2025 had scarcely begun when a woman in Nova Scotia was killed and her male partner charged. Within days, another N.S. woman was dead and so was her husband. They are part of an unprecedented spate of deaths in the province since October alone: six women killed, their male partners implicated. In Alberta, three deaths capped off 2024: A Calgary woman was killed alongside her father; an Edmonton woman was found on a riverbank.

“It doesn’t stop,” a domestic-violence officer for the Halifax police says. Halifax RCMP are hiring two domestic-violence officers for the first time. Ottawa police say intimate-partner violence has increased consistently since 2021. They have decided to start releasing stats on intimate-partner violence incidents more often to raise awareness of the problem.

Increased investment is urgently needed to stop the crisis. One immediate step in the right direction would be to name a national gender-based violence commissioner.

The position has been called for more than once. The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund called for it in a 2024 report. So did Nova Scotia’s Mass Casualty Commission in its final report in 2023 (recommendation 17) and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls amid its many recommendations.

How a commissioner could help

At its core, the call for a national gender-based violence commissioner is rooted in the need for tangible accountability and actions stemming from existing national efforts such as the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.

The national plan works through bilateral agreements with each province and territory. It is a holistic plan that aims to change the social and economic factors that contribute to violence. It includes Indigenous-led approaches and seeks to create a more accessible justice system for those who have survived forms of gender-based violence.

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It is survivor-centric, which is important. It will focus on supporting survivors of gender-based violence and their families. It could change and save lives if it’s fully and effectively implemented. However, the “if” is significant.

Concerns about implementation emerged within a year of the launch on Nov. 9, 2022, with questions about accountability and transparency. A gender-based violence commissioner could help address these concerns.

More violence, less shelter space

Family violence and intimate-partner violence rose by 19-per-cent from 2014 to 2022, Statistics Canada reported. For those fleeing domestic violence, shelters are a last resort.

In the wake of COVID-19, Ottawa allocated roughly $145 million to domestic-violence shelters as part of an increase in funding for the prevention of violence against women.

It’s not enough. Every day across Canada, an estimated 699 women and 236 accompanying children are turned away from domestic-violence shelters, the Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network said in late 2024.

Women’s Shelters Canada has been calling for increased funding, noting that 94 per cent of emergency shelters have been seeing longer stays by those fleeing violence.

The national housing crisis explains some of the longer stays. It’s harder to find alternative housing. But with a lack of space and funding, shelters are forced to turn away those fleeing domestic violence.

In Alberta, the province budgeted $10 million for shelters in 2024 after years of calls for increased funding from the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters.

Alberta shelters answered 59,215 calls for help, the highest number in a decade, according to the council’s 2023 report, its most recent report. That was a 12.5 per cent increase from the previous year.

Violence by any other name

The federal government defines gender-based violence as “violence based on gender norms and unequal power dynamics, perpetrated against someone based on their gender, gender expression, gender identity, or perceived gender. It takes many forms, including physical, economic, sexual, as well as emotional (psychological) abuse.”

Domestic violence refers to violence or abuse in an intimate, dependent or trusting relationship. In some cases it can be used alongside the term family violence.

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Intimate-partner violence refers to harm (physical, sexual or psychological) inflicted by a current or past partner or spouse, and can be a form of domestic violence.

Sometimes, these forms of violence intersect. At the policy level, gender-based violence is often understood to be an umbrella term, encapsulating violence occurring within an intimate relationship, a broader family unit and beyond.

Steps forward

A gender-based violence commissioner won’t be a panacea for the entirety of the nation’s gender-based violence crisis. But it could help to elevate efforts to address more specific forms of violence, including domestic violence.

Canada must confront this crisis with the urgency it deserves. That means: fully funded shelters, robust prevention programs and meaningful policy change that prioritizes the safety and dignity of all.