SOS Children in Canada
Overview of Canada
Canada is a member country of the Commonwealth and borders the USA, Arctic Ocean, Alaska, Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Canada's capital city is Ottawa with about 1.1 million inhabitants, but its largest city is Toronto with about 4.3 million inhabitants. Canada has no major industries or agricultural sector; hence 73% of the workforce is employed in the service industry.
Our Work in Canada
The work of SOS Children in Canada started in 1969 with the founding of the "Friends of SOS Children's Villages Canada" by a distinguished group of volunteers. This group included the late Justice Emmett M. Hall, whose 1964 landmark health care report laid the foundations for Canada’s Medicare system, and Mr. R. Gordon Fairweather, O.C., Member of Parliament and first chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. SOS Children's Villages Canada grew and evolved into a national office responsible for raising funds to support the work of SOS Children's Villages overseas and overseeing SOS Children's Villages programmes within Canada.
British Columbia
The first SOS Children's Village in Canada was established in Nova Scotia in the early 1980s and a second Village in British Columbia was established in 2001. SOS Children's Village British Columbia is located in the suburb of Surrey approximately 20 miles southeast of Vancouver. While the Nova Scotia Village has since ceased operations, the British Columbia Village continues to expand as funds are continuously being raised for the construction of even more houses. The British Columbia Village cares for up to 23 children and youths at any one time and facilities include:
- Five family houses
- One aunts’ house
- One administration and service building
- One director’s house
Over 100 foster children in the community benefit from the SOS Lifeskills Outreach Program for Children and Youth in Foster Care (The Lifeskills Programme), which offers children and youth at risk therapy and literacy skill development.
Local Contact
SOS Children's Villages Canada
240 - 44 By Ward Market Square
Ottawa,
Ontario
K1N 7A2
Canada
Tel: +1/613/2323309
Fax: +1/613/2326764
e-mail: info@soschildrensvillages.ca
Return to Schools Wikipedia Home page…
