Question 1

What services and supports are you currently offering?

Accepted Answer

Our program staff is available daily from 9 am to 5 pm to provide support for members remotely. For immediate emergency help, please contact 911. At our organization, we are dedicated to providing comprehensive, trauma-informed grief support to meet the diverse needs of our communities. Here’s a look at the grief supports we currently offer:One-to-One Peer Support Sessions: We offer up to 8 free, 30-minute sessions for adults (ages 18+) and up to 12 free, 30-minute sessions for teens, children, and adolescents (ages 6-17). These sessions can be conducted over the phone or via Zoom, with Zoom recommended for younger children (ages 6-13) to ensure a more engaging and comfortable experience. Please refer to our Individual Support Sessions page for more information. Group Peer Support Sessions: Our group peer support sessions are a cornerstone of our support services. Please refer to our Adult Group Programs page for detailed information. We offer free ongoing weekly and bi-weekly support groups and time-limited and closed support groups throughout the year to foster a sense of community and shared healing. Most of our groups currently run via Zoom. We occasionally offer in-person support groups throughout the year at our main office location in Mississauga. These groups are offered based on demand, need, and availability of facilitators.Events: We host two major annual events to honour, remember, and celebrate our loved ones. Our "Walk to Remember" fundraising event (co-hosted with our affiliate, Bereaved Families of Ontario - Toronto) and the "Loving Memory Ceremony" are opportunities for communal support and remembrance. Subscribe to our newsletter or check our Events tab for updates and details.Educational Webinars: Throughout the year, we provide various 1-hour webinars featuring guest speakers. These free/donation-based webinars cover a range of grief-related topics. For example, past topics such as Sleep and Grief, Complicated Relationships, and Navigating Suicide Loss were covered. Our goal is to amplify voices, spread awareness, and support you in your healing journey.Professional Workshops: Our "Navigating Through Grief" workshops are designed for professionals, schools, businesses, and organizations. These workshops offer practical tips and tools to support oneself and others in grief, with varying costs and topics tailored to different needs. Learn more by visiting our Workshops for Organizations and Teams tab.Through these diverse support options, we strive to offer the compassion, understanding, and resources you need during your time of grief.If you would like to register for an individual phone support session or for a group support session, please see the rest of our FAQ and/or Online Intake Form.

Question 2

What are "GriefTalks"?

Accepted Answer

GriefTalks are our free, 1-hour webinars (via Zoom) designed to explore the many dimensions of grief, loss, identity, mental health, and wellness. These sessions aim to deepen your understanding of grief, including how it uniquely manifests in different communities and contexts, while providing a compassionate space for learning, reflection, and connection. Each GriefTalks features a unique topic and speaker, offering diverse insights, tools, and perspectives to support both individuals and professionals in navigating grief with greater awareness, empathy, and healing. Past topics have included Grief and Disabilities, Yoga, Breathwork, and Meditation, Grief and Complicated Relationships, and Grief in Indigenous Communities, among many others. We host GriefTalks throughout the year, with new and engaging topics offered regularly.

While these webinars are free to attend, we encourage donations when registering to help us sustain this programming, which is not funded. Your support allows us to continue offering these valuable opportunities for connection, learning, and growth.

Join us for a GriefTalks to expand your understanding of grief and discover new ways to support yourself and others.

Question 3

How much do you charge for your services?

Accepted Answer

The Centre for Grief and Healing is a not-for-profit, charitable organization. All services provided and programs attended are free of charge, with the exception of ticketed events and our Navigating Through Grief workshops.

All donations (monetary and in-kind) are greatly appreciated and are tax-deductible ($20.00 minimum for receipt). We operate thanks to the generous donations of corporations, community groups, academic institutes, funders and donors like you!

How much does it cost your organization to run its services?
We’re often asked how our programs are funded and what it takes to provide our services.

It costs approximately $300,000+ per year to run our organization and deliver our peer support programs. This includes the delivery of direct support, training and ongoing supervision for Peer Supporters, resources, program, event, and webinar coordination and development, outreach and awareness, accessibility supports, and the infrastructure needed to provide safe, consistent, and reliable grief support.

As a non-profit organization, we rely on community donations to make this work possible.

Contributions directly support our ability to keep services free, reduce wait times, and ensure that people experiencing grief can access compassionate support when they need it most.

