Safe Families Canada

Safe Families Canada (SFC) is a Canadian nonprofit organization and federally incorporated faith-based charity, dedicated to supporting families in crisis by providing temporary care for children through volunteer host families. Established in 2012, SFC aims to create a community-based safety net that helps keep children safe and families intact during times of emergency or hardship.

Mission and Vision

The mission of Safe Families Canada is to transform families experiencing crisis by surrounding them with compassionate community support, ensuring that no family faces hardship alone. SFC focuses on creating a world where children are safe and families are strengthened through radical hospitality, disruptive generosity, and intentional compassion motivated by Christian faith.

Background and Need

With over 300,000 children and youth in Canada living in vulnerable situations and at risk of abuse or neglect, many families face emergencies such as financial hardship, homelessness, mental health issues, substance abuse, or incarceration. Historically, extended families and neighbors often supported parents by caring for children temporarily during crises. However, modern urban life, social isolation, and immigration have diminished these traditional safety nets, increasing the risk to children in troubled families.

Model and Services

Safe Families Canada operates through volunteer networks affiliated closely with local churches, fostering extended family-like support for families in crisis. The organization provides a framework that allows parents to voluntarily place their children with screened and approved Host Families while retaining legal custody. This temporary placement helps parents stabilize their situations without removing children permanently from their care.

Volunteer roles within the organization include:

• Host Families: Provide temporary homes for children in need, offering safe, nurturing environments.
• Family Friends: Support families and Host Families with practical help such as mentoring, transportation, meals, and babysitting.
• Resource Friends: Offer goods and services to assist families in regaining stability.
• Family Coaches: Trained volunteers who provide casework-like services, ensuring the welfare of children and supporting families throughout the crisis.

Families are referred to Safe Families Canada through various community institutions, including schools, hospitals, churches, pregnancy centers, shelters, child welfare agencies, or self-referral.

Impact and Outreach

Since its launch in the Greater Toronto Area in 2014, Safe Families Canada has grown its reach by partnering with local churches and communities to expand its relational ministry. The model bridges the gap between churches and child welfare agencies, providing a compassionate alternative to foster care for families where appropriate.

Volunteers serve without compensation and are motivated by the compassion and grace central to SFC’s faith-based approach, aiming to reduce child abuse and neglect by keeping families supported and reunited.

Business Registration Number: 850841842RR0001

Note: This entry is based on publicly available information about Safe Families Canada as of 2025.