SOS Children in Canada
Canada is a member country of the Commonwealth and borders the USA, Arctic Ocean, Alaska, Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Canada's capital city is Ottawa with about 1.1 million inhabitants, but its largest city is Toronto with about 4.3 million inhabitants. Canada has no major industries or agricultural sector; hence 73% of the workforce is employed in the service industry.
The work of SOS Children in Canada started in 1969 with the founding of the "Friends of SOS Children's Villages Canada" by a distinguished group of volunteers. This group included the late Justice Emmett M. Hall, whose 1964 landmark health care report laid the foundations for Canada’s Medicare system, and Mr. R. Gordon Fairweather, O.C., Member of Parliament and first chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. SOS Children's Villages Canada grew and evolved into a national office responsible for raising funds to support the work of SOS Children's Villages overseas and overseeing SOS Children's Villages programmes within Canada.
The first SOS Children's Village in Canada was established in Nova Scotia in the early 1980's and a second Village in British Columbia was established in 2001. While the Nova Scotia Village has since ceased operations, the British Columbia Village continues to expand as funds are continuously being raised for the construction of even more houses. The British Columbia Village cares for up to 12 children and youths at any one time and facilities include:
• Three family houses
• One aunts’ house
• One administration and service building
• One director’s house
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