Corporate body

Women's Research Centre

1973-2000

The Women's Research Centre (WRC) was founded in 1973 and emerged out of the BC Women's Studies Association. The Women's Research Centre was a feminist organization which was involved with research intended to promote action to change women's situations. The Centre maintained links with other women's organizations across Canada and responded to requests from women's groups and institutions regarding project and organizational development, government and institutional responses to women's issues, and public and professional education. The objective of the Women's Research Centre was to provide individual women and community-based women's groups with the information, analyses, and/or skills they needed in order to take action on issues of concern to them. The results of the research were used in workshops, seminars, and consultations and published in various pamphlets, reports, and books which were later distributed to women's groups and other interested organizations. The Women's Research Centre was a registered, non-profit society with annually elected board of directors and a policy collective, composed of ten members of the Centre, who met monthly to make decisions on the overall policy and direction of the Centre and its various projects. In addition, an advisory committee, composed of representatives from across Canada, met once a year to provide information and to review the Centre's plan from a national perspective. The Centre's work was carried out by research committees composed of volunteers. The volunteers were made up of women who were both interested in and had the ability to contribute to a particular research area. At least one member of the policy collective sat on each research committee. The Women's Research Centre was funded by an operations grant from the Secretary of State Women's Program. In addition, the Centre also received grants or contracts from federal, provincial, and municipal departments and agencies as well as funding from private foundations for specific research projects. The Women's Research Centre disbanded in 2000.