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Please take notice of the image on the banner above these words.  The wide pathway that narrows in the distance symbolizes a woman’s pathway through her healing process.  Initially, the pathway is large because she faces many challenges, but as she heals, she becomes more focused and her pathway narrows.  It is an important symbol for the Elizabeth Fry Society (EFry) of Calgary because as a non-profit organization that offers services and support to women in conflict with the justice system, we provide a pathway to a new life.

This website holds valuable information about EFry Calgary’s programs and services and its involvement within the Calgary community.  Plus, it has historical information about the agency, its philosophy and purpose and also, an extensive listing of our programs.

For anyone looking for information on women and the law/ legal justice system, this website is an asset.

EFry Calgary – working to make the community healthier and safer by working with women and teenage girls who are in conflict with the law.

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OUR HISTORY

Elizabeth Fry Societies across the country exist today because of a British woman who advocated for reform at the Newgate Prison in England in 1817. Her recommendations for Newgate were directed toward maintaining a peaceful prison, as well as rehabilitating the offender. Some of her proposals were for female guards for incarcerated women, daily routines to improve the lifestyles and social skills of the women, teaching women useful skills to provide employment upon release and requiring the inmates to take an active role in their own rehabilitation.


These activities remain fundamental to EFry’s role today.


EFry Calgary was established in 1966 to address the needs of women in conflict with the law. At that time, rising incomes and an increasing population were creating a complicated urban lifestyle for some. Today, the same issues remain. EFry Calgary finds that poverty is the most reaching reason that women become in conflict with the law. Substance abuse, low-literacy and a history of violence and abuse often exist in addition to a disadvantaged economic position. The programs, workshops and counseling services at EFry Calgary attempt to address the root causes in order to facilitate a woman’s rehabilitation back into society.