About Us

Since 1998, the WITS (formerly Rock Solid) Foundation is a Canadian charity that is dedicated to nonviolence in society, safe school and community environments for children and youth, and empowering youth to manage conflict and act with kindness.

We create & disseminate educational resources, train educators and community leaders in our approaches to ending discrimination and bullying. The award-winning WITS, our flagship program, started in Victoria and spread into elementary schools across Canada, into the USA, Brazil, Egypt, Belgium and Germany.

Since 2019, WITS has brought Pink Shirt Day’s messages of resilience, inclusion and kindness to children and youth in a nationally-broadcast show held on the last Wednesday each February, Canada’s Pink Shirt Day.

I found the WITS Program to be an exceptional tool to help children to deal with peer victimization, and how important it is to treat each other with respect. I strongly encourage other schools to implement the WITS program on an annual basis.

Louie Scigliano
Principal, Glanford Middle School

Twenty-three years after , WITS was recognized as the leading program of its kind (Dalhousie 2016 report). There are now four Program components:

• WITS for Kindergarten to grade 3,
• WITS LEADS for grades 4 through 6 (or older)
• DIRE for French Kindergarten to grade 3
• MENTOR for French grades 4 though 6 (or older)

More than 200,000 children across Canada have been introduced to the program in every province and territory. Over 1,400 Canadian schools have started the WITS or DIRE programs and integrated it into their school culture.

Summarized as Explore, Brand, Expand, Strengthen, the board of directors of the WITS Programs Foundation has set these goals for 2024:

• Explore opportunities to provide additional programming
• Build brand awareness
• Expand the WITS programs
• Strengthen evidence-based decision making