Japanese Canadian Survivors Health and Wellness Fund Society

Welcome to the Japanese Canadian Survivors Health & Wellness Fund, a program created to distribute health support grants to assist individual Survivors with their health care needs.

Two grants are available:

  • Grant 1 ($650): For Survivors who did not receive the 2021 Grant that was offered between September 1 to October 31, 2021
  • Grant 2 ($4500): A new grant to support living Survivors with their individual Health & Wellness needs

The Japanese Canadian Survivors Health and Wellness Fund is now open for online applications and will remain open until March 31, 2025.

Visit our Apply page to find out more information about the available grants, eligibility criteria and to make your online application. 

Outreach Workers are available across Canada to support survivors with making their online applications over the phone, through a virtual call or at an in-person event. 

After making an application, the next step is to have your application validated by an Outreach Worker. Please see the Apply page for more details.

Background to this Fund

British Columbia Government policies prior to, during, and after World War II resulted in the forced removal of nearly 22,000 Japanese Canadians from their homes on the West Coast, and their displacement, confinement, and permanent dispossession. The majority were born in Canada.

Overnight, lives were shattered and entire communities eradicated. Japanese Canadians trusted they would one day return to their homes. Instead, their properties and possessions were sold without their consent.

Following the end of the war in 1945, restrictions prevented Japanese Canadians from returning to the coast. The government offered Japanese Canadians two choices: relocate east of the Rockies or face deportation to Japan. The restrictions were lifted in 1949, but many never returned. Those that did had nothing to return to.

On May 21, 2022, the BC Government acknowledged the historical wrongs perpetuated against Japanese Canadians in BC during the 1940s and made a pledge to support a 2019-2022 community built $100 million legacy initiatives package recommended by the National Association of Japanese Canadians BC Redress Project and administered by the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society (JCLS).

The Japanese Canadian Survivors Health and Wellness Fund Society (JCSHWFS) operates the fund, under the umbrella of the JCLS. The JCSHWFS will be distributing $28 million in the form of two health support grants for individual Japanese Canadian survivors of the BC Government’s actions (1942 -1949). The JCSHWFS has a Canada-wide, regionally representative Board that includes community members who work with seniors.

Frequently Asked Questions