Various experiences contribute to shaping our identities, influencing our feelings of belonging, support, and connection to community.
Below you will find a list of resources that may offer support to individual and collective identities.
This list is not all-encompassing of the identities and experiences affecting people’s lives, and each resource list is not all-inclusive.
This list is continuously updated as we build to our identity-based resources on and off campus.
Watch this video and learn more about intersectionality.
General
- Specialized counselling services are available. View options here
- SFU and FIC students can connect with My SSP to request a culturally relevant counsellor, or a counsellor who speaks a preferred language. My SSP is available 24/7 worldwide so students can access whether in BC or abroad.
Race
- SFU students can also connect with My SSP and request to make an appointment with a culturally relevant counsellor.
- A Healing Space is a safe and confidential space for racialized students to share their stories, learn from each other, and build community.
Indigenous
- Counselling for Indigenous students is available with Tanu Gamble or Jennifer Reandy. To book an appointment, email isc_well@sfu.ca or learn more about counselling for Indigenous students here.
- Indigenous Student Centre (ISC) hosts a number of programs and services for students to connect, and has staff available to chat about navigating support options.
- ISC Wellness program is a safe and casual space for students to participate in monthly challenges, attend workout classes, share about your wellness journey, and connect with others through small activities, such as sharing your Spotify playlists.
- First Nations Health Authority has counselling services and resources that may be available to you.
- SFU students can connect with My SSP and request to make an appointment with an Indigenous counsellor. My SSP is available 24/7 by phone or chat.
Black & African Diaspora
- Tricia-Kay Williams is available to all Black SFU students and recent alumni for ongoing, one-to-one counselling. Book now
- Black Student Support and Healing Space is a group for students to feel comfortable talking about Black experiences surrounding racism in a group setting.
- SFU students can connect with My SSP and request to make an appointment with a Black-identifying, or culturally relevant/counsellor with similar lived experience. My SSP is available 24/7 by phone or chat and is available in multiple languages.
- View more with SFU Black Caucus
Gender, Gender Expression & Sexual Orientation
LGBTQIA2S+
- 2SLGBTQIA+ Questioning Group includes folks who are anywhere along a questioning process. Diversity of identities and experiences are welcome as this group aims to be a collaborative space where community comes together to support and learn from each other.
- Out On Campus (OOC) is SFU's LGBTQIA2S+ centre, brought to you by the SFSS with further support from the GSS. OOC provides a safer space for people of all genders and sexuality.
- Connect with doctors and nurses at Health & Counselling Medical Clinics for gender-affirming care. Transitioning students can learn to self-inject in a supportive environment, talk about chest binding or about other concerns with the nurse, and receive a referral for top/bottom surgery (both now done locally) after discussing the process with a doctor.
- Sexual Violence Support & Prevention office (SVSPO) is a welcoming space where you can share your experience without judgement or assumptions. The office works from a survivor-centered and trauma-informed approach that empowers survivors to choose what their support needs are. Regardless of when or where the incident occurred, you can receive assistance.
Women
- The SFU Women’s Centre is a safe space for women to build community on campus. Home to a resource area for folks of all genders and a 24/7 lounge for self-identified women, the Centre is an anti-oppressive space for celebration and healing on campus.
- Sexual Violence Support & Prevention office (SVSPO) is a welcoming space where you can share your experience without judgment or assumptions. The office works from a survivor-centered and trauma-informed approach that empowers survivors to choose what their support needs are. Regardless of when or where the incident occurred, you can receive assistance.
Disability & Neurodivergent
- View options for support with Health & Counselling, including information about counselling, therapeutic groups, about assessments and referrals
- The Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL) is available to students with a documented or suspected disability, and students looking for volunteer opportunities, along with anyone with questions about equal educational opportunities at SFU.
- Read blog posts from I Am Able - An Insider's View on Students Living with a Disability.
Religion / Spirituality
- The Multifaith Centres offer services (over 116 weekly group meetings), support (one-one chaplain support) and provides space for students, staff and faculty of faith or those interested to practice, develop, question, integrate and mature in faith while attending SFU.
- SFU students can connect with My SSP and request to make an appointment with a counsellor who has a shared religion or cultural identity, or similar lived experience. My SSP is available 24/7 by phone or chat through the app and is accessible worldwide. Multiple language options are available.
International Students
- Transition Case Manager is available for individual support with managing school stress, finding housing, understanding documents, or understanding Canadian services.
- SFU and FIC students can connect with My SSP and request to make an appointment with a culturally relevant counsellor with similar lived experience. My SSP is available 24/7 by phone or chat and is accessible worldwide, with multiple language options available.
- International Services for Students (ISS) is a welcoming and professional one-stop support for international resources, agency and services for all students, including international and exchange students, refugee and new Canadian students, students planning learning abroad, as well as faculty and staff leading international and intercultural learning activities.
- International Student Advising and Programs provides various options for advising for those with confidential questions about immigration-related or other personal matters (International Student Advisors/Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants).
- The Global Student Center Lounge is a place to study, hang out with friends or simply take a break.
@sfuhcs Use the Power Flower to reflect on your socio-cultural identities and the roles your power and privilege play in your life 🌼
♬ original sound - SFU Health & Counselling