Investment overview for Preventing Gender-Based Violence: the Health Perspective

Gender-based violence can have serious impacts on both physical and mental health. The Public Health Agency of Canada provides funding for projects that prevent gender-based violence, and its impacts, from a health perspective.

On this page

• About the project streams
• Promoting healthy relationships and preventing dating violence among teens/youth
• Preventing child maltreatment through parenting support programs
• Equipping providers to recognize and respond safely to gender-based violence

About the project streams

The Preventing Gender-Based Violence: the Health Perspective investments support the following 3 streams of projects.

Promoting healthy relationships and preventing dating violence among teens/youth

Projects funded through this stream are developing, implementing and testing programs that teach young people about consent, respect and healthy relationships. These programs aim to change knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour to prevent violence and abuse. They incorporate research to learn and share "what works" to promote healthy youth relationships.

Preventing child maltreatment through parenting support programs

Projects funded through this stream help build the evidence base of "what works" to support positive parenting, promote strong family attachments, and teach alternatives to harsh discipline. Programs that foster healthy parent-child relationships can help prevent child maltreatment and lay a foundation for healthy relationships throughout life.

Equipping providers to recognize and respond safely to Gender-Based Violence

Projects funded through this stream help equip health professionals and other service providers with training, resources and support to recognize, prevent and respond safely to gender-based violence, applying trauma- and violence-informed approaches.

Promoting healthy relationships and preventing dating violence among teens/youth

Building, Growing, and Leveraging a Community of Practice to Address Teen/Youth Dating Violence in Canada

PREVNet (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network) is a network of 130 leading Canadian research scientists and 62 national youth-serving organizations, which works to foster healthy relationships among children and youth.

Through this project, PREVNet is facilitating a community of practice to enhance collaboration and consolidate learning from across the various PHAC funded teen dating violence prevention projects, described below. This community of practice leverages expertise from a diverse group of stakeholders to maximize the overall impact of investments by the Public Health Agency of Canada to end gender-based violence.

Learn more about these projects

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $3,388,446 over 5 years (2024 to 2029) to support this project.

Healthy Relationships for YouthNew

The Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre and Sexual Assault Services Association is scaling up Healthy Relationships for Youth (HRY), a peer-facilitated program that takes place in grade 9 classes across Nova Scotia. The project will increase the program’s reach to 500 grade 9 students, evaluate HRY’s impact on those involved with the program, including youth facilitators, grade 9 students, teachers, and other members of the school community, and disseminate knowledge gained from intervention research. The curriculum explores topics that are relevant to all types of relationships, including how relationships can change, challenges that may arise, the intersections of different aspects of one’s identity, the impacts of drugs on relationships, as well as power imbalances and signs of an unhealthy relationship.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,250,000 over 5 years (2024 to 2029) to support this project.

The WiseGuyz Program: Scaling Up and OutNew

The University of Calgary is scaling up WiseGuyz, a youth dating violence prevention and healthy relationships promotion program for boys aged 14-16. The program is being delivered to 1000 adolescent boys in schools and community-based organizations across Alberta and the Northwest Territories. The WiseGuyz program focuses on healthy relationships, consent, sexual health, representation of gender and sexuality in the media, and addressing the social pressures of being a guy. 

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $2,495,157 over 5 years (2024 to 2029) to support this project.

SPARXNew

The Université du Québec à Montréal is scaling up SPARX a multi-component dating violence prevention program targeting students aged 14 to 16, peer supporters, school staff and parents and caregivers across Quebec. The project is developing and testing a Young Ambassadors initiative to promote the program within schools. In addition, the project is training 375 facilitators to deliver the program and is developing a Community of Practice to bring facilitators together to make connections and share knowledge. Training and tools are also being developed to equip school staff and parents/caregivers to safely and effectively address and respond to youth dating violence. 

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $745,653 over 3 years (2024 to 2027) to support this project.

“Girls - Flip the Script with EAAA” Across CanadaNew

The University of Windsor is scaling up the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act Sexual Assault Resistance program (also known as Girls – Flip the Script with EAAA) by developing and testing models for community-based organizations to deliver the intervention to girls ages 14 to 18. This project is evaluating the effects of the program on 1000 adolescent girls when delivered by different types of community-based organizations in Ontario and British Columbia, including public health units, sexual assault centres and women’s centres. The program focuses on addressing girls’ emotional and cognitive processes related to sexual violence victimization, increasing girls’ skills to effectively use verbal and physical self-defence strategies, and enhancing girls’ confidence about their own relationships and sexual values.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $2,495,736 over 5 years (2024 to 2029) to support this project.

