Ontario Making It Easier for Youth in West Toronto to Connect to Mental Health Services

January 24, 2024

New Youth Wellness Hub providing support closer to home

The Ontario government is making it faster and easier for young people to connect to mental health and substance use support with the official launch of a new Youth Wellness Hub to serve the west-end of Toronto and surrounding areas.

The new West Toronto Youth Wellness Hub is the eighth hub to open across the province in the past year. Since 2020, Ontario has launched 22 hubs, helping connect over 43,000 youth and their families to mental health and wellness services, accounting for over 168,000 visits. Based on the success of Ontario’s Youth Wellness Hubs, the province will be opening an additional five hubs to connect more communities to youth mental health services, close to home, bringing the total number of hubs to 27.

In West Toronto, youth aged 12 to 25 and their families can visit the hub to connect to convenient and free mental health, substance use and primary care services in a safe, youth-friendly space. Services are as diverse as the youth who use them and focus on culturally appropriate and trauma-informed care. There are also supports to help connect and support youth with more specialized and intensive care needs, such as safe beds for detox. Young people can drop in for counselling or peer support, book an appointment or access services virtually.

With Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the government has significantly expanded the number of Youth Wellness Hub across the province to make it faster and easier for young people to connect to mental health and substance use support, primary care, social services, and more.