Our Impact
For over 30 years, LGBT YouthLine has provided affirming, anonymous peer support and resources for 2SLGBTQ+ youth across Ontario.
Read on to learn more about our impact, and why we need your support.
The Numbers
Since 2022, our HelpLine has supported an average of 2600 youth each year.
During the 2024-2025 fiscal year, here were the top 3 issues brought up by youth on the HelpLine.
Comprehensive Training, Strengthening Communities
Our team of over 60 volunteers has completed 13 weeks of training to get them ready for “the lines” (as we’ve called them since our telephone days)! Through lectures, online learning modules, discussions, and practice chats, trainees hone their active listening skills and learn about issues that affect their peers.
Although the training is difficult at times, it is critical for trainees to have a comprehensive knowledge base and the confidence to tackle any topic their peers contact us about with compassion and without judgment. Training also teaches volunteers about themselves and can offer insights into their own lives. This is how YouthLine supports youth from a wide range of ages, lived experiences, and situations.
Part of the value and importance of peer support training is that volunteers can take those skills and knowledge into their daily lives to support themselves and their communities.
Words from a volunteer:
“For me, being able to support folks who are also young queer and trans people in the same geographical community is so important to me as we exist in this current political environment.
Volunteering for Youthline and being able to meet other queer and trans youth who are also passionate about supporting our community has been inspiring and gives me hope that despite the world being a scary place to be, community spaces like this still exist and can flourish.”
Feedback from a youth who contacted us
“Being able to actually talk to real supportive people and not just some automated system, thank you <3”
Filling a service gap
2SLGBTQ+ people have few places to turn for anonymous support. YouthLine is the only dedicated helpline for 2SLGBTQ+ youth in Canada. Other helplines are either all-ages or not 2SLGBTQ+-specific, and with the closure of BC-based, Canada-wide YouthSpace in 2024, there are even fewer mental health helplines available to youth where they can be assured to receive a 2SLGBTQ+-friendly experience.
Funding cuts and hate-motivated attacks have made it critical for services like YouthLine to stay open and available to youth who don’t have anyone else to talk to.
Call to action: What YOU can do
The community around YouthLine includes the youth who connect with us, donors, organizations that partner with us or do similar work, and people who refer youth to the HelpLine such as teachers and mental health workers. As restrictions on 2SLGBTQ+ freedoms, healthcare, and programming continue, we urge you to look for ways in which you can provide support, care, and resistance.
Educators, youth workers, and health professionals
Order outreach materials and tell the 2SLGBTQ+ youth in your life that they can chat with the HelpLine! Email info@youthline.ca to invite us to your school, workplace, or clinic to do a presentation!
Businesses
Put up a poster in your workplace, run a fundraiser, and add YouthLine to your employee charitable giving program!
Foundations
During times of economic austerity and reactionary politics, donations of unrestricted funds are incredibly important to small identity-based organizations like ours.
Check out https://www.youthline.ca/donate/ or email admin@youthline.ca with questions!
Anyone!
Download and print a poster kit and paint the town!
Contact your local political representatives to encourage them to fund 2SLGBTQ+ services!