Is Big Brothers Big Sisters Right for Your Child?

We believe every child can benefit from having a caring, supportive adult in their life. Our mentoring programs are designed to help children build confidence, develop positive relationships, and feel connected to their families, schools, and communities.

To participate in our programs, a Little must be at least 7 years old.

We receive a high number of inquiries from families looking for mentoring support for their children and youth. Every inquiry we receive is reviewed by our team, and we prioritize children and youth for enrolment based on the information provided, their needs, our ability to provide an appropriate program or service, and the availability of suitable volunteers.

After reviewing your inquiry, one of our staff members may contact you for additional information or when we are able to move forward with the next step in the enrolment process. Because of the volume of inquiries we receive and the time required to carefully review each one, you may not hear from us right away. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

If you think your child could benefit from having a mentor, the Child Inquiry Form is the best way to tell us a little more about your child and your family's needs. Submitting an inquiry does not guarantee enrolment or mean that an application will be submitted immediately.

What We Consider

Every child and family is different. When we talk with you, we may ask about things such as:

  • Your child’s relationships with parents, guardians, and other adults
  • Friendships and peer relationships
  • How your child is doing at school
  • Interests and involvement in activities or the community
  • Your child’s home and living environment
  • Your child’s ability to build and maintain safe, healthy relationships
  • Your child’s level of independence and self-care

These questions help us understand your child’s strengths, needs, and circumstances so we can determine how a mentoring relationship could best support them.

What Mentoring Provides

Big Brothers Big Sisters is focused on creating safe, positive and supportive mentoring relationships between children and caring adult mentors.

Our programs are not intended to replace child care, recreational programs, or other specialized supports and services. The time a Little spends with their Big is centred on building a meaningful relationship through shared experiences, conversation, encouragement and positive activities.

Staying Connected

For children participating in our community-based mentoring programs, ongoing communication between parents or caregivers and our staff is an important part of the program.

Once your child is matched with a Big, regular contact between the parent or caregiver and our staff is required. This allows us to check in on the mentoring relationship, support your family and the volunteer, address any concerns, and help ensure the relationship remains safe, healthy and positive for everyone involved.

Finding the Right Support

We want every child and family to receive support that is appropriate for their needs. Not every child or youth who inquires will be accepted into our programs, as there may be circumstances where we feel that Big Brothers Big Sisters is not the right fit or that another type of support would be more appropriate.

If we determine that our programs aren't the right fit for your child, our staff will do our best to help you identify other resources or services that may better meet your family's needs.

READY TO GET STARTED?

If you think your child could benefit from having a caring adult mentor, take the first step by completing our Child Inquiry Form.

Start a Child Inquiry →