Support Through Sport for Youth CoachesNew

The Coaching Association of Canada is enhancing and increasing the accessibility of the existing Support Through Sport (STS) program to assist coaches in addressing, preventing and intervening in gender-based violence and youth dating violence, and promoting and modelling healthy relationships in and through sport. The project is adapting, implementing and evaluating the STS program with 200 youth coaches from across Canada, including 2SLGBTQI+ youth, Black and racialized youth, and youth with a disability. An expert development team, including youth athletes and coaches, as well as partners from the gender-based violence prevention sector, are engaged throughout the development and revision process of educational modules to ensure relevance and appropriateness.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $971,190 over 5 years (2024 to 2029) to support this project.

Building Healthy RelationshipsNew

Family Service Saskatoon  is providing at-risk youth ages 10 to 22 with the skills to foster healthy relationships and prevent youth dating violence. The project is focusing on youth that have experienced trauma in their early years, as well as newcomer, racialized, and 2SLGBTQI+ youth, and youth that have experienced gender-based violence. Reaching 920 youth, two interventions are being delivered and tested in different group sizes and settings in Saskatoon. The learning modules will explore pre-dating skill development and relationships; establishing, maintaining, and ending dating relationships; exploring types of relationships, defining healthy relationships; and pro-social skill development (conflict resolution, communication, respect, empathy). 

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,000,000 over 3 years (2024 to 2027) to support this project.

Addressing the Gaps: Dating Violence prevention for racialized refugee youth using an intersectional/GBA+ lens and addressing systemic barriersNew

The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba is delivering and testing adaptations of the Healthy Relationships Plus Program - Enhanced (HRPP-E) among racialized youth who are part of immigrant, refugee and newcomer communities, ages 12 to 18, in community-based settings in Winnipeg. The HRPP-E program is being adapted to be culturally relevant and safe and tailored to the needs of the youth sub-populations. The content is focused on healthy and unhealthy relationships, impacts of substance use, and boundaries and communication. The project is incorporating a whole community approach to sensitively engage 200 parents and members of ethno-cultural communities to increase knowledge and understanding of youth dating relationships and violence.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $871,303 over 4 years (2024 to 2028) to support this project.

Promoting Positive & Healthy Youth RelationshipsNew

Lakehead University is adapting, delivering, and evaluating an existing healthy relationships promotion program to foster healthy relationships among 500 youth who are at risk of youth dating violence in Thunder Bay and District. The project is collaborating with youth-serving organizations to provide youth at risk of youth dating violence with access to locally relevant healthy relationship promotion information and training and to support youth to acquire and use knowledge and skills for promoting healthy relationships. The project is also identifying training needs of each partner organization and developing specialized resources for 200 service providers who will deliver the training.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $980,595 over 4 years (2024 to 2028) to support this project.

Standing Strong: Trauma Recovery Through EmpowermentNew

The Elizabeth Fry Society, Toronto Branch, is adapting the existing Trauma Recovery Empowerment Model (TREM), an evidence-based intervention, to support youth survivors of trauma from underserved and at-risk populations. The project is implementing and testing the intervention with 240 youth and publishing a formal training program to support providers across Canada. The intervention aims to foster healthy relationships; increase participant awareness of mental health, trauma, and recovery skills; improve well-being and minimize impact on long-term life outcomes for survivors; and strengthen the capacity of outreach and community networks to support youth.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $999,246 over 5 years (2024 to 2029) to support this project.

Be the Program IINew

The Students Commission of Canada is adapting, delivering, and testing a dating violence intervention for key youth populations in communities across Canada. Youth discuss their needs regarding healthy dating relationships and acquire knowledge and skills to prevent dating violence for themselves and their peers. The project is being delivered to more than 9000 youth, ages 12 to 18, who are empowered to design and deliver their own customized action programs in their schools and communities, which will impact thousands of additional youth. The intervention creates safer spaces to dive deeply into youth dating violence prevention through activities and peer-to-peer discussion supported by trained facilitators, and prepares youth to influence their peers to make positive and healthy decisions in their lives. 

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,688,596 over 5 years (2024 to 2029) to support this project.

