Somali women have not only tried to improve life in Canada for themselves but have had a positive impact on other refugees and immigrants in Canada. In 1991, a group of Somali women in Toronto took part in a support group being offered by the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture and facilitated by Fadumo Dirie. The women decided that one of their immediate needs was access to government housing which was not available to refugee claimants. The women did research, collected support from other agencies and members of the provincial parliament and then launched lawsuits against the Housing Authority stating that they were being discriminated against. This has led to the law being changed to make all refugee claimants eligible for subsidized housing.   

Currently, Somali women have built several organizations in Canada which offer services to Somali women and their children in Canada. Following are lists of the names of those organizations:  

* Somaliland Women's Organization  
* Somali Canadian Women's Development Organization  

Somali women help each other at times of need, and babysit for each other without charging services. More Somali women are in Canada than Somali men. Like some Canadian families today, single mothers head many Somali families in Canada. During the political upheavals in Somalia, most of the men were separated  from their families, many were killed or imprisoned during the civil war, many others spent time in the military and could not maintain the safety of their families.  Somali women in Canada now go to schools and work while assuming childbearing responsibilities.