that every child should have the opportuni-
ty to reach his or her full potential. Across
Canada, 108 local member agencies pro-
vide services in more than 1,300 commu-
nities — a far cry from the launch of the
first Big Sisters program and Big Brother
agency in Toronto in 1912. That was soon
followed by significant growth and in 1972,
Big Brothers of Canada separated from the
U.S. organization and became self-govern-
ing. Three years later, the Big Sisters As-
sociation of Ontario was established.
In 2001, Big Brothers and Big Sisters na-
tional and provincial organizations merged
to become Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Canada. The organization across Canada
celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2013
and today, more than 40,000 children are
matched each year with volunteers through
their mentoring programs. One of the big-
gest advances made throughout the or-
ganization’s history was the introduction
of national standards based on in-depth
research and best practices, Coleridge ex-
plained, which has helped focus the work
across Canada by emphasizing quality and
child safety.
Those standards are also instrumental as
the organization looks to the future by de-
veloping programs that meet the needs of
an increasingly diverse population. Along
with the more traditional one-to-one Big
Brothers and Big Sisters community-
based mentoring programs, one-to-one
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