SHIFTing Culture: Culturally-Relevant Dating Violence Prevention Program for Racialized YouthNew

The Victoria Sexual Assault Centre  is adapting, delivering and testing a dating violence prevention program to better address and support Black and racialized youth in Victoria. This intervention is youth-led, culturally safe and uses social action to create leadership and positive relationships between youth, adults who engage with youth, and communities. The intervention workshops are being delivered to 140 Black and racialized youth and 75 adult educators. The intervention is focused on equipping participants with increased knowledge and skills to identify and intervene in the root causes of systemic and gender-based violence; engage in consensual, healthy, and equitable relationships; respond to gender-based violence in trauma-informed, consent-based and youth-centered ways; and promote a culture of consent.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,000,000 over 5 years (2024 to 2029) to support this project.

Confidence Through Culture for Healthy Relationships

The Infinity Women Secretariat is exploring and promoting the use of Red River Métis culture in delivering healthy youth relationship and violence prevention programming to 210 Métis youth in the seven Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) Regions across Manitoba. The project is exploring how fostering a sense of belonging through culture can promote participants’ emotional wellbeing and build their confidence and self-esteem in relationships. The curriculum includes a cultural component that will apply music, arts, crafts and kinship models, aimed at revitalizing Red River Métis identity, and focuses on healthy relationships and gender-based violence awareness and prevention.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $601,959 over 4 years (2024 to 2029) to support this project.

Cultivating Respectful Connections: Indigenous Youth’s Journey to Healthy Relationships

The Legacy of Hope Foundation  is developing, delivering, and evaluating a youth dating violence prevention intervention to Indigenous youth across Canada. The project is developing a dating violence prevention online toolkit, which includes a variety of Indigenous voices and perspectives to speak to a diverse audience. The project is also delivering online workshops to 300 Indigenous youth across Canada. The workshops provide an opportunity to engage with the toolkit materials, create safe spaces for conversations, and offer cultural teachings. By creating tools, disseminating resources, and initiating healthy community conversations on youth dating violence, the project aims to empower Indigenous youth to learn how to identify unhealthy behaviours and how to cultivate healthy relationship dynamics.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $555,015 over 3 years (2024 to 2027) to support the project.

Threads of Empowerment: Disabled Youth and Healthy Relationships in Nunavut

Nunavummi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society is developing, delivering, and evaluating a dating violence prevention program tailored to address the specific needs of disabled Inuit youth across Nunavut to prevent dating violence. The project is reaching and empowering 320 disabled Inuit youth by fostering self-empowerment, building resilience, and equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate relationships in a respectful and meaningful manner. Through interactive workshops, participants learn about boundaries, consent and communication, how to recognize signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships, and how to develop strategies for preventing dating violence within their communities. The program also recognizes the importance of cultural heritage and supporting disabled youth in connecting with their Inuit cultural roots. By incorporating traditional Inuit opening ceremonies, arts and land-based activities, storytelling, and teachings from Elders, participants have the opportunity to engage with their cultural identity and values, fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,350,000 over 5 years (2024 to 2029).

HRY: Making the Case for Youth Facilitated Dating Violence Prevention Programs (completed)

The Antigonish Women's Resource Centre and Sexual Assault Services Association is delivering and rigorously evaluating a peer-facilitated school-based violence prevention program called Healthy Relationships for Youth (HRY).

The program is providing Grade 9 students in 4 regions in Nova Scotia with skills to help them build and maintain healthy relationships. These students are primarily from rural-based communities, including Mi'Kmaq and African Nova Scotian communities, and newcomers to Canada. Evaluation will allow providers to make improvements to the program, and, if effective, to promote and disseminate it widely.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $999,984 over 5 years to support this project.

Healthy Connections: Preventing Gender-Based Violence through Youth Healthy Relationships (completed)

Boost Child and Youth Advocacy Centre is delivering and evaluating the Youth Healthy Relationships program in Toronto schools.

The program aims to teach young people the skills to build positive, healthy relationships; recognize unhealthy relationships; and prevent abuse and violence in dating relationships. The curriculum will be delivered through the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto District Catholic School Board.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $792,745 over 4 years to support this project.

Preventing Teen Dating Violence: Engaging BGC Youth in Building Safe and Healthy Relationships (completed)

Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada is leading a national project to develop, deliver and test a community-based dating violence prevention program for youth in grades 7 to 9, addressing an important gap in knowledge and evidence about effective dating violence prevention programs in community settings.

Boys and Girls Clubs are located in vulnerable communities, serving youth who face multiple risk factors for dating violence perpetration and victimization, and equipped to have a significant influence on youth experiences with violence.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $574,563 over 4 years to support this project.

Preventing Youth Dating Violence: Building Capacity for Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Canada (completed)

The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA), in collaboration with the Centre for Sexuality, is adapting, delivering and evaluating an existing comprehensive sexuality education curriculum that has shown promise for preventing youth dating violence in a school and a community setting in 6 locations across Canada.

