National Council of Women of Canada

The National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC, (CNFC)) is a Canadian advocacy organization based in Ottawa, Ontario, aimed at improving conditions for women, families, and communities. A federation of nationally-organized societies of men and women and local and provincial councils of women, it is the Canadian member of the International Council of Women (ICW). The Council has concerned itself in areas including women's suffrage, immigration, health care, education, mass media, the environment, and many others. Formed on October 27, 1893, in Toronto, Ontario, it is one of the oldest advocacy organizations in the country. Lady Aberdeen was elected the first president of the National Council of Women of Canada in 1893. Prominent Council leaders included Lady Gzowski, Dr. Augusta Stowe-Gullen, and Adelaide Hoodless. Founding The International Council of Women was founded in 1888 in Washington, D.C., United States. By May 1893, the IWC World's Congress of Representative Women had met in Chicago and discussed creating a Canadian Council. The Council formally began its existence on October 27 at a public meeting at the Horticultural Pavilion of the Allan Gardens in Toronto. Over 1,500 women attended the meeting, which was chaired by Lady Aberdeen, wife of then-Governor General John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, 7th Earl of Aberdeen. Lady Aberdeen served as the Council's first president until her resignation in 1899; she was succeeded by Lady Taylor. Activities The Council serves an advisory role on issues based on existing organization policy. New policies are proposed as resolutions, which are developed through grassroots discussions on the local and provincial scale and are then debated and voted upon. If they are accepted, they become policies. The organization then creates briefs (formal papers based on policy), which suggest a course of action and are submitted to an official body, such as a government. The organization has sent representatives to government boards and international bodies such as the League of Nations. The Council played a key role in creating the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Children's Aid Society, and the Consumers' Association of Canada. One of the first affiliate organizations was the Women's Art Association of Canada, of which Lady Aberdeen was the sponsor.