Tashi Farmilo
LJI Reporter

Fifty years ago, the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) was forged from necessity
and resistance. Indigenous women, excluded from policy-making and political leadership, came
together to challenge legal discrimination, systemic poverty and colonial violence. They travelled
long distances to meet, borrowing cars, baking bannock, and bringing children along. What
began around kitchen tables grew into a national voice for Indigenous women, grounded in the
principle that they must speak for themselves.

In 2025, that voice is quieter, weighed down by debt, layoffs and internal review. NWAC is now
selling its $8-million Gatineau headquarters, divesting cultural properties, and cooperating with a
federal audit covering fiscal years 2018 to 2024. In a statement released July 15, NWAC
acknowledged “serious and significant financial irregularities” uncovered by current
management. An internal review of past contracts is underway, and all unprofitable business
ventures have been shut down. The organization says it is returning to its “foundational values.”

The Gatineau building, purchased in 2018, was mortgaged three times: first for $1.8 million,
then $5.9 million in 2020, and finally $7.5 million in 2022, according to records reviewed by CBC
News and APTN. Renovated to include a café, gallery and meeting space, it was part of an
“own-source revenue” strategy designed to reduce reliance on federal funding. But by July
2025, CBC reported the property was being offloaded amid a soft commercial real estate
market.

NWAC also invested in properties in Chelsea and Gagetown, New Brunswick, where it planned
to operate Resiliency Lodges—healing centres for Indigenous women and gender-diverse
people. APTN reported both sites are now being sold or handed over to Indigenous partners.
The Chelsea property is being repaired ahead of sale. In Gagetown, NWAC issued a tender
seeking a new Indigenous organization to manage or potentially take ownership of the property.

NWAC’s financial statements show rapid expansion. Its 2023 audit, published on its website,
shows assets rising from $15.9 million in 2022 to nearly $42 million in 2023, fuelled by federal
grants and deferred revenue. That year, grant income alone topped $21.7 million. However,
debt also grew—reaching $6.3 million, much of it linked to mortgages. The auditor issued a
qualified opinion, flagging issues including the misclassification of capital assets and incomplete
donation records.

This financial and infrastructural growth did not bring stability. APTN reported NWAC laid off 75
employees in 2024 after federal funding dropped from $48 million to $10 million. Around the
same time, former CEO Lynne Groulx departed, and several provincial affiliates were expelled
amid internal conflict.

Public criticism followed. CBC and APTN documented frustration from grassroots advocates
who felt NWAC had become disconnected from its base. APTN also reported that in May 2025, ​
Wolastoqey Elder Alma Brooks wrote to federal and provincial officials raising concerns about
NWAC’s handling of its cultural lodges. She said the sudden shutdown of the Gagetown facility
—without consultation—breached community trust and failed to honour its publicly funded
purpose.

These recent chapters mark a sharp turn from NWAC’s original story. In its 50th anniversary
magazine, NWAC recounts its beginnings: women raising funds through bake sales, organising
letter-writing campaigns, and fighting to have their voices heard by a federal government that
rarely listened. They worked without capital, but with resolve.

Today, as NWAC sheds its buildings and re-evaluates its finances, it says it is trying to return to
that core. Whether it can restore the trust of the women and communities it was built to
represent remains uncertain. The infrastructure may be going—but the question is whether the
foundation still stands.

Photo: The Native Women’s Association of Canada, once rooted in grassroots advocacy for
Indigenous women, is now selling off multimillion-dollar properties and facing a federal audit
after years of financial mismanagement and a controversial pivot toward real-estate ventures,
raising questions about how far it strayed from its founding mission. (TF) Photo: Tashi Farmil