Joanne Ferland, a resident of North Bay, Ontario, had to start anew after leaving an abusive partner. Upon deciding to break free, she found herself with an empty bank account, hidden keys, and a disconnected cellphone. Without the support of her parents, she believed she wouldn’t have been able to escape the abusive relationship. Thanks to her family’s assistance, Ferland managed to rebuild her career and now serves as a financial adviser at the Caisse Alliance credit union in northern Ontario.
Drawing from her personal experience as a survivor of intimate partner violence (IPV), Ferland initiated the Leap Into Financial Empowerment (LIFE) program last year. This program, tailored to aid IPV survivors in organizing their financial affairs, stands out as a unique initiative in Canada. Ferland collaborates closely with aid organizations in northeastern Ontario and the legal system to refer survivors to the program.
At the core of the program lies the establishment of a secure and complimentary chequing account. Ferland emphasized the importance of ensuring the account’s safety, with measures in place to prevent any communication through mail or phone calls to the survivor’s home address. Together with her team, Ferland offers financial guidance to domestic violence survivors and assists them in devising a budget to reconstruct their lives.
Since its inception, the program has supported 12 IPV survivors, with only one individual eventually returning to their abuser. Ferland views this as a success and aims to expand the program to other northeastern Ontario communities, such as Timmins, Hearst, Mattawa, Sturgeon Falls, and Kapuskasing, with the help of a $50,000 grant from Equitable Bank.
Mathieu Shank, the regional manager for the Nipissing East region at Caisse Alliance, expressed his immediate support for Ferland’s program idea. Shank was taken aback by the disturbing statistics on IPV in Canada that Ferland shared with him. According to Statistics Canada, 44% of women and girls over the age of 15 who have been in a relationship have experienced abuse from an intimate partner. Moreover, the data reveals that every six days, a woman in Canada falls victim to intimate partner violence, leading to fatal consequences. Shank highlighted the concerning reality that a significant number of his female employees could be undergoing similar experiences, emphasizing the urgency of addressing this issue.