Strongest Families Institute

What Strongest Families Institute does

Strongest Families Institute (SFI) is a Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization founded in 2011 and headquartered in Lower Sackville/Bedford, Nova Scotia, that delivers bilingual (English and French) mental health services to children, youth, adults, and families across Canada via distance-delivered telephone coaching. Its core program suite — built on 20 years of underlying social science research and grounded in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy — includes Parents Empowering Kids and Parents Empowering Neurodiverse Kids (ages 3-14), Chase Worries Away (ages 6-11), Defeat Anxiety (ages 12-17), ICAN for adults (18+), Dry Nights Ahead bedwetting support (ages 5-12), and specialized Military, Veterans & Their Families programming. All programs are provided free of charge to families.

SFI's technical platform centers on IRIS (Intelligent Research and Intervention Software), a proprietary electronic information system developed by founder Dr. Patricia Lingley-Pottie, paired with a companion SFI mobile app, SSL-encrypted client portal, and secure intake/referral infrastructure that together enable remote program delivery, outcome tracking, and case management across a national coaching network. Since inception, SFI reports having served more than 75,000 clients with an over 85% program success rate and 98% client satisfaction.

SFI's business model is a charitable free-to-client model funded by donations, corporate and foundation grants (notably TD Ready Commitment, RBC Foundation, GreenShield, Bell Let's Talk, and Canadian North), and provincial/territorial health association contracts. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via a toll-free intake line and website referral, supplemented by healthcare-provider referrals and ecosystem partnerships. Headcount is 101-250 employees and the organization operates nationally across at least eight provinces, including Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, and beyond.

Name

Strongest Families Institute

Legal name

STRONGEST FAMILIES INSTITUTE

Website

https://strongestfamilies.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Strongest Families Institute is a Canadian not-for-profit founded in 2011 that provides free, bilingual, distance-delivered mental health programs via telephone coaching to children, youth, adults, and families across Canada, using proprietary IRIS software.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mental Health Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (624110), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Social Assistance (624)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health Teletherapy Platforms (HLALAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Behavioral Health for Children & Adolescents (Youth Services) (HLAFACAL), Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC)

Keywords

• Mental health services
• Telephone coaching programs
• Family counseling support
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Youth anxiety programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Lower Sackville

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations: SFI is a not-for-profit charitable organization that relies on donations to fund programs and services. The website states '100% of your donations go to help fund our programs and services.'
2. Government and Foundation Grants: Major funding from government sources and foundations including TD Bank Group ($300,000), RBC Foundation ($25,000), and partnerships with organizations like GreenShield. Funding supports specific program expansions and operational costs.
3. Program Services (Free to Families): All mental health programs are provided free of charge to families. The organization covers costs through donations, grants, and partnerships rather than charging clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Strongest Families Institute delivers free, evidence-based mental health programs to Canadian families via weekly telephone coaching sessions, grounded in cognitive behavioural therapy techniques and 20 years of social science research. Its program suite addresses child/youth anxiety (ages 6-17), parenting support for children ages 3-14 including neurodivergent kids, adult anxiety (18+), nighttime bedwetting (ages 5-12), and military/veteran family mental health, with programs delivered remotely through a proprietary IRIS information system and companion SFI mobile app available in English and French.

Product overview

Strongest Families Institute offers a portfolio of evidence-based, distance-delivered mental health programs accessible via telephone coaching, proprietary IRIS software, and a companion SFI mobile app. The core program suite includes: Parents Empowering Kids (ages 3-12) and Parents Empowering Neurodiverse Kids (ages 3-14) for parenting support; Chase Worries Away (ages 6-11) and Defeat Anxiety (ages 12-17) for youth anxiety; ICAN (18+) for adult mental health; Dry Nights Ahead (ages 5-12) for bedwetting; and specialized Military, Veterans & Their Families support. All programs are delivered through trained telephone coaches using cognitive-behavioural therapy based techniques, supported by the IRIS platform and accessible via the SFI App. Programs are free to clients and available in both English and French.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IRIS (Intelligent Research and Intervention Software): Proprietary electronic information system developed by SFI for delivering mental health programs

Products and services

• Parents Empowering Kids

Quantifiable outcome

• 75,000+ clients supported since 2011
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• GreenShieldmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 September 2025Partnership with Canada's only national non-profit health care and insurance organization to launch 'Classroom Calm & Care: Mental Health Literacy for Indigenous Youth.' Program delivers culturally relevant, classroom-based mental health literacy to Indigenous students in Northern Canada, with co-design involving local Indigenous community leaders.
• Northern Medical Services (Saskatchewan)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Veronica McKinney, Director of Northern Medical Services, partnered with SFI to expand mental health programs in Northern Saskatchewan. Programs are freely available and will expand into classrooms as an important step in mental health prevention.
• Toronto Public LibraryminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership to increase accessibility and awareness of mental health programs through library systems.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Emerging players

• Jack.org: Canadian non-profit focused on youth mental health education, advocacy, and training young leaders. Overlaps in Canadian youth mental health mission and funder base, though more advocacy/education than service delivery.

Regional players

• Wellness Together Canada: Government-funded portal launched during COVID providing free e-mental-health services to all Canadians. Comparable Canada-wide, free, distance-delivered mental health model, but publicly funded and broader in scope (crisis, therapy, self-guided).
• WATARI Youth & Family Services: Canadian non-profit serving at-risk youth and families in Western Canada with counselling, housing, and outreach. Overlaps in family/child mental health mandate and non-profit funding model, but operates regionally rather than nationally and is more in-person.
• Autism Canada: Canadian national autism advocacy and resource organization. Directly relevant for SFI's Parents Empowering Neurodiverse Kids and Stronger Together programs, and a likely co-funding or referral partner in the neurodivergent vertical.

Direct peers

• Anxiety Canada: Canadian charity focused on anxiety disorders, producing CBT-based self-help resources (including the MindShift app) and provider training. Direct overlap in evidence-based CBT modality for Canadian children, youth, and adults.
• Foundry: BC-centred integrated youth wellness network offering mental health, substance use, and social services for ages 12-24. Comparable in evidence-based, family-inclusive service design and provincial-government funding model; differs by being place-based rather than fully remote.
• Kids Help Phone: Canadian national e-mental-health service for youth offering 24/7 phone, text, and chat support. Most directly comparable peer: same Canadian geography, same children/youth mental health mission, same distance-delivery model, and same dependence on donations and government/corporate funders.

Broad incumbents

• BetterHelp: Large-scale commercial teletherapy platform offering paid, remote CBT and counselling to individuals. Comparable distance-delivery mental health model and technology-enabled coaching, but for-profit subscription model serving a broader (mostly adult) population.
• Morneau Shepell / TELUS Health EAP: Large Canadian employee-assistance and mental health provider offering phone/digital counselling (now part of TELUS Health). Broad incumbent in the corporate funder layer that also supports TD, RBC, and similar SFI partners; competes for the same family mental health budget.
• Headspace Health: Major digital mental health platform combining self-guided content, coaching, and therapy (Headspace + Ginger). Overlaps in CBT/coaching delivery and employer/payer partnerships but operates globally with for-profit B2B2C model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/strongestfam
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/strongest-families-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Strongest Families Institute