46 Business View - July 2015
HEALTHCARE
Victorian Order of Nurses:
VON Canada
PAST
1896. Lady Ishbel Aberdeen, wife of the Governor
General of Canada, founded an order of visiting
nurses in Canada, to address the hardships and
illness affecting women and children in isolated
areas of the young country.
February 10, 1897, Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Lau-
rier offered a motion inaugurating the Victorian
Order of Nurses for Canada... "as a mode of com-
memoration by the Dominion (Canada) of Queen
Victoria’s diamond jubilee."
PRESENT
- 52 VON sites across Canada in 10 provinces
- Largest sites in Hamilton, London, Toronto,
Halifax, Moncton
- 14,000 total work force
- 5,000 paid staff; 9,000 unpaid volunteers
JoAnne Poirier