The project aims to reach youth of all genders within schools (grades 7 to 12 with an emphasis on Grade 9 students) as well as youth accessing community-based programs (youth between the ages of 12 to 19). The project seeks to increase youth's understandings of issues related to healthy relationships, gender equity, and consent. It also contributes to the development of the skills they need for healthy sexual and social relationships that are free of violence.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $999,118 over 5 years to support this project.

Speak OUT: 2SLGBTQI Youth Dating Violence (completed)

Egale Canada used an innovative "hackathon" approach to design a dating violence prevention program for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and two-spirit (LGBTQI2S) youth.

The project matched social service providers, researchers and LGBTQI2S youth in 5 teams to participate in a 2-day hackathon in Toronto. The teams were challenged to design a program founded on evidence and geared towards the needs and realities of LGBTQI2S youth. The results of the hackathon informed the development of art arts-based program focusing on the topic of consent, which will be tested in 5 communities across Ontario and also increase knowledge sharing.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $619,293 over 5 years to support this project.

"UMatter" Stop Youth Dating Violence Project (completed)

This project is integrating curricula designed to prevent teen and youth dating violence into existing programming delivered by Ka Ni Kanichihk (Cree for "those who lead"). The Winnipeg-based, Indigenous-led organization is tailoring dating violence prevention programs to include historical and cultural context and healthy relationship dynamics. Three unique programs are being developed for children aged 9 to 12, youth aged 13 to 17, and young adults aged 18 to 24.

The project is also working with First Nation communities and Indigenous Manitoba populations through urban peer and rural community capacity building training.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,000,000 over 5 years to support this project.

Tsʼídāne a ̄ ́ʼnezen: Youth for Dignity in Relationships (completed)

Liard Aboriginal Women's Society (LAWS) aims to address gender-based and relationship violence among youth in Watson Lake, Yukon. Watson Lake is an isolated First Nations community that has experienced high rates of family and youth violence.

The project is supporting students from grades 8 to 12 at Watson Lake Secondary School. The focus is on increasing students' understanding and knowledge of the issues and causes of gender-based violence and unhealthy relationships. Youth are involved throughout the development and delivery of the project, beginning with a youth advisory forum to inform the project's goals and objectives.

This project also examines the impact that culturally relevant and youth-led programming can have on reducing gender-based and relationship violence, while increasing the connection youth have with Kaska culture.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $987,556 over 5 years to support this project.

Multicultural Youth and Safe Relationships (completed)

MOSAIC is developing, delivering, and testing the effectiveness of a teen healthy relationships program for youth and parents or caregivers that will be tailored to immigrant, refugee, and racialized families in British Columbia.

In addition to consulting with communities, MOSAIC is drawing from several evidence-based teen dating violence prevention programs to create a unique program that will be culturally relevant to this priority group. Program activities include youth and caregiver workshops and family activity booklets that can be completed at home to promote intergenerational learning.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $956,584 over 5 years to support this project.

Ode'imaa zhigo ode'imaa (Heart to Heart) (completed)

Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad Inc. (Ndinawe) is leading this community-driven and culturally adapted dating violence prevention program for Indigenous teens in Winnipeg, aged 12 to 17. The development, delivery and evaluation of the Ode'imaa zhigo ode'imaa (Heart to Heart) project involves a collaboration of 3 Winnipeg organizations: Ndinawe, Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre (Ma Mawi) and Research and Education for Solutions to Violence and Abuse (RESOLVE).

The design and implementation of this initiative involves a design team composed of a Youth Advisory Council, Elders and staff from Ndinawe, Ma Mawi and RESOLVE.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $965,843 over 5 years to support the project.

Building Healthy Relationships: Preventing Teen Dating Violence through Skills-Based Education (completed)

Planned Parenthood Ottawa is designing, implementing and evaluating a series of classroom-based workshops for students in grades 8 and 9 to reduce teen dating violence among youth of all genders.

The project includes extensive youth engagement and will focus on increasing awareness and understanding of healthy relationships. The project is supported by York University and implemented in partnership with the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women. The project is reaching students, educators and caregivers throughout the Ottawa area.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $954,220 over 5 years to support this project.

PortraitX (completed)

Raison d'Art is developing, delivering, and evaluating the effectiveness of PortraitX, a school-based prevention program that integrates technology and art therapy tools to teach adolescents how to identify and prevent gender-based violence. PortraitX is delivered at select schools in Montréal, Quebec, and Oakville, Ontario. Students explore topics around gender-based violence through an online, interactive platform using arts-based approaches that aim to help build self-awareness, empathy and communications skills.

