Important Update: Charitable Status

We wish to notify the community about a temporary change to the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre’s charitable status. As of October 29, 2022, the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre does not have Canada Revenue Agency charitable status due to an administrative error.

We have rectified the filing error and are currently applying to have our charitable status reinstated; however, it will take four to six months for the CRA to reinstate our status, according to our latest conversations with their representatives.

Services continue to function as usual.

Receiving donations and tax receipting delays

The CRA has confirmed that we are able to receive donations but cannot issue tax receipts for them until our status has been reinstated. Upon reinstatement, we will be able to back-issue receipts for any donations made to us.

We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause and hope you will consider continuing your support of the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre as we remediate the situation.

Here is what you can expect from us

We are taking all steps required by the Canadian Revenue Agency to reinstate our charitable status. We will maintain communication with our community and donors by providing an update as soon as our charitable status is reinstated or if there are delays in the process. We will reach out to our donors by email, phone, or mail, and update the broader community through our website and social media channels.

In the meantime, here is what you can expect if you are a donor:

If you are a one-time or annual donor:

• If you choose to make a donation during this time, you can expect your receipt in 4-6 months. We will be in communication with you if there are any further delays in tax receipting.

If you are a monthly donor:

We have paused monthly donations and are reaching out to our donors to advise of the situation, share donation options, and find out how each donor wishes to proceed. Here are the current options for monthly donors:

• If you choose to continue your monthly donation as usual, you will be receipted in the new year for your 2022 donation up to October. Upon reinstatement of our CRA status, we will provide a tax receipt for your November and December donations promptly. The tax receipt for your 2023 donations will be sent to you in early 2024 as usual.

• If you wish to pause your monthly donation, please let me know and we will send you a tax receipt for your 2022 donations. We will contact you again when our charitable status is reinstated for your consent to resume your monthly donation.

• If you wish to cancel your monthly donation altogether, please let me know and we will send you a tax receipt for your 2022 donations.

Thank you for patience as we remediate this situation. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Carissa at or 250-383-5545 ext. 115. Thank you for supporting the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre.

Services continue to function as usual

Our services and programs will continue to function as usual. We continue to provide direct services to survivors and prevention programming to the community.

If you are in need of services, please reach out:

If you have been recently assaulted: Access our 24-hour Sexual Assault Response Team

 service by calling the Vancouver Island Crisis Line (1-888-494-3888) and requesting to speak to a VSAC Sexual Assault Support Worker.

To access our other services: To access counselling or victim services, please call our Access Line (250-383-3232) or email

For immediate emotional support call the Vancouver Island Crisis Line (1-888-494-3888) and/or if you have health concerns call HealthLink BC at 811 or your health care provider.