Helping youth and families navigate the mental health and addictions system since 2013.
Family Navigation Project (FNP) is a philanthropically funded virtual program, that provides navigation to youth ages 11–29 and their families as they find their way through the mental health and addictions system.
Established in 2013 as the first service of its kind in Canada, FNP was co-created with caregivers whose lived experiences navigating the system helped shape the service from the very beginning.
Our clinically trained Navigators support youth and families across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond, helping them understand their options and connect with services and supports that fit their unique needs.
Connection to Sunnybrook: As a proud program of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, FNP extends beyond the hospital and into the broader community, supporting youth and families across the Greater Toronto Area as they navigate mental health and addictions services.
Leadership message
For more than a decade, FNP has been guided by one clear vision: no youth or family feels lost in the mental health and addictions system.
That vision continues to propel us forward, expanding what navigation can achieve and the difference it can make for youth and families.
Our Vision
Family Navigation Project (FNP) was created alongside caregivers who understood how difficult it can be to find mental health and addictions support. Families told us they often felt overwhelmed and unsure where to turn.
Their experiences helped shape FNP from the beginning. They told us what they needed most: someone to listen, explain their options, and connect them with the right information, resources, and services.
That partnership continues today. Youth and caregivers help shape FNP’s services, research, and future direction.
Our two advisory councils help keep youth and caregiver voices at the center of how FNP learns, grows, and evolves.
To learn moreA group of young people who help keep FNP grounded in what youth need, value, and experience when seeking support.
A group of caregivers and families of choice who bring the perspective of supporting a loved one and help shape how FNP supports families navigating care.
Our Navigators bring deep knowledge of mental health and addictions services across community, hospital, public, private systems and beyond.
Some situations don’t fit neatly into one service or program. We help youth and families navigate complexity, connect across systems, and identify pathways when needs are difficult to address through traditional routes.
There is no time limit on FNP support. Youth and families can build an ongoing relationship with their Navigator and reconnect as needs change, without having to start over.
We generate evidence that drives innovative navigation practices and helps shape the future of youth mental health and addictions services.
Helps you get started with FNP, and connects you to your Navigator.
Your clinically trained Navigator is your primary support person and works alongside you to explore options that may be the right fit.
Someone with lived experience who provides understanding, support and hope to youth and families.
Our Navigation roles are supported by a multidisciplinary team that brings together clinical, operational, administrative, leadership and lived expertise, as well as consulting psychiatry and other specialized expertise.
FNP is made up of people with different experiences, perspectives, and areas of expertise, brought together by a shared commitment to youth and families.
For more than a decade, FNP has supported youth and families across the Greater Toronto Area. Today, we are working alongside Compass / Boussole / Akii-Izhinoogan and other community partners across Sudbury-Manitoulin to adapt the navigation model for Northern Ontario communities.
Grounded in research, community engagement, and lived experience, this work helps create new pathways to mental health and addictions support that reflect the unique needs and realities of youth and families in the northern region.
Read project site →
Finding the right mental health and addictions support can be difficult. For youth and families from equity-deserving communities, barriers related to culture, language, stigma, cost, trust, and system complexity can make the journey more challenging.
FNP is expanding access through hospital pathways and community partnerships. By working alongside trusted organizations, we are learning directly from youth and families, addressing barriers to support, and helping create connections to services that are responsive to their needs.
By bringing hospitals, community organizations, youth, families, service providers, and researchers together, we are working to create clearer, more connected, and more equitable pathways to support.
We’re ready to listen, guide, and help you take the next step.
Have questions? Visit our FAQs to learn more