The project reaches youth from a range of backgrounds and communities, including racial and ethnic minorities, Indigenous peoples, and people with diverse gender and sexual identities.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $999,970 over 5 years to support this project.

Jeunes Leaders des Relations Saines

Réseau-Femmes Colombie-Britannique (website only available in French) is developing, delivering, and testing a school-based violence prevention program to address the needs of francophone youth (grades 9 to 12) living in minority linguistic settings in 4 francophone schools in British Columbia.

This project is particularly important as it is developed where few violence prevention programs and resources are available in the youth's first language. The researchers are working towards better understanding the perspectives of youth and caregivers, and exploring ways they can be involved in the research process.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,351,293 over 6 years (2019 to 2025) to support this project.

Be the Program (completed)

The Students Commission of Canada is developing a youth dating violence intervention that will be designed, delivered and evaluated by youth, for youth, in 15 communities across the country.

The project helps young Canadians identify the influence of social, cultural and environmental factors on dating violence and gender inequality. Participants examine issues such as social norms, toxic masculinity, and the influence of media, online content, and family and school settings on attitudes.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $999,161 over 5 years to support this project.

Youth Violence Prevention in Thunder Bay and District (completed)

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit is adapting, delivering and evaluating the Fourth R, an evidence-informed, curriculum-based, classroom intervention for grades 7 to 9 that uses a healthy relationships approach to the social and emotional development of youth.

This project brings together stakeholders in the District of Thunder Bay, Ontario, to adapt and evaluate key Fourth R materials for students in a Northern context, and invest in building the capacity of local teachers and health promoters to recognize, prevent, and respond to teen dating violence.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,198,701 over 5 years to support this project.

SPARX: For positive romantic and intimate relationships (completed)

The Université du Québec à Montréal is developing, implementing and evaluating a multi-component violence prevention program targeting students in grades 9 and 10, peer supporters, school staff and parents/caregivers. The program aims to prevent teen dating violence and promote healthy relationships among youth.

The school-based workshops are being implemented in English and French and evaluated in urban and rural settings in the Province of Quebec. In addition to a peer-led program, training and tools are provided to equip school staff and parents/caregivers to safely and effectively address and respond to teen dating violence.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,422,841 over 4 years to support this project.

Fostering Healthy Relationships among LGBTQ2+ Youth in British Columbia

Through a collaboration between the Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre and the McCreary Centre Society, the University of British Columbia is developing, implementing, and evaluating a healthy relationship program for sexual and gender minority youth throughout British Columbia.

The program is co-developed with LGBTQ2+ youth for LGBTQ2+ youth and will consist of five 20-minute modules that are based on the Information-Motivation-Behavioural Skills model of health behaviour change. These modules are designed to be delivered during secondary school lunch periods, when most Gender Sexuality Alliance Clubs meet. Modules may also be bundled together for delivery as part of after-school or community programming.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,243,304 over 6 years (2019 to 2025) to support this project.

Preventing TDV through Gender-Based Healthy Relationships Promotion - The WiseGuyz Program (completed)

The University of Calgary is delivering and evaluating WiseGuyz, a community-facilitated, school-based, gender-transformative healthy relationships program for Grade 9 boys in Alberta. WiseGuyz aims to reduce male-perpetrated teen dating violence (TDV) by helping participants identify and deconstruct health-harming gender norms, and explore healthier, more inclusive ways of "being a guy."

WiseGuyz is currently the only evidence-informed program designed in Canada that specifically addresses boys and healthier masculinities as a dating violence prevention strategy. This project will help build a more rigorous evidence base and, if results are positive, will position the program to be scaled up, delivered more widely, and adapted for a variety of settings.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,410,879 over 5 years to support this project.

"Girl, you got this!" Adapting an Evidence-based Program to Help Teen Girls Effectively Resist Sexual Dating Violence

The University of Windsor is adapting, delivering, enhancing, and testing the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act Sexual Assault Resistance program (also known as Flip the Script) to reach girls aged 14-17 in Ontario.

This program is an evidence-based sexual violence resistance intervention currently implemented in several universities to help young women effectively resist sexual coercion and assault while reducing self-blame. The adapted intervention helps girls identify risk for sexual assault and address emotional and cognitive processes related to sexual victimization, help them to develop confidence and skills to verbally and physically fight back, and identify their own sexual and relationship values and boundaries.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,261,457 over 7 years (2018 to 2025) to support this project.

