Connection to community is essential for urban Inuit to thrive, and Tungasuvvingat Inuit is that primary connection. It is important to offer programming and services that are easy to access, community-based and culturally relevant. We invite you to review the many programs available free of charge for urban Inuit in Ontario and contact us for more information on accessing these services.

Inuit Quanuininnirmut Ikajuqtiit / Inuit Community Support Worker

Education

Cultural Education
Cultural Education Programming offers accessible, community-based, culturally relevant activities for Inuit and the community at large. The program is designed to develop traditional Inuit skills and knowledge.Tungasuvvingat Inuit’s cultural presentations also inform the general public about Inuit heritage and traditional lifestyle in a way that is both educational and entertaining.

Ilagiiqatigiitsiarniq Program
TI’s Ilagiiqatigiitsiarniq program is designed to deliver prevention-focused, culturally-responsive supports to promote healthy communities by supporting families to heal from the effects of intergenerational trauma, reduce violence, and address the over-representation of Indigenous children and youth in child welfare and youth justice systems. The program will support Indigenous children, youth and their families in diverse communities regardless of where they live with increased access to prevention-based services and supports.

CAS / VAW Counsellor & Advocate
The counsellor and advocate support women aged 16 and over, and their children who are involved with CAS and/or affected by violence.

Canada Pre-Natal Program
The Canada Pre-Natal Program (CPNP) provides individual supports to pregnant and new Inuit mothers, and their babies up to the age of 18 months.

Community Action Program for Children (CAPC)
The CAPC program provides supports for families with children 0-6 through playgroups, social outings, community events, and one-on-one services.

Illipalialisaaqtilugu EarlyON Child and Family Centre
Illipalialisaaqtilugu EarlyON and Family Centre welcomes all Inuit families with children from 0-6. We offer programs and support services to enhance child and parent/caregiver bond, cultural knowledge, pride, and identity.

Food Security Program
The Food Security program helps Inuit families, individuals and Elders who are food insecure in the Ottawa area. Every other week the foodbank is open from Monday to Thursday at varying times, with Tuesdays being a special Elders foodbank day.

Toronto Programs
Located at the Native Canadian Centre in Toronto on the third floor at 16 Spadina Road, the Tungasuvvingat Inuit Toronto team provides supports and service to the Inuit communities in the GTA.

Youth in Transition
The YIT program provides supports to help young people currently involved in and soon-to-be leaving the care of CAS. TI’s YIT Worker helps youth to connect with educational, employment, housing, life skills, mental health and other supports in their communities, and supports them in navigating the transition from care to adulthood.

Youth Life Promotion
Tungasuvvingat Inuit has a dedicated and robust Youth Life Promotion program. The YLP Coordinator helps support Inuit children and youth 10-18 years of age to identify barriers that prevent them from living a healthy life.
Day Counselling Program
The focus of the program is to be able to provide community-based counselling services that both reflects the culture and healing from an Inuit perspective. The staff draw from ongoing training and years of experience working in the community.

Mamisarvik Healing Centre
Mamisarvik Healing Centre is an Inuit-specific substance use and concurrent disorder treatment program located in Ottawa, Ontario.
The residential treatment program began in 2003, to meet the overwhelming need of Inuit in crisis. Since then, over 500 people have participated in the residential treatment program and accessed a wide range of Tungasuvvingat Inuit’s comprehensive wrap around services. Our program is offered in both English and Inuktitut for women and men aged 18 years and older. It is recognized throughout the country as an early leader in the field’s movement toward trauma-informed recovery through cultural healing and wellness.

Regional Cancer Care Program
Funded by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and in partnership with Cancer Care Ontario, the Regional Cancer Program aims to address the ongoing cancer-related health disparities that exist between Urban Inuit and the general population in Ontario.

Residential School Program
The Residential School Program is very similar to the Day Counselling service in which they offer community-based counselling services. The team have worked with survivors and family members of the residential school system. The team will not turn anyone from the Inuit community away that needs counselling support.

Child First Initiative
The Inuit Child First Initiative ensures Inuit children (ages 0-18) have access to the essential government funded health, social and educational products, services and supports they need, when they need them.

Kamatsiarniq Program
Ontario’s Child, Youth and Family Services Act 2017 now recognizes Inuit as a distinct Indigenous community in Ontario, and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the national representative body for Inuit in Canada, is listed in the legislation.
This means that all Children’s Aid Societies are required to provide notice and consult with a representative chosen by ITK whenever they are involved with an Inuit family. ITK has designated Tungasuvvingat Inuit (TI) to be its representative to ensure that Inuit children and families living in Ontario who come into contact with Children’s Aid Societies have the opportunity to receive Inuit-specific supportive services.

Housing Support Services
Tungasuvvingat Inuit’s Housing First program serves clients who are chronically or episodically homeless, and who are at different stages of housing stability. The Housing Support Program assists Inuit in transitioning to an urban setting and to prevent homelessness in Ottawa’s rapidly growing Inuit community.

Pisiksik Justice Department (PJD)
PJD provides support for Inuit clients in contact with the criminal justice system, those at high risk of entering the system, or have previously had contact with the system.

Effective Programming Initiative – Youth Justice (EPI-YJP)
The Effective Programming Initiative (EPI)/Youth Justice Program (YPJ) is funded by the Ministry of Community, Children, and Social Services (MCCSS)/ the Youth Justice Division. It’s technical table that targets justice-related policies and practices that affect Indigenous youth, including Inuit youth.

Restorative Justice Program (RJ)
Restorative Justice is a system of criminal justice that focuses on the rehabilitation and not punishment of offenders through reconciliation and healing with victims and the community. We are working to address the lack of recognized Inuit specific Restorative Justice programming and diversion within Ottawa/Ontario. Through our depth of programing, and resources, Inuit youth and adults, within the community that have come in conflict with the law, will have the potential to be diverted from the Criminal Justice System both pre-and post charge.

The Gladue Program
TI’s Gladue Program ensures that Inuit offenders have the opportunity to present their story to the courts of how they became involved in the criminal justice system following a guilty plea or a finding of guilt.