Youth and teens

Start here

• If you are in danger right now, call 911. Say your address first in case the call drops.
• Kids Help Phone is free, 24 hours, and confidential: call 1-800-668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868.
• You can talk to them without giving your name, and without anyone at home finding out.
• You are allowed to ask questions without committing to anything. Nothing gets reported just because you asked.
• Use Quick Exit at any time. This app leaves for another site and clears what is on screen.

Your rights as a minor

You have more say than you have probably been told.

• You can call a crisis line, text a helpline, or talk to a counsellor without a parent knowing or agreeing.
• In most provinces you can consent to your own medical care, including birth control and testing, if you understand the treatment. There is no fixed age for this in most of Canada.
• Child protection workers must look into serious harm at home. They do not always remove you, and they do have to consider what you want.
• If you are 16 or older, most provinces let you live away from your parents and apply for supports on your own.
• Youth legal aid exists and it is free. Ask for a lawyer for youth, or Justice for Children and Youth if you are in Ontario.
• You can get a protection order against a partner or family member, and a youth worker or legal clinic can help you apply.
• If you are pregnant or parenting, there are supports built for young mothers, including housing.

Safe places to stay

There are shelters and housing programs specifically for people under 18.

• Youth shelters take people your age. Call a youth line and ask for the closest one with a bed tonight.
• Some shelters take you without a parent's permission. Ask directly, and ask them to explain what they have to report and to whom.
• Women's shelters can take teens, especially if you are going with your mother or you have a child.
• Extended family and family friends can be made official through kinship care, so you can stay somewhere you already know.
• If a friend's family offers a couch, agree on how long, and keep a youth worker in the loop so it does not fall apart.
• Ask about a transition or supported independent living program if home is not safe to return to.

At school

• A school counsellor, social worker, or child and youth worker can help you get shelter, food, and legal referrals fast.
• Ask what they must report before you tell them everything. It is a fair question and they should answer it.
• If a partner shows up at school or will not leave you alone, tell administration and ask them to write it down.
• You can ask for a schedule change, a different locker, or to be in different classes than someone who scares you.
• Missing school because of what is happening at home is not something you get punished for. Say why.
• Many boards have violence prevention or healthy relationship programs, and student support workers who do this all day.

If a friend is being hurt

• Believe her. Say it out loud: I believe you, and this is not your fault.
• Do not confront the person hurting her. It usually makes things worse for her, not better.
• Ask what she wants before you do anything, and keep her name out of it unless she says yes.
• Send her a number instead of advice: Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868.
• Keep showing up. Check in next week too, even if she pulls away.
• Call 911 if she is in immediate danger or you cannot reach her and you are scared.
• Tell one adult you trust about how you are carrying this. You do not have to be her only support.

If it is your relationship

• Jealousy, checking your phone, tracking your location, and controlling who you see are abuse, even without hitting.
• Pressuring or forcing anything sexual is assault, including if you are dating and including if you said yes before.
• Sending or asking for nudes when you are under 18 is a crime for the person asking, and you are not the one in trouble.
• Screenshot threats and save messages somewhere he cannot reach, like the Incident Log in this app.
• Breaking up can be the most dangerous moment. Do it with people around and tell someone your plan first.
• Change your passwords, turn off shared location, and check what apps have access to your phone.