Catholic Family Services of Toronto is combining its offices into one location, with a vow to continue providing care for the whole community from its midtown office at the Archdiocese of Toronto Pastoral Centre. 

The non-profit counselling agency, which has been helping Toronto families for over 100 years, announced at the end of 2023 it would be closing its north office at 245 Fairview Mall Dr. and bolster its services for both in-person and online clients by operating a more concentrated, hybrid-focused model of delivery. 

“We will continue to serve current clients, individuals on our waiting list and members of the community by video or telephone appointments, or in person at our central office located at 1155 Yonge St.,” said a release on the CFS website. “During this transition period, we plan to maintain our level of availability to the community and will be seeking feedback about the alternative service delivery options including the use of virtual appointments.” 

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The amalgamation of the two offices into a centralized location not only combines the entirety of CFS work force, but allows for the correct delivery method to be applied based on clients' needs.

“Some folks really prefer in-person services and programs and some really benefit from having remote or virtual services such as online therapy or participating in an online group,” said executive director Brenda Spitzer. 

Services such as marriage counselling often benefit from an online delivery where two people in a relationship may struggle to meet at the same time during the day, whereas programs available for violence against women can be offered in person to provide a safe space for those seeking help. 

CFS is continuing to offer all of its programs, many of which focus on counselling, psychotherapy and wellness. These include quick access counselling, women abuse services, marriage preparation and family life, re-marriage preparation and its new beginnings program for those who are separated, divorced or bereaved, among other wellness programs. 

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The decision to amalgamate its two offices also benefits CFS and its staff as a whole. Being not-for-profit, operating out of two large spaces with general expenses, overhead and rent can be costly if they are not fully staffed due to hybrid operation. 

“We found that with the two offices operating in hybrid, sometimes someone would go in and there would only be one or two other people floating around,” Spitzer said. “It would just be less of a working experience (without the amalgamation), and then issues like security concerns. It might be a little bit of an odd atmosphere for clients as well,” referring to hosting in-person sessions in a half-empty office. 

CFS Toronto officially terminated its lease at the Fairview location on Dec. 31 with the team packing up and joining forces in the new office two weeks prior. The experience, as Spitzer says, was rather involved for a not-for-profit group. 

“So that was fun,” she said jokingly. “We packed up that whole office and of course, when you amalgamate two spaces, you have to figure out who's sharing an office. It was a lot of logistics, but I think it's the same as so many work settings now where people are just trying to figure it out. We're not for profit, so we're also trying to do everything very efficiently.”

To celebrate the move, CFS is holding an open house to highlight its programs and services on March 6 at its newly joined office.  

“It will be both outward-looking and inward-looking and for the staff to say ‘we're now all together, we're one big family. It's not the north team and the central team, we're all together,' ” Spitzer said. “There are also lots of folks in the building that we also have relationships with in terms of our programs and services, now we're all part of the family at the pastoral centre.” 

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Timing nicely with the transition is the implementation of expanded senior programs that will look to deal with the mental health and wellness of the organization's senior client base. A newly completed pilot program that works with men who use abuse in their relationships has also been launched. 

“We have lots of different offerings for different ages and stages and our services are very low fee and in some cases, no fee where they're accessible,” Spitzer said. “We try to have a very low barrier for people to have access in the community, and it's both for the Catholic community and those outside of the Catholic community, everyone is welcome.”