About Us
Native Child and Family Services of Toronto (NCFST) is a multi-service urban Aboriginal agency providing holistic, culture-based programs and services for Aboriginal children and families. NCFST strives to provide a life of quality, well-being, healing, and self-determination for children and families in the Toronto urban Aboriginal community. We do this by implementing a service model that is culture-based and respects the values of Aboriginal people, the extended family and the right to self-determination.
Established in 1986, by Elders, knowledge keepers, grassroots leaders, and community members, NCFST has been supporting Aboriginal children and families in Toronto for more than three decades. In 2004 NCFST was directed by the Aboriginal community to accept a child welfare mandate to decolonize Aboriginal child welfare in the City of Toronto. NCFST continues to do this work through the integration of holistic, culturally-based prevention services that are child centered, family focused, and community driven.
Guided by the vision of providing holistic, culture-based integrated services with the guidance of the Aboriginal community, NCFST offers a full range of prevention programs, treatment and healing services, early years programs, youth programs, and cultural and recreational programs to all members of Toronto’s urban Aboriginal community.
Mission Statement
Native Child and Family Services of Toronto strives to provide a life of quality, well-being, caring and healing for our children and families in the Toronto Native Community.
We do this by creating a service model that is culture-based and respects the values of Native people, the extended family and the right to self-determination.
Service Model
Founded in 1986, our service model was developed through four days of ceremony by Aboriginal Elders, knowledge keepers and community leaders. It directs us to develop a holistic and sustainable multi-service organization to support the quality of life of Aboriginal children and their families in Toronto. The community that came together to create NCFST was responding to the impacts of residential schooling and a European model of child welfare on Aboriginal children and families. Our service model directs us to develop and deliver integrated services for healing, wellness, and family supports sufficient to provide Aboriginal children and their families with multiple pathways to a quality life. We do this by developing programs and services that are grounded in Aboriginal values, knowledge, best practice and worldview.

Our many services:
- Children and youth mental health and case management including one-on-one counselling, group, and play therapy;
- Prevention-focused Family Skills Building and Support programs, including our Family Resource Program and the Ninoshe and Zhishay programs;
- The country’s largest Aboriginal Head Start program with four locations across the city;
- Child and Family Wellbeing, including Kin Finding and permanency options for children;
- A variety of Early Years, Early Childhood Development, and parenting group programs;
- Childcare;
- Transitional Housing for men;
- Transitional Housing for women with young children;
- Summer day and overnight on-the-land camps;
- Physical Literacy program;
- Pre and Post Natal Services;
- Community events including Culture Nights, drum socials, feasts, and an annual Pow Wow;
- Three Aboriginal Child and Family Centres that deliver a host of programming for children 0-6, their older siblings and their families; and
- A Healing Lodge for women and their children while they are undergoing treatment for substance and/or mental health issues.

The community we serve.
Toronto is home to a diverse and growing Aboriginal community, currently estimated at a population of 60,000 adults and children. Of these, approximately 45,000 are status Indians; the others are Métis, non-status, and Inuit. NCFST serves self-identified Status, Non-Status, Inuit and Metis people in the Greater Toronto Area, including individuals and families from over 62 diverse First Nations in Ontario and across the country. We offer accessible services and programs to all community members from pre-birth to the Elderly, LGBTQ2S+ people and people of blended heritage. At NCFST we offer a single point of access to an integrated network of programs and services designed to address the multiple and complex issues facing Aboriginal families, including poverty, mental health issues, unemployment and homelessness in a culturally safe environment. Through this, we contribute to the healing, caring, and well-being of children and families and strive to further the development of a healthy, whole and empowered Aboriginal community, through integrated services grounded in cultural practices.