NWAC closes businesses as management discovers serious and significant financial irregularities

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) says its current management has “discovered serious and significant financial irregularities which the Board of Directors were not aware of, requiring the organization to act.” The disclosure comes less than a week after APTN News reported the 50-year-old organization was selling off it’s assets. According to a real estate ad, its elaborate building in Gatineau, Que., is up for sale for just under $8 million. In the early summer of 2022, during the grand opening of the facility, then-CEO Lynne Groulx said the new office cost about $9 million. The statement, released by NWAC on Tuesday and attributed to no one, says, “NWAC has closed all businesses which were not profitable and is in the process of divesting itself of properties that took resources away from our core purpose.” The statement confirms NWAC is also selling its so-called Resiliency Lodge in Chelsea, Que. According to the statement money received from the sale of NWAC assets “will be used to re-invest in our mission as an advocate for the social, economic, cultural and political wellbeing of Indigenous women and their communities.” The statement goes on to say that “NWAC is fully cooperating with the Assessment and Investigation Services Branch of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) who are conducting an audit covering fiscal years 2018-2024. NWAC is also conducting an internal review into past practices and contracts, to ensure accountability.” NWAC “parted ways” with Groulx, in April 2024. Groulx, a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario, told APTN News just days before her departure that NWAC had let go 75 employees because the federal government’s funding to the organization went from $48 million down to $10 million. In May 2025, a Wolastoqey Elder wrote to a number of politicians including Indigenous Services Canada calling for an investigation into NWAC and it’s operations. The letter, raised concerns about the operation and management of the resiliency lodge in Quebec and a second resiliency lodge in Gagetown, New Brunswick. NWAC received $24 million from 21 federal organizations and agencies in 2024, according to a financial report it released on Wednesday. According to the Canada Revenue Agency, NWAC was supposed to file its 2024 financial statements to the federal government by March 31 but it hasn’t done so. NWAC said in its statement that it “will not be conducting media interviews at this time.” “We are committed to rebuilding NWAC as an organization of truth and transparency. NWAC’s financial systems and protections are now in place to ensure all public and private funds are spent effectively.” With files from Fraser Needham Continue Reading