Project Respect - Preventing Dating Violence by SHIFTing Culture (completed)

Victoria Sexual Assault Centre (VSAC) is delivering and evaluating SHIFT, which is a program that aims to prevent gender-based teen dating violence by creating shifts toward consent culture within and across school communities. The program explores the factors that contribute to gender-based violence and teaches youth how to identify and communicate sexual boundaries, the importance of asking for consent, and why challenging gender stereotypes is crucial for creating positive and equal relationships.

The program also includes youth leadership and social action training and the delivery of workshops to school staff to create safer, more inclusive school communities. SHIFT is delivered in 7 schools in Victoria, British Columbia. In addition, VSAC is working in partnership with the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Secondary School and the ŁÁU, WELNEW Tribal School to deliver culturally relevant programming through workshops and youth leadership training.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,098,104 over 5 years to support this project.

RISE-R: Resilience and Inclusion through Strengthening and Enhancing Relationships (completed)

The University of Western Ontario is adapting, delivering and evaluating Healthy Relationships Plus (HRP), an evidence-informed, small group program that promotes skills and protective factors required to prevent teen/youth dating violence (TDV). This project is developing and evaluating 4 unique adaptations of the HRP program for under-served populations: high-risk youth involved with children's mental health services, child protection services or youth justice; LGBTQ2+ youth; Indigenous youth; and newcomer youth.

The project also provides training and mentoring for educators and other health and allied professionals to implement the HRP programs that best fit the needs of youth in their setting. This project aims to reach youth and providers in Ontario, Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $5,138,842 over 5 years to support this project.

Dating Safe - A Dating Violence Prevention Program (completed)

YWCA Vancouver is developing, delivering, and evaluating the effectiveness of a school-based program to provide youth with knowledge and skills for healthy relationships that are free from violence and abuse. Dating Safe will be delivered during school hours as part of the new provincial physical health education curriculum, and will be open to all students, regardless of their previous experience with dating violence, sexual orientation, or background.

The program is delivered in schools in the Vancouver School Board and the Surrey School District, where student populations are ethnically and culturally diverse and students identify with a range of sexual orientations and identities (such as LGBTQ2+, refugees, newcomers, and Indigenous teens/youth).

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $992,309 over 5 years to support this project.

Preventing child maltreatment through parenting support programs

Sapujjiniq: protecting from harm

Ilitaqsiniq is adapting and delivering two family strengthening programs in six communities across Nunavut for current unserved demographics. The Nutaralu program is for children aged 2 to 4 and their parents/caregivers and the Uvagut program is for youth ages 8 to 12 and their parents/caregivers. Both interventions use interconnected, culturally specific programming to build knowledge and skills in areas such as parenting skills, communication skills, engagement with children, parent and child relationship, impacts of addiction, family dynamics and family routines. The project aims to support up to 192 children and their parents/caregivers.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,667,954 over 5 years (2024 to 2029).

Culturally Adapted Resources and Training for Indigenous Family Well-being

The Martin Family Initiative  is adapting, delivering, and evaluating their health and family wellbeing resources to better support early childhood professionals to promote positive parenting and contribute to the reduction of child maltreatment in the Indigenous communities they serve. Over the course of the project, over 250 early childhood professionals’ from over 50 communities across Canada will benefit from the updated tools and resources. The evaluation will look to understand the effect that culturally appropriate education has on Indigenous early childhood professionals’ capacity to support positive outcomes in families.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,000,000 over 5 years (2024 to 2029) to support the project.

Strengthening the Health Sector Response to Child Maltreatment

The World Health Organization is disseminating, implementing, and testing evidence-based guidance and training to build the capacity of health professionals to recognize and respond to child maltreatment across Canada and internationally. The resources include a clinical handbook to assist health professionals to identify child maltreatment in their day-to-day practice and communicate safely with children and caregivers about abuse.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $245,367 over 2 years (2023 to 2025) to support the project.

Preventing sexual violence among young children

The Centre d'expertise Marie-Vincent is delivering and evaluating the Lantern Program in communities in Quebec, in both official languages, and in Francophone child-care settings in Whitehorse, Yukon. Lantern is a program to prevent sexual violence for children ages 0 to 5 through age-appropriate sexual health education and the promotion of safe and healthy relationships. This program aims to enable young children to develop protection skills and knowledge related to intimacy, privacy, personal space and boundaries and, sex and gender-based stereotypes.

Professionals in community-based settings are being trained in delivering the program and invited to participate in a community of practice (which is also being evaluated). Settings where the training has taken place will receive a suite of program tools (youth albums, teaching documents, games, etc.). Parents also participate in the program and are provided with program resources, such as teaching resources on sexual health and promotion of safe and healthy relationship for their young children.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,039,203  over 5 years (2020 to 2025) to support this project.