We are committed to transparency and are clear when a program is grant-funded or otherwise funded. Majority of our operating costs, however, are not fully funded and rely on donations to sustain this work.

For those interested in learning more, we share some additional information about the cost of specific programs and core expenses on our CanadaHelps donation page. We also welcome questions — supporters are always encouraged to reach out to us at fundraising@bereavedfamilies.ca or executivedirector@bereavedfamilies.ca directly if they would like more detail about funding, donations, or the cost of running our services.

Question 4

Do you provide counselling, therapy, or crisis services?

Accepted Answer

The Centre for Grief and Healing utilizes a peer support model. Our groups and one-to-ones are facilitated by adults who guide, listen and support each person while they express their thoughts, feelings and fears to help provide a new sense of normal and understanding.

None of the services provided by the Centre for Grief and Healing are counseling, therapy, or crisis sessions.

Question 5

What is a "Peer Support" model?

Accepted Answer

Participate in our Peer Support Self Assessment Tool to see if peer support is the right fit for you.

Peer support is the help and support that is given to you by someone like you - we are the bereaved helping the bereaved. Our staff, students, and volunteers are all trained grief Peer Supporters with different identities and backgrounds. We are not counsellors or therapists; we are people like you who have experienced a death in our family/friend circle and have undergone a similar journey of learning to cope and live with our grief. We are survivors of our grief - we can provide you with experiential knowledge, educational information and support that was and is gained through our lived experience of being similarly bereaved. Self-disclosure is to be expected from the Peer Supporter's and Group Facilitator's own experiences.

Our peer support offers a space grounded in hope, acceptance, empathy, and genuine understanding. It is a place where you can speak freely about your person, including memories, emotions, and reflections; whether your relationship with them was close, complicated, painful, or loving. All aspects of grief are welcome here.

Peer supporters and group facilitators journey alongside you in your grief and help support the continuing bond with the person who has died. Conversations about your person are not only allowed but encouraged, as staying connected to their memory can be an important part of many grief experiences. Helpers may also share information, lived experience, and gentle strategies to help normalize grief and support coping (for example, navigating anniversaries, holidays, or other meaningful dates).

Peer support can be a meaningful complement to clinical services such as counselling or therapy.

Clinical supports, such as counselling and/or psychotherapy, typically involve little to no self-disclosure from the practitioner, who instead draws on professional training, theoretical frameworks, and evidence-based approaches. These services may support individuals and families navigating a wide range of challenges, including difficulties in relationships or family dynamics, trauma, experiences of violence, mental health concerns, or significant disruption in day-to-day functioning.

In the context of grief, clinical supports may be especially helpful for individuals experiencing more complex or intensified grief reactions that significantly impact wellbeing, such as persistent difficulties with sleep, safety concerns (including thoughts of self-harm), or ongoing challenges with emotional regulation and functioning. Clinical practitioners also consider broader context such as personal history, family systems, cultural or spiritual beliefs, and other life experiences that shape how grief is experienced.

Please take a look through our "Finding Your Fit: A Guide to Seeking Professional Support" if you are interested in connecting with a clinical form of support.

Question 6

I don't live in Halton or Peel region. Can I still utilize your services?

Accepted Answer

Our organization does not deny the bereaved community from receiving our services and supports, unless otherwise noted (e.g., age limits). We are here to support you.

However, due to our increased demands and limited resources, we provide earlier dates and times for those that do reside within our catchment areas (Halton/Peel) and wish to receive one-to-one/individual peer support sessions. If you are only interested in attending our support groups, we are able to provide earlier dates and times for your mandatory group information session as no sequential individual support sessions are provided.

We highly encourage you to first seek support from one of our affiliates should they fall within your city/region. You can find the list of our affiliates here: https://bereavedfamilies.net/affiliates/. You can also find grief supports near you by filtering your region at this website: https://www.thehealthline.ca/ and searching "Grief and Bereavement Support". https://211ontario.ca/ is a 24/7 resource hotspot that provides real-time resources you are looking for within your area.

Registered Charity #118803667RR0001

CENTRE FOR GRIEF & HEALING

Bereaved Families of Ontario -
Halton / Peel

Peer‑led grief support for people navigating loss.

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