Our Story
Our vision is an Ontario where shared knowledge is transformed into positive impact for all youth!
OUR MISSION
To make research evidence and evaluation practices accessible and relevant to Ontario’s grassroots youth sector through knowledge exchange, capacity building and evaluation leadership!
Knowledge Exchange
We create and curate evidence-based resources to support youth work practice, and to amplify the voices and experiences of young people in Ontario. Check out the Knowledge Hub, Data Hub and REXTV!
Learn by YouthREX
YouthREX offers professional development opportunities for youth workers to learn, connect and share – both online and offline. Visit Learn by YouthREX, The Kit for Centering Black Youth Wellbeing and the Virtual Café.
Customized Evaluation Supports
We work with youth programs to support the design, development and evaluation of their work with young people. Check out YouthREX’s Framework for Evaluating Youth Wellbeing!
Community-Engaged Research
We conduct Community-Engaged Research about youth and youth workers in Ontario. Learn more about the Ontario Youth Sector Compass research project.
01.
Understand your youth program’s capacity – and start there.
While grassroots organizations share many similarities, we recognize that all organizations are unique, have different histories, work in different contexts and have staff with varying capacities. We are committed to taking the time to learn about these unique aspects of your organization so that our work with you takes into consideration your organizational, social and political realities.
02.
Be responsive to your program’s needs.
We will be guided by the question, “How and when will you use the information that comes from this process?” Asking this question will help us ensure that our work with you is relevant and meaningful.
03.
Work collaboratively with a youth program.
While we will do our best to support your program, we know we are not the experts on your work. We aren’t coming in to tell you what you do; our work is a shared process and YouthREX is committed to staying true to the ‘eXchange’ in our name.
04.
Adhere to high ethical standards in supporting your evaluation.
Our evaluation work with you will comply with the Tri-Council Policy Statement on the Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. All our processes will also demonstrate cultural awareness, sensitivity and inclusive practices that reflect on our own values.
05.
Meaningfully engage youth.
YouthREX is committed to processes that include the experience and voices of Ontario’s youth, particularly those who are racialized youth, newcomer youth, Indigenous youth, youth with disabilities or special needs, youth in and leaving care, Francophone youth, LGBT2SQ youth, youth living in rural & remote communities, youth from low-income families and youth in conflict with the law. We will work with your organization to identify how to engage youth in the design, development and evaluation of your youth program.
06.
Commit fully to equity, diversity and inclusion.
When it comes to equity and inclusion, there is always room for improvement. We will work with you to better recognize the differences in the experiences of youth with diverse identities, in enhancing the inclusiveness of your program, and in identifying and reducing barriers to meaningful youth participation.
Timeline
YouthREX's highlights and contributions
over the past ten years.
YouthREX was primarily funded by the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services (2014-2024) with contributions from the York Research Chair in Youth and Contexts of Inequity held by Dr. Uzo Anucha at the School of Social Work, York University.
January 2025
#YouthREXat10: YouthREX is proud to celebrate 10 years of learning, collaboration, and shared impact in Ontario’s youth sector!
December 2024
The Data Hub by YouthREX launches, providing the community sector with accessible data about Ontario youth that highlight and focus attention on trends and issues about young people.
October 2024
YouthREX’s YouTube channel for knowledge mobilization, REX TV is live, featuring curated video collections and playlists.
June 12, 2024
YouthREX hosts an in-person Youth Justice Roundtable with youth sector stakeholders (program directors, funders, policymakers, social innovators, and researchers) and Natalie Cook, South Australia’s Minister for Human Services.
April 2024
The Kit for Centering Black Youth Wellbeing is live! This online hub for anti-Black racism learning + action + community engagement in Ontario’s youth sector features the Call-In-Cards for Anti-Black Racism Action.
February 21, 2024
YouthREX hosts the first of three online trainings for youth workers, Mental Health First Aid: Supporting Youth.
December 7, 2023
YouthREX hosts another online Teach-In – Resisting Burnout and Vicarious Trauma: Collective Care and Solidarity in Frontline Youth Work – featuring Vikki Reynolds, consultant, facilitator, and community worker.
October 26, 2023
YouthREX hosts a free in-person training for youth workers, Mental Health First Aid: Supporting Youth.