Preventing Violent Behaviour: Implementing a National SNAP Community of Practice (SNAP CoP)

The Child Development Institute is hosting and facilitating a community of practice among organizations that are delivering the Stop Now And Plan (SNAP) program across the country. The community of practice will reach up to 900 SNAP-trained clinicians, educators and Elders, in more than 100 SNAP Affiliate sites across Canada, including other community key stakeholders - police, child welfare, community-based organizations and government.

SNAP is an evidence-based, multi-component trauma-informed cognitive behavioural model that provides a framework for teaching effective emotional regulation, self-control and problem-solving skills to children struggling with disruptive behaviour issues and their families.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,460,346 over 5 years (2020 to 2025) to support this project.

Promoting Healthy Families: A Canadian Evaluation of Triple P (completed)

McMaster University is leading a national project addressing the gaps in availability of evidence about the effectiveness of 3 interventions to contribute to the development of healthy family relationships and the prevention of child maltreatment.

Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) is a multilevel, public health intervention designed to reduce behavioural and emotional problems in children, and improve parenting practices by increasing parents' levels of knowledge, skills, and confidence.

Circle of Security – Parenting™ (COSP™) is a caregiver training and psychoeducation intervention that aims to improve caregiver-child relationships and enhance secure attachment.

The Parenting Under Pressure Program (PuP) is a manualized intervention aimed at improving family functioning and child outcomes by supporting families facing complex challenges, such as substance use and intimate partner violence.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $3,447,049 over 5 years to support this project.

Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting: A Trauma-and-violence-informed approach to ending child maltreatment

Positive Discipline in Everyday Life is enhancing, delivering and evaluating the Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (PDEP) program, a child maltreatment prevention program created in 2007 and delivered in Canada and internationally. This universal primary prevention program aims to change parental beliefs and emotional reactions known to precipitate physical and emotional punishment of children. The project supports the enhancement of the program to incorporate current knowledge about trauma and violence and their impacts. The program's accessibility will allow the project to reach 1260 parents among diverse communities in Canada, including Indigenous families, newcomers, young parents, grandparents, parents involved in the child welfare system, and parents with low literacy.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $1,655,269  over 6 years (2019 to 2025) to support this program.

World Health Organization (completed)

The World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting the development of evidence-based guidelines on effective parenting and caregiver programs to prevent child maltreatment, violence against children and child behavioural problems. The guidelines extend beyond effective interventions to include implementation considerations, such as training and support for program facilitators, recruitment and retention strategies, reducing barriers to participation, and complementary interventions. The guidelines support the capacity of health and social service providers to identify and deliver effective maltreatment prevention programs and services to vulnerable families and children.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $300,000 over 2 years to support this program.

Equipping providers to recognize and respond safely to gender-based violence

Being Trauma Aware Phase 2 (completed)

The Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (formerly the Calgary & Area Child Advocacy Centre) is building on the first phase of its Being Trauma Aware (BTA) initiative. BTA is an online, trauma-informed program that aims to improve understanding of the physical and mental health effects of child maltreatment by equipping front-line service providers so that they can deliver safe and appropriate care to survivors of trauma and abuse.

Created in 2016 with funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada, the program was piloted with more than 400 participants in Alberta. This project aims to enhance and expand BTA for access by a network of child advocacy centres, their partners, and community stakeholders across the country to provide resources and increase knowledge on trauma and child abuse.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $866,682 over 5 years to support this project.

Building Competencies, Building Capacity: LGBTQ2+ Focused Trauma-Informed Care (completed)

The University of Toronto is developing, delivering, and evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of an intervention designed to increase LGBTQ2+ competency among providers delivering services to address violence and/or trauma across the Province of Ontario. The resulting intervention can then be scaled up nationally and investigated for potential delivery via other means (e.g., video conference, webinar).

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $241,766 over 2 years to support this project.

Building the Field of Teen Healthy Relationships (completed)

Through this project, the Canadian Women's Foundation is enhancing communication and collaboration amongst health professionals, researchers, policy makers, youth serving agencies, funders, Indigenous communities, and youth working to prevent and address teen and youth dating violence.

This has been achieved through the creation of a First Nations, Métis and Inuit Working Group and a network of regional hubs, as well as the development of a youth engagement strategy. Throughout the project, the Foundation expects to engage directly with 50 diverse organizations. By leveraging the working group and regional hub partners, they will expand the reach of the project to 750 organizations across the country.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $999,800 over 5 years to support this project.

