Centre of Excellence for Women's Health

06/16/2026

Pride Month is about celebrating the 2SLGBTQ+ community and its history, and about advocating for equal rights. Equity in research is an important part of advancing this goal.

In examining data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (2009–2014) for our research on substance use by women, we noticed that binge drinking, illicit drug use, and cannabis use were significantly higher among le***an and bis*xual women compared with heteros*xual women. Advocating for equity in health research can help us uncover health disparities such as these and take pride in addressing them!

06/08/2026

We attended an Incubator Meeting in Winnipeg last week, organized by the DrPeter Centre and focused on advancing action and raising visibility on the needs of women facing violence, HIV, poverty, homelessness and substance use challenges.

The gathering provided a valuable opportunity to learn of the impressive work by Winnipeg’s North End Women's Centre (NEWC). Pictured is our Director, Dr. Nancy Poole, with representatives of the Dr. Peter Centre, the NEWC, and EuroNPUD Public (Portugal).

05/25/2026

How can policy environments make the prevention of FASD possible?

Our latest article, Preventing alcohol use during pregnancy is a policy problem, not a personal failure, explores this question in depth.

Written by CEWH Director Dr. Nancy Poole and Research Associate Lindsay Wolfson, the piece highlights why supportive policy—not individual blame—is key to reducing alcohol use during pregnancy.

Read the full article on Healthy Debate:

The solution to fetal alcohol syndrome prevention is not simply to tell women not to drink, assuming they either don’t know enough or don’t care enough.

05/13/2026

Recently, during GBA+ Awareness Week the leadership of former Senator Nancy Ruth who, along with the former Auditor General, Sheila Fraser, established audits across the federal government to measure the impact and use of GBA+ across departments. This important step gave us a much-needed accountability mechanism, and sometimes shone a light on how little GBA+ was being used.

Learn more about the ongoing impact of this initiative here: https://buff.ly/jixTr9M
Find out how this approach continues to guide our work in women’s health at: https://buff.ly/FK4IfSt

05/12/2026

Our Director, Dr. Nancy Poole, is excited to teach the online course "Responding to Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Use" for the JIBC on June 12, 2026

She’ll explore how to better support individuals navigating recovery from both intimate partner violence (IPV) and substance use (SU), including mention of the lessons from CEWH's Strong Women project.

For more info about the course content and to register: https://buff.ly/kAeGwgT
Learn more about the Strong Women project: https://buff.ly/lIGkf65

05/10/2026

This Mother’s Day, we’re looking ahead to the forthcoming book “Mothers, Mothering and Climate Change,” edited by Carolina Toscano and Sarah Marie Wiebe.

Bringing together the voices of feminist theorists, researchers, and activists across diverse fields, the book explores the intricate convergences and tensions between climate change, mothering, community care, and intergenerational justice.

Learn more here: https://buff.ly/FCN2i99

05/04/2026

The importance of integrating s*x, gender, and equity into emergency preparedness is increasingly recognized across sectors.

Our recent article in the Canadian Journal of Emergency Management, “A Gendered Emergency Framework: Integrating S*x, Gender, and Equity into Emergency Management,” responds directly to this need.

In it, we introduce the Gendered Emergency Management Framework (GEM-F), a practical tool designed to support emergency personnel, planners, and policy makers weave s*x, gender, trauma-informed, and equity considerations throughout the entire emergency management continuum.

Read the full article here: https://buff.ly/2FD5ayJ

05/01/2026

Our Director, Dr. Nancy Poole, and Research Associate Lindsay Wolfson joined Kristin Bonot and Lisa Lawley for a panel at the recent BCAPOP’s Annual Perinatal Conference to discuss current strategies and perspectives on the prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

04/22/2026

A significant part of our work addresses women’s chronic pain, a focus that made us especially appreciate the wide range of presentations at the Pacific Pain Forum, held in Vancouver on Friday, April 17, 2026.

Hearing how trauma-informed practices are being implemented across different sectors and settings further reinforced our commitment to making this approach central to the development of resources and interventions that support women living with chronic pain.

Explore our related projects at: https://buff.ly/xYZP0xj

04/21/2026

As part of Prevention of Violence Against Women Week, we at CEWH are sharing a course designed to support individuals and organizations in crafting gender transformative messages for the primary prevention of VAWG.

In this 1.5-hour online course, you will:
1. Deepen your understanding of the main drivers of VAWG and explore strategies to address them.
2. Build familiarity with gender transformative approaches that address the root causes of gender inequities and VAWG at the same time.
3. Learn practical steps for developing gender transformative prevention messages.

Access the course for free: https://buff.ly/DQ06mMl