History

It all began back in early 2009. Many of us had formerly been red hatters but the Canadian economy had changed and with it the value of the Cdn dollar.  When a chapter with 100 members realized it would cost $2,000* US/yr  ($2,600 Cdn) to belong to a privately owned American corporation, just to have fun, we realized something had to change. Canada was in a recession and it didn't make sense to be sending money out of our country.  As the value of the Canadian dollar continued to slip, it made even more sense to start something "purely Canadian".  It was time to form a Canadian women's social group and the name, we hoped, would be "Canadian Jewels" - because we believe Jewels are precious, just as women are precious and also, unique! The sole purpose of our group was to socialize with other women in our local area to have fun. Fun, not fund-raising.

We began as a small group in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. Word spread. As sisters told sisters and friends told friends, word spread about the "Canadian Jewels."  We listened to what women wanted. They didn't want to belong to a privately owned corporation and they wanted accountability. Members wanted to be heard.  As a result I applied for incorporation as a non-profit, applied to trademark and copyright our name, and formed a Board of Directors to oversee the operations of our group. Next, we appointed Regional and Provincial Representatives who would have the members in their own area their top priority,

The intention was to register as a British Columbia Non-Profit but with word spreading the decision was made to become a National Non-Profit. When registering federally we had to change our name to Crown Jewels of Canada Society. We have excellent legal representation and an accounting firm that we work with to ensure we are on track and legal in all aspects of what we do.

On July 22, 2009 (our Founders birthday) the Canadian government gave us an official name: "The Crown Jewels of Canada Society."

We asked women to donate $5.00 to help us set up the group and pay our legal fees. These women are our "Founding Members" and may wear a special pin showing they were the ones who helped us with our start-up. We will be forever grateful to them for believing in our mission and showing their support. The Founders Club was closed in September 2009.  On October 2, 2009, we received notice from the Federal Government that we were now officially registered as a National Non-Profit. We couldn't have done this without the members of the Founders Club and are forever grateful to these wonderful ladies.

We are close to registering our 9,000th member! Why not join the fun? There are local events, plus Provincial and National Conventions, annual cruises and trips to Vegas and Mexico.

Join a chapter or start your own. We're here to help you do it - it's really quite easy. We also offer independent memberships for those not affiliated with a chapter but who still wish to receive our newsletters, join in activities, etc.

We are not "hatters" and we ask that our members please never refer to themselves as such.  Also, be fair and do not dress in a way that you might be mistaken for a member of the RHS. 

We are "Jewels" - precious jewels at that!  We believe it's all about recognizing our worth as women and as the fun part of it - the bling!

Queens and Vice Queens of chapters come together to socialize and share information at their local "Royal Court" - a gathering of Royalty.

Why not contact us for information and find out what we're all about?