September 7, 2023
YouthREX hosts a Thought Leadership Forum with Dr. Tania de St Croix. Rethinking Impact: Evaluation & Accountability in Youth Work brings together youth sector funders, executive directors, senior policymakers, and social innovators to explore how the youth sector can collaboratively design ways of understanding long-term impacts of our work with youth.
September 6, 2023
In partnership with the York Research Chair in Youth and Contexts of Inequity, YouthREX hosts Visioning Transformative Youth Work: Collaborative Design Day, featuring Dr. Tania de St Croix, critical youth studies and youth work scholar, author, youth worker, and academic at King’s College London, UK. The event includes livestream and in-person engagement opportunities to collaboratively craft a vision for creative and viable forms of transformative youth work practices.
April 20, 2023
In response to the Government of Canada’s legislative review of the Cannabis Act and the fifth anniversary of cannabis legalization, YouthREX co-hosts a two-part community dialogue on cannabis and youth – Canada’s Cannabis Act and Youth: 5 Years Later and 5 Years Forward – in partnership with the Ontario Native Education Counselling Association (ONECA), Provincial Youth Outreach Worker Program at Strides Toronto, and YMCA Youth Cannabis Awareness Program.
April 2023
YouthREX’s contract with the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services is renewed until March 2024 and includes funding for an external evaluator to assess the impacts of YouthREX’s programs and services.
November 30, 2022
In collaboration with the York Research Chair in Youth and Contexts of Inequity, YouthREX hosts a third online Teach-In, Hacking Deficit Thinking, featuring Dr. Byron McClure and Dr. Kelsie Reed.
October 6, 2022
In collaboration with Donna Richards and the York Research Chair in Youth and Contexts of Inequity, YouthREX co-hosts Beyond Invisible: Black Youth Mental Health, an online Teach-In featuring Mercy Shibemba, an award-winning youth activist from the UK.
May 11, 2022
YouthREX launches two new online certificates in collaboration with partners: Cannabis and Mental Health, a comprehensive suite of online resources created by youth, for youth, in partnership with Cannabis & Psychosis (Schizophrenia Society of Canada), and Brain Story Certification, a self-guided, online professional development certificate, in partnership with the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (Palix Foundation).
May 2022
YouthREX launches Learn by YouthREX, a professional development platform that brings all of our online certificates and workshops together in one place.
April 20, 2022
YouthREX shares the new What's With Weed? webpage, redesigned in collaboration with a variety of partners — including young people — as a youth-friendly one-stop-shop on everything they might ask about cannabis and cannabis use.
April 7, 2022
YouthREX and LGBT YouthLine partner to launch Asking About Gender: A Toolkit for Youth Workers, featuring an Inclusive Gender Menu, as well as an article on REX Blog and registration for a live webinar on confronting assumptions about gender and challenging transphobia.
March 15, 2022
YouthREX releases evidence-informed resources (in English and French) on the economic empowerment of Black youth to build a shared understanding of possible interventions and outcomes under a new funding stream of the Black Youth Action Plan.
February 7, 2022
Registration opens for YouthREX’s first certificate available in French, Centrer le bien-être des jeunes Noirs;his translation of Centering Black Youth Wellbeing is made possible by a partnership with School Mental Health Ontario.
January 31, 2022
In collaboration with Mentor Canada and the York Research Chair in Youth and Contexts of Inequity, YouthREX hosts a second online Teach-In, Critical Youth Mentorship,featureing Dr. Jean Rhodes, Larissa Crawford, and youth mentoring programs from across Ontario
November 18, 2021
Data collection begins for the Ontario Youth Sector Compass research project, which focuses on understanding the experiences of young people and youth workers in Ontario.
February 11, 2021
In collaboration with the York Research Chair in Youth and Contexts of Inequity, YouthREX hosts its first online Teach-In, From Trauma-Informed Care to Healing-Centered Engagement, featuring Dr. Shawn Ginwright, one of America’s thought leaders on African American youth, youth activism, and youth development. More than 500 participants join the event on Zoom!
February 2021
Registration opens for YouthREX's fourth online certificate, Centering Black Youth Wellbeing: A Certificate on Combatting Anti-Black Racism. More than 2,200 participants register for the inaugural cohort!
