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VICTORIA - A national group representing providers of shelters and transition houses says surveys of women and children escaping violence across Canada reveal most of them can't get the help they need due to lack of capacity or resources.
Women's Shelters Canada executive director Lise Martin says surveys of a 24-hour period have been done every year since 2014, and the latest one found 404 requests for help, but only 100 women and children were taken into a shelter.
She says the results for the past four years have suggested up to 75 per cent of those seeking housing aren't getting it.
Martin says B.C. is starting to offer some relief to women and children, with plans to build 280 new transition homes in 12 projects located across the province.
Makenna Rielly, of the Women's Transition House Society in Victoria, says construction of second-stage housing in the suburban community of Langford would allow women and children a safe home for up to 18 months so they can transition to a new life.
B.C. Housing Minister Selina Robinson says the 12 projects are part of the government's investment of $734 million over the next decade to build 1,500 transition housing spaces.
