Honourable senators, I rise today to draw attention to a very important initiative for youth in Guelph and Wellington County.

The newly established Integrated Youth Services Network, or IYSN, is a hub where youth between the ages of 12 and 26 can go to seek support for mental health challenges, substance abuse, education, employment, training, housing and more.

The network is meant to act as a “one-stop shop” for any support youth might need. It’s a collaborative project involving over 30 organizations that has been in the works for the past couple of years, under the leadership of the Rotary Club of Guelph.

Other organizations involved include Big Brothers Big Sisters of Centre Wellington, the University of Guelph, the YMCA — YWCA of Guelph, the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington, the Guelph Community Foundation, Minto Mental Health and East Wellington Community Services.

According to the IYSN:

This is a partnership of service organizations and volunteers united in a common goal to build a new standard of care, support and services for our youth.

The IYSN will feature seven youth centres across Guelph and Wellington County, where youth can go for support and guidance, or just for a safe space to hang out. At the centres, youth receive access to various programs and services, including education and career support, counselling and peer-to-peer programs. Virtual counselling will also be available.

Important to me, the centres are located not only in the City of Guelph but in rural areas as well. It’s important that these resources be accessible and available to rural youth, for whom it is often harder to seek help and benefit from services and programs such as these due to unreliable internet connectivity and physical distance from urban centres.

One in five youth between 15 and 26 experience mental health and/or substance use disorders. Since 2007, hospitalizations in Guelph and Wellington County have increased 223% for mental health and behavioural disorders and 211% for self-harm.

This network was created in response to the lack of existing adequate and accessible services to respond to those challenges and to ensure that youth and families don’t fall through the cracks.

I want to applaud this new initiative and say how happy I am that we have a network of this nature in our community. I also want to thank all of the organizations and individuals who have contributed to the creation of the Integrated Youth Services Network of Wellington County and Guelph.

I look forward to seeing this network in action. Thank you. Meegwetch.