Preventing and Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Sport (completed)

Coaches are in a unique position to change parts of sport culture that may contribute to unhealthy relationship behaviour. Through this project, the Coaching Association of Canada is developing, implementing and evaluating an intervention, available in English and French, to assist coaches in recognizing, preventing and addressing gender-based violence and teen dating violence, and promoting healthy relationships in and through sport.

Online educational resources and a toolkit for coaches support approximately 6,000 coaches across Canada to address issues such as bystander empowerment, men and boys as allies in the prevention of violence, and locker room gender-based violence. The resources and tools will also be shared with Canada's 82 National Sport and Multisport Service Organizations to complement efforts to address abuse, harassment and discrimination in sport.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $935,576 over 5 years to support this project.

Researching the Impact of Service Provider Education (RISE) (completed)

McMaster University is leading the dissemination, implementation and evaluation of the Violence Evidence Guidance and Action (VEGA) Family Violence Education Resources in collaboration with eight health professional associations. The Researching the Impact of Service Provider Education (RISE) project aims to directly engage up to 500 trainees, practicing physicians and social workers in three provinces (Alberta, Ontario, Quebec). Working in collaboration with health professional associations, the project is assessing the usability of the VEGA resources, developing tailored tools and complementary resources to support the uptake of the VEGA resources, as well as identifying the accreditation needs of professional associations. The proposed project will evaluate how the VEGA resources improve providers' knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours related to recognizing and responding to family violence while contributing to the ultimate goal of improving the health and safety of survivors of family violence and those at risk.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $818,509 over 5 years to support this program.

Recognize and Respond: Building Midwives' Capacity to Address Intimate Partner Violence and Child Maltreatment (completed)

This project, led by the Canadian Association of Midwives, in partnership with the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives (NACM), is building the capacity of non-Indigenous and Indigenous midwives to support the health and safety of survivors of family violence and those at risk. This project aims to directly train more than 440 midwives across Canada to help spot signs of family violence and provide assistance to survivors and those at risk. In addition, the project will reach up to 1,850 midwives through various knowledge transfer activities, reaching more than 18,000 families per year.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $729,701 over 3 years to support this project.

Understanding Gender-Based Violence in LGBTQ2S Communities: A Model of Responsible Engagement for Health and Social Service Providers (completed)

OUTSaskatoon Inc. is leading a project that aims to improve the quality of care for LGBTQ2S people in Saskatchewan and throughout the Prairies by training and mentoring educators and health and social service providers on how to recognize, prevent, and respond safely to gender-based violence as it impacts LGBTQ2S people of all ages and backgrounds.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $567,112 over 5 years to support this project.

Supporting Educators' Capacity to Prevent Dating Violence and Promote Healthy Relationships through a Gender-Based Lens (completed)

PREVNet (the Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network), at Queen's University, is developing and testing 4 models through which educators can deliver a healthy relationship curriculum to youth. Educator training is taking place in diverse settings across Canada. Providing new tools to educators to increase their capacity to deliver this type of programming is an important step forward in helping to prevent dating violence among youth.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $550,000 over 3 years to support this project.

Building Capacity to Prevent Gender-Based Violence – Development and Evaluation of Evidence-Based Tools for Canadian Educators

Queen’s University is developing accessible, interactive, online training modules for educators to build their awareness, knowledge, confidence, and capacity to recognize and respond to gender-based violence.

The project, delivered through PREVNet (the Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network), will enable Queen’s University to collaborate and co-develop trauma and violence-informed resources with key partners from across Canada, and conduct intervention research to understand the utility, feasibility, and acceptability of the tools. This project enhances the knowledge and attitudes of educators, as well as builds their capacity to safely prevent and address gender-based violence.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $550,000 over 3 years (2023 to 2025) to support this project.

Violence in Intimate and Loving Relationships among LGBTQ2+ Populations: Document the Phenomenon to Better Equip and Train Health and Social Service Professionals (completed)

Université Laval is conducting in-depth interviews with LGBTQ2+ victims of intimate partner violence to document their needs and experiences. Through collaborations with researchers, partners offering services to the LGBTQ2+ community, as well as other collaborators, these documented experiences will support the development of interventions to prevent violence and support victims.

This work includes tailored resources and training to equip health and social service professionals in Quebec to better support and meet the needs of the LGBTQ2+ community. Areas of focus include violence prevention, how to recognize intimate partner violence, and strategies to enhance safety.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing $605,995 over 4 years to support this project.