood Support Services (BPAGAEAL)

Keywords

• Women support services
• Peer support groups
• Community resource navigation
• Trauma-informed programs
• Gender-diverse support

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Charitable donations from individuals, including tribute gifts, in-memory gifts, vehicle donations, and planned giving through wills or life insurance. The organization is raising $25,000 for a new location move.
2. Government Funding: Funding from government supporters including City of Toronto, Government of Canada, and Government of Ontario.
3. Workplace Giving: United Way payroll donations can be designated to NYWC through workplace giving programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The North York Women's Centre, founded in 1988 in Toronto, Canada, provides free peer support, group programs, and resource navigation for women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals. Core offerings include one-on-one peer support, facilitated group programs, an employment preparation initiative (STEPS to Work), a drop-in social space (The Lounge), and an information and resource line, all delivered through a trauma-informed lens.

Product overview

North York Women's Centre is a non-profit community organization (not a technology company) that provides a unified suite of free support services for women, girls, and gender-diverse people affected by gender-based violence. The core offerings include: an Information & Resource Line for initial contact and referrals; One-on-One Support appointments for personalized peer support; Group Programs (including the Women's Empowerment Series and STEPS to Work) for skill-building and employment support; and The Lounge as a drop-in community space. All programs are low-barrier, trauma-informed, and peer support-based.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• One-on-One Peer Support Individual peer support sessions for women, girls, and gender-diverse community members seeking confidential, trauma-informed assistance and resource navigation.
• Group Programs Facilitated group-based programs for women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals covering topics relevant to community members' lived experiences and personal development.
• STEPS to Work Employment preparation program supporting women and gender-diverse individuals in building skills and pathways toward workforce participation.
• The Lounge Drop-in social space providing a welcoming, informal environment for women, girls, and gender-diverse community members to connect and access resources.
• Information & Resource Line Telephone-based information service providing community members with referrals, resource navigation, and access to up-to-date community supports.

Quantifiable outcome

• Multi-week closed group programs offering compassionate approach to change for lasting impact
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• OCASI (Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization supporting immigrant and refugee services that aligns with NYWC's work serving diverse communities.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Women's Habitat: Etobicoke-based non-profit offering shelter, counseling, and community education for women and gender-diverse people experiencing violence. Same survivor-serving model as NYWC, with comparable funding sources and program structure.
• Interval House: Toronto women's shelter and anti-violence organization providing emergency shelter, counseling, and community programs. Comparable mission and donor base; broader service scope including residential shelter NYWC does not operate.
• Nellie's (Nellie's Community Place): Toronto women's organization providing shelter, drop-in, and community programs. Operates a similar drop-in + group programs + system navigation model targeted at women and gender-diverse people.
• YWCA Toronto: One of the largest women's services organizations in Toronto, providing housing, employment, and anti-violence programs across the city. Directly comparable to NYWC in mission, target population, and service model, though at significantly larger scale.
• Barbara Schlifer Clinic: Toronto legal clinic and counseling service for women survivors of violence and abuse. Comparable in trauma-informed, multi-service model (counseling, legal, language interpretation) and in serving racialized and immigrant women.

Broad incumbents

• Canadian Women's Foundation: National public foundation funding gender-based violence programs and women's economic development across Canada. Not a direct service peer, but a major funder and ecosystem incumbent in the same anti-violence space NYWC operates in.

Emerging players

• Springtide Resources: Ontario-based anti-violence education and training organization serving women and gender-diverse people. Comparable mission and trauma-informed approach, though focused on training/curriculum rather than direct service delivery.
• Central Toronto Youth Services (CTYS): Toronto-based non-profit serving youth and families with mental health, gender, and anti-violence work. Partial overlap with NYWC's gender-based violence and community-based support work, though broader in client age range.

Others

• Ontario Nonprofit Network: Provincial association representing Ontario's non-profit sector. Adjacent peer that signals where NYWC sits in the broader non-profit ecosystem and provides capability-building resources comparably to what NYWC delivers locally.

Regional players

• OCASI (Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants): Provincial umbrella organization supporting immigrant and refugee-serving agencies, with which NYWC is a documented partner. Not a direct competitor, but a comparable ecosystem player in the Ontario gender+immigrant services space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/nywc1
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/north-york-women's-centre
• Instagraminstagram.com/_nywc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about North York Women's Centre