The Parents We Met at CBRC Summit 2026

Four days in Toronto

From October 29 to November 1, researchers, health workers and community organizers gathered at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto for CBRC’s Summit 2026, Canada’s largest conference on 2SLGBTQIA+ health. pflag Canada was there for all four days.

pflag Canada went expecting to learn from researchers and service providers, and we did. The conversations we kept reflecting on the way home, however, were with parents.

Parents in the room

Several of the parents they met had come to Summit with a clear purpose. They wanted to understand what the research says about their children’s health and wellbeing, and they wanted to bring that knowledge home. Some were already organizing support in their towns or sitting on committees that shape services for young people.

For most, the work had not begun as advocacy. It began with a question about how to help one young person, and it widened as they came to see that the barriers their child faced were shared by other families.

Jackie Dales, pflag Canada’s Board Vice Chair and a mother herself, recognized that path. “I know what it feels like to walk into a room full of experts and wonder whether you belong there,” she said. “The parents I met at Summit had found their footing. They came for their own kids, and they are going home with ideas for their whole community.“

When speaking up at school feels too risky

Other conversations were harder to hear. A number of parents said they had stepped back from advocating directly in their children’s schools. They had not stopped caring about what happened there. Rather, they worried that raising concerns could make their child more visible, put them at risk, or affect how they were treated and assessed.

In several parts of the country, school policy on gender identity, pronouns, curriculum and even classroom displays has narrowed or become uncertain. Instead of going quiet, many of these parents are turning to partner organizations, including pflag Canada, to carry advocacy they no longer feel safe carrying alone.

“What I heard from parents was an internal tension about what it means to be a parent and protector,” said Christopher Longtin, pflag Canada’s Board Chair. “They were having to make a careful calculation about who would bear the cost of speaking up, and too often the answer was their child. When families turn to organizations like ours, they are trusting us to carry that advocacy with the same care they would.“

At the booth

The same shift showed up at the pflag Canada partnership booth. Steph Woolley, pflag Canada’s Board Secretary, noticed that visitors were not only stopping to say hello.

“People kept coming by to ask how we could work together,” Steph said. “Health organizations, researchers and community groups told us some version of the same thing: families are reaching out to them, and they want to know where to send those families for support. That is exactly the kind of partnership we want to build.“

Those conversations suggest that the organizations parents are turning to are, in turn, looking for one another. For families who cannot safely advocate alone, a well-connected network of partners may matter as much as any single organization.

What comes next

Summit was also where pflag Canada launched its new strategic plan, Belonging in Action, on October 31. The booth invited visitors to weave their own thread into a loom representing the plan’s priorities, and by the end of the conference many had.

“Belonging in Action asks people to weave themselves into this work,” Christopher said. “At Summit, we met parents, researchers and partners who were ready to do exactly that. Our job now is to make sure that when a family reaches out, there is someone on the other end who can help.”

If you are a parent or caregiver who has felt that tension between protecting your child and speaking up for them, you do not have to carry it alone. pflag Canada’s chapters and peer support volunteers are here, and so is the invitation to help shape what comes next.