For youth and others
We offer programs that help Toronto-based youth, young adults and their families resolve social and mental health challenges. By engaging, challenging and nurturing youth, we offer them an opportunity to recreate their lives and take control of their future. CTYS is a community-based, accredited Children’s Mental Health Centre. Since 1973, we have been at the forefront of serving at-risk youth.
If it’s an emergency, click here for a list of emergency services that can help right away. If it’s not an emergency, call us at 416-924-2100 any time between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
We’re at the corner of Church and Wellesley Streets, a five-minute walk east of the Wellesley Subway Station. The address is 65 Wellesley Street East, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1G7.
Community Counselling, which offers support to youth from 12 to 18 years of age who face challenges that cannot be addressed by traditional approaches. We support these youth through outreach, individual counselling and group work in the community and in schools.
New Outlook, which provides a wide variety of programs to youth from 14 to 24 recovering from serious mental illness, primarily psychotic disorders.
Pride & Prejudice, which offers programs for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and questioning youth from 13 to 24.
Youth Justice, which offers support to youth who are serving a youth order and/or have matters before the youth court.
Our services are free of charge.
The timing varies. Some programs and groups have immediate openings. Others may have waiting lists.
For programs other than Youth Justice, call us at 416-924-2100 and we’ll put you in touch with the right person. Youth Justice participants are referred to us by a probation officer or court order. For all programs, we expect you to commit to participating.
We offer our programs in English. However, we do our best to accommodate any barriers that language creates.
French Language Services: Central Toronto Youth Services supports the innovative partnership between The Hincks-Dellcrest Centre and Centre francophone de Toronto , a non-profit organization providing services for francophone children and teens aged 7 to 18. For more information, visit Espace Jeunesse or call (416) 922-2672, ext 290.
Central Toronto Youth Services soutient l’association innovatrice entre le Centre Hincks-Dellcrest et le Centre Francophone de Toronto, un organisme à but non lucratif fournissant des services fracophones pour enfants et adolescents âgés de 7 a 18 ans. Pour plus d’information, visitez Espace Jeunesse ou appelez le (416) 922-2672, poste 290.
With your permission, we collect only personal information that is relevant to our mandate or required by legislation. You can withdraw your permission to collect, use or disclose information at any time.
We retain and securely store this personal information for as long as required. When we no longer need the information, we destroy it. Read CTYS’ Privacy Policy
Please note that, by law, we must report suspected cases or risk of child abuse to the Children’s Aid Society. We must also report any concerns that young people may pose to themselves or to others.
At CTYS, our goal is to make sure that every client receives the service that is right for them. If you have a concern or complaint we want to hear from you.
We realize it’s not always easy to talk about difficult issues, we have found however, that most can be resolved through discussion.
There are several ways you can share your concerns:
Speak to your worker
Try to discuss your concern with your worker first, but if you are still concerned or this is an issue you feel uncomfortable addressing with your worker then please,
Speak with a manager and/or a director
Send an email to [email protected]
We will always take your concerns seriously and will address them as soon as possible.
For parents, caregivers & service providers
Our staff include child and youth workers, social workers, psychotherapists and expressive art therapists. All are dedicated to empowering youth to succeed in the challenges they face. We come from diverse cultural and social backgrounds. CTYS itself is fully accredited by Children’s Mental Health Ontario, which means that our services meet or exceed rigorous standards. In addition, we have our own quality assurance standards and practices.
Generally, information that will help us to best support the young person in question. More specifically, it depends in part on the program that the young person will be participating in. We’ll guide you through this.
For parents and caregivers, we’re interested in hearing and responding to your concerns. For service providers, the young person’s experiences with other services.
For parents and caregivers, your role is to be supportive of the young person participating in a CTYS program. For service providers, your role may involve helping the person make the transition into a CTYS program, and providing information that will better help us work with this person. Depending on the program and your place in the person’s life, we may invite you to collaborate with us.
If we don’t have a program that meets a young person’s treatment needs, then we will do our best to connect the person with a more appropriate resource.
Yes, often. Schools, hospitals, other mental health centres, probation offices, and youth shelters are just some of the organizations we work with.
Generally, no. Working with these youth requires specialized expertise.
For more information on this, call us and ask to speak with an intake worker: 416-924-2100.