International Women’s Day - 2026
March 8 is International Women’s Day.
In honour of International Women’s Day, we celebrate the tenacious women whose care and deep commitment to community helped shape the foundation of JFC.
In the early 1970s, a group of women and mothers in the Jane-Finch community came together to organize around community needs, priorities and development. Through the Downsview Weston Action Community (DWAC), they consulted with residents and identified key priorities to better support the neighbourhood, including support for families with young children who were experiencing isolation.
Their work laid the foundation for what would become the Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre. JFC was built by women who believed that local residents should have a voice in shaping the services their community needed.
Over the years, residents, staff and organizers at JFC have continued that work, supporting women, mothers and female-identifying community members in practical ways. This has included:
Contributing to the establishment of the North York Women’s Shelter, dedicating staff time to advancing the urgent need for a local shelter so women would not have to leave their community to seek safety.
Offering a Bridging Course for Women to support those transitioning into university studies.
Creating domestic violence support programs for women and survivors in the community, including training staff on how to respond to cases of domestic violence and partnering with other organizations such as the Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples, Chalkfarm Community and Family Centre, North York Community House, and the Jamaican Canadian Association.
These efforts were part of a larger picture. We know that supporting women requires addressing the broader systems that shape their experiences. Barriers are often rooted in racism, poverty, and other systemic inequities, and these realities continue to disproportionately impact Black and Indigenous women, racialized women and gender-diverse people.
As we reflect on the women who built JFC, we are reminded that this work is ongoing. We remain committed to creating spaces and programs that are safe, welcoming, and inclusive of gender-diverse people and community members with intersecting identities.
Check out our latest Instagram post to see photos from the 1970s and 1980s, featuring some of the incredible women who have contributed to JFC over the years.
