The Journal

“Women are gems that need to let their radiance shine and fiercely protect themselves from

those that try to dim their light.”

– Dr. Indrani Margolin

About Northern FIRE

Northern FIRE is passionate about gaining a deeper understanding of northern women’s health experiences and working with community agencies and individual women to improve the health care system and social development in the north.

Northern FIRE (Feminist Institute for Research and Evaluation) aims to achieve greater equality for women living in northern, rural, and remote communities and raise awareness about these women’s experiences with the health care systems. Create a women-centered approach to examine determinants of health, facilitate meaningful research that addresses northern women’s health issues together, engage and mentor students and community-based researchers, disseminate information, resources, and knowledge, and collaborate with community agencies and women from the north of related projects.

Learn about their research initiates, community engagement, events, and activities or to learn more about what they do: https://www.unbc.ca/northern-fire

Why is this necessary?

“The Canadian health sector has often overlooked the unique needs of northern communities, forcing residents of the north to take additional steps and/or incur additional costs to receive the same level of health care as those who live in southern Canada (Young, Ng, & Chatwood, 2015). Multiple studies and reports by researchers and government agencies demonstrate that Canadians living in rural and remote communities of northern Canada merit additional attention to their health needs due to their unique geography, histories, and demographics (e.g., the large proportion of Indigenous peoples in the northern population).

Women from northern communities face higher rates of violence in addition to having less access to health resources, services, and treatments. These poor health indicators put northern women in a vulnerable position, especially when factors such as geography, climate, and issues related to age, culture, race, sexual orientation, and From illness, to disease, to conditions caused by the environment or social interaction, deeper examination of health at a social level is essential to understanding an individual’s health. Therefore, it is valuable to recognize the compounding influences that gender and geography can have on an individual’s wellbeing, as this allows for a greater understanding of northern women’s experiences and their struggles with all areas of health-related issues. Northern FIRE is passionate about gaining a deeper understanding of northern women’s health experiences and working with community agencies and individual women to improve the health care system and social development in the north.”

Tips for Using and Navigating the Guide

The guide is organized according to community in alphabetical order. If you know the city or community, but you are not sure of the name of the organization, turn to the Table of Contents. Scan down the entries, listed in alphabetical order, until you find your nearest city or community. The purple navigation buttons available on every page (example at right) will quickly take you to key pages, rather than having to scroll. Addresses, websites, Facebook pages, and email addresses are all clickable for quick access to the Google Maps listing or other link or action. Safari is not recommended for browsing this guide, whether on a desktop or mobile device. Most other web browsers allow for opening web links in a new tab or window if you wish and/or returning to your last place in the Guide when using the back button. Many mobile devices now allow tapping on a phone number, giving you a shortcut to calling the number.

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