Our Impact
The YMCA of Greater Toronto is a charity addressing the most urgent needs in our communities — from housing to unemployment, poverty, inequity, and more.
Shelter And Supports For Youth Experiencing Homelessness
The Need Is Urgent
The Y's emergency shelter offers unhoused youth nourishing meals and a safe place to sleep.
Our donors help provide wrap-around programs — from mental health counselling to job training and more — that help prepare youth to live on their own.
Who We Help
From youth who get a fresh start in our shelters to families who rely on financial assistance to get active and healthy, people from all walks of life overcome barriers and reach their true potential at the Y.
Watch Emmanuel share his experience at YMCA Sprott House, one of the first transitional housing programs for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth experiencing homelessness in Canada.
Challenges You Can Help Address
Converging crises are taking a toll on people’s well-being: mental health, housing, child care, precarious work, and more.
By giving to the Y, you can help change that. Your donation helps us provide wrap-around supports, from help finding stable housing and employment, to substance use and mental health counselling, food banks, child care, subsidized exercise programs, and beyond.
Impact At A Glance
500+
locations across the GTA
816,868
participants
27,596
people received financial assistance
1,842
donors
2,636
volunteers
6,593
staff
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The YMCA of Greater Toronto welcomes all people of all ages, genders, races, ethnicities, religious heritages, classes, sexual orientations, sexes, and physical/mental abilities. We are often referred to simply as “the Y.”
No. When the YMCA was founded in England in 1844, it had strong ties to the Christian Church. By 1864, the Toronto YMCA — which would eventually be renamed the YMCA of Greater Toronto — was officially reorganized as a non-denominational charity. While the YMCA of Greater Toronto values and respects our early Christian heritage, we operate in one of the most diverse regions in the world, serve multicultural communities, and strive to promote equity. We therefore welcome all people and our programs and services are not tied to any religion.
YMCA operations are made possible through a sustainable model that mixes revenue from philanthropy, government funding, and fee-for-service programs. This is a standard funding model that many other charities use as well, including universities and hospitals.
Investments from our government illustrate that the YMCA is a trusted charity delivering essential services. However, government funding does not cover some of the key initiatives we need to offer for our communities to reach their full potential. Every philanthropic dollar that goes towards YMCA programming and Centres of Community helps shape more equitable neighbourhoods where everyone gets a chance to shine.
No! The YMCA of Greater Toronto is a charity that takes a holistic approach to health, offering wrap-around supports to help people boost their well-being and to promote equity in our communities. We do offer health and fitness programming, but we also deliver child care, camps and outdoor education programs, employment services, immigrant settlement services, and youth programs including emergency shelter for those experiencing homelessness, a middle- and high-school for students who learn differently, and youth leadership development programs.
You can choose to direct your donation to a specific cause of your choice, or where it's needed most. When you give to the Y, you can help provide financial assistance for individuals and families who otherwise wouldn't be able to participate in our health-promoting programs; you can help build Centres of Community where people access essential services and find connection and belonging; and you can help fund programs that boost well-being and support people in reaching their true potential.