December 7, 2020
The Virtual Café by YouthREX, our online platform for Ontario’s youth sector, is live! Dr. Joey-Lynn Wabie and Michelle Kennedy host an AMA (Ask Me Anything) about their webinar, Land As Our First Teacher.
August, 2020
YouthREX’s contract with the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services is renewed until March 2023.
July 14, 2020
YouthREX launches The Relentless Pursuit of Better Youth Outcomes: Reimagining Youth Work in a COVID-19 Era, an in-conversation series about adapting to shifting contexts as a result of COVID-19.
June 8, 2020
The YouthREX team publishes Will This Be The ONE? Reflection, Engagement & Action Against Anti-Black Racism in Ontario in response to the global uprising against anti-Black racism.
April 29, 2020
YouthREX releases a collection of resources and supports for youth sector stakeholders in response to COVID-19.
February 10, 2020
In collaboration with Strides Toronto and the York Research Chair in Youth and Contexts of Inequity, YouthREX hosts its first hybrid event with options for online and in-person attendance: Looking Through the Kaleidoscope of Cannabis: Presumptions, Policy, Practice.
February 2020
Registration opens for YouthREX's third online certificate, Cannabis and Youth: A Certificate for Youth Workers.
July 1, 2019
YouthREX’s Academic Director Dr Uzo Anucha is awarded a York Research Chair in Youth and Contexts of Inequity by York University.
November 18, 2019
YouthREX launches an integrated website, featuring new and improved features, including the Community Board and Good Youth Work Practices, and a redesigned Knowledge Hub.
February 11, 2019
YouthREX launches its second online certificate, Using Spreadsheets in Program Evaluation.
October 24-26, 2018
Over 300 youth sector stakeholders attend YouthREX’s #KtA2018, our second provincial Knowledge to Action Exchange. This year’s theme is Data + Stories for Action!
March 14, 2018
Applications open for YouthREX’s Youth Program Supports, a continuum of services that supports the youth sector with the use of evidence in the design and development of youth programs and with program evaluation.
January 9, 2018
YouthREX releases Doing Right Together for Black Youth, a report based on the input of more than 1,500 community members to co-develop the Ontario Black Youth Action Plan.
September 2017
YouthREX’s contract with the Ministry of Children & Youth Services is renewed until March 2020.
May 2, 2017
YouthREX, in collaboration with Strides Toronto, launches the Youth Outreach Worker (YOW) Learning Hub, comprising five modules, 15 lessons, 25 lectures, and a virtual community of practice.
October 27-29, 2016
Over 300 youth sector stakeholders attend YouthREX’s #KtA2016, our first provincial Knowledge to Action Exchange. During the Design Day, participants collaborate to co-design uniquely tangible recommendations and solutions to advance youth wellbeing.
June 10, 2016
YouthREX’s Youth Advisory Council launches Youth Leading Change, a youth-led documentary that features interviews with young people across the province on how they are making change in their communities.
March 31, 2016
YouthREX releases Beyond Measure? The State of Evaluation and Action in Ontario’s Youth Sector.
January 2016
YouthREX launches its first Critical Youth Work Certificate in three communities: Scarborough, Windsor, and York Region.
November 2015
YouthREX launches the Framework for Evaluating Youth Wellbeing to guide the evaluation of Ontario youth programs.
October 5, 2015
YouthREX launches its first online certificate, Program Evaluation for Youth Wellbeing.
April 14, 2015
YouthREX hosts its first webinar, Reframing How We Work With Youth.
March 24, 2015
YouthREX hosts Beyond Measure? Evaluation and Action in Ontario’s Youth Sector, our first knowledge mobilization eXpo, for more than 60 youth sector stakeholders.
February + March 2015
YouthREX hosts community events with the theme Celebrate! Collaborate! Evaluate! to launch five regional hubs across the province.
December 2, 2014
Ontario’s Ministry of Children & Youth Services funds YouthREX to support Ontario’s youth programs with knowledge exchange, capacity building, and evidence-informed program design, development, and evaluation.
Annual Report
Year Ten | 2023/2024
Special Reports
YouthREX at Five
Our Reach and Impact
Quick-Glance Update
Highlights from our Stakeholder Survey
The State of Evaluation and Action in Ontario's Youth Sector