Phase I Project Goals?

Through a CIHR project grant, Youth Digital Sexual Healthcare Mapping Project, we aimed to co-create with our partner Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights and the National Youth Advisory Board, a national youth sexual health & reproductive justice research platform grounded on youth-engaged research, feminist intersectionality, socio-ecological, and reproductive justice approaches.

In 2024-2025, we co-developed with 16 youth co-researchers a creative arts-based tool to digitally map 1) youth’s sexual healthcare access journeys within their communities and; 2) youth experiences interacting with different models of sexual health care (clinic based, within public health, primary care, within schools, within youth mental health support spaces), with particular focus on underrepresented voices of 2S/ LGBTQIA+ youth, Indigenous, Black and otherwise racialized youth; newcomer youth; and youth from smaller urban and rural communities. Between March and December 2025, 100 youth across Canada participated in youth-led digital mapping of their sexual healthcare journeys with the YCR team.

Collaborative coding, data analyses, writing, and knowledge mobilization (KM) will be ongoing in winter/ spring 2026 with a final KM youth workshop event scheduled for May 2026 in Victoria, BC. Stay tuned for papers & youth-created KM products to be shared out spring/ summer 2026.

What’s Next?

Drawing on results of Phase I CIHR youth digital sexual healthcare mapping project, the team has identified key intersectional research and policy questions and gaps raised by youth across Canada at the intersection of law, policy, human rights, and sexual and reproductive health. Our team is working together to apply for a Phase II project for 2026 and beyond, building on this national youth sexual health & reproductive justice research platform, Phase I findings, and partnership with Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights (stay tuned!!).