Resources for teachers and administrators

Ensuring schools are healthy centres of learning and child development requires focus on the whole school: students’ mental and physical health, staff wellness, healthy school environments, infection control, immunizations, student nutrition and exercise, allergies, health conditions in the classroom, and more.

• Healthy Schools BC
  Healthy Schools BC is a partnership between the Ministries of Health and Education, health authorities and education partners. It offers a wide variety of resources – from assessments to teaching frameworks, policies, guides, reports and grant information to help educators create healthy schools.
• Pan-Canadian Joint Consortium for School Health
  The consortium offers educators a variety of toolkits and resources for planning healthy schools, ensuring student positive mental health, classroom substance use education, youth engagement in schools and more.
• Safe Schools
  B.C. Ministry of Education information on fostering safe, caring and orderly schools, where students display socially responsible behaviour.
• B.C. School Food Toolkit
  The B.C. School Food Toolkit is the new approach to supporting schools with meal planning and food purchasing decisions.
• British Columbia Anaphylactic and Child Safety Framework
  A guide outlining schools’ required anaphylaxis response (treatment and prevention of severe allergies) in schools.

• Health Eating at School
  This program is a partnership between the BC Ministry of Health and the BC Dairy Association which aims to encourage healthy eating at school, with a one-stop shop approach to resources.
• BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation
  This organization works with educators to bring knowledge and experience of B.C.’s agriculture to students, and administers several hands-on programs.
• BC School Fruit and Vegetable Nutritional Program
  This program provides fresh, B.C. grown fruits and vegetables to students in over 1,400 public and First Nations schools.
• Farm to School Program
  This school-based program connects schools and local farms, with a goal to ensure children learn about food and have access to fresh, local, and nutritious foods while at school.

Over half of Canadian children and youth are not active enough for optimal growth and development. The rapid increase in obesity among youth, combined with low levels of physical activity, threaten the health and development of children and youth. Guides to get active:

• School Physical Activity and Physical Literacy program
  Free physical activity and physical literacy tools, aligned with the B.C. PHE curriculum.
• Physical Health and Education Canada
  This organization advocates for quality physical and health education programs to enable students to develop the knowledge and skills to lead physically active and healthy lives. They offer conferences, forums, curriculum resources and guidelines for establishing recreation programs.

• Substance use – erase not knowing
  This site is found on the erase website and includes information and resources about substance use.
• ABCs of substance use
  The ABCs of Youth Substance Use is an initiative to promote evidence based approaches to youth substance use education in B.C. schools.
• BC Lung Vaping Toolkit
  Vaping Health Education Toolkits for Parents & Teachers | BC Lung Foundation
• Tobacco Control Act
  Smoking in or near all B.C. schools is prohibited by provincial law. All public and private kindergarten to grade 12 schools in B.C. are smoke-free under the act.
• Education and Awareness Resources for Mental Health and Substance Use in B.C.
  BC Ministry of Education recommended learning resources and programs on substance use, drugs, alcohol, and other mental health issues.
• National Institute on Drug Abuse Resources for Parents and Educators
  Find the latest science-based information about the health effects and consequences of drug abuse and addiction and resources for talking with kids about the impact of drug use on health.
• Fraser Health: Overdose prevention and response
  Our web resource has facts on the overdose crisis, tips for talking to students about drugs, guides to recognizing and preventing overdoses, plus an information toolkit for schools and parents.
• Helping Schools
  Helping Schools is an online resource designed to help schools and their partners take effective action in addressing the impact of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use on the school environment and on students’ health and learning.
• Vaping Toolkit for Schools – Fraser Health
  This toolkit provides practical tools, evidence-based programs and educational resources specifically designed to support educators and students.

Child and youth mental health services are offered throughout B.C. by the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD). This includes a wide range of community-based specialized mental health services for mentally ill children, youth, and their families. Here are some key resources:

• erase = expect respect and a safe education
  erase is all about building safe and caring school communities. This includes empowering students, parents, educators and the community partners who support them to get help with challenges, report concerns to schools, and learn about complex issues facing students.
• Ministry of Child and Family Development Child and Teen Mental Health Resources
  Information on the EASE (everyday anxiety strategies for educators) program designed to prevent anxiety in young children, guides on dealing with teen depression, access suicide prevention advice and many other resources.
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Public Education
  The CAMH offers public education resources and online modules for the public and for teachers and schools to help raise awareness of mental health and addictions and break down stigma.
• Foundry
  Foundry offers health and wellness resources, services and supports for young people ages 12-24 across B.C.
• Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre
  This provincial resource centre offers parents, youth and educator resources on a host of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, mood disorders and substance use, plus a sister site dedicated to eating disorders and cross-cultural resources.
• Positive Mental Health Toolkit from the Joint Consortium for School Health (JCSH)
  This toolkit has been designed to promote positive mental health practices and perspectives within the school environment using a comprehensive school health approach. The Toolkit is divided into a series of online modules, presenting information and materials that are manageable and user friendly.
• Social & Emotional Learning Resource Finder from UBC
  The Social & Emotional Learning Resource Finder provides a variety of resources to educators learn about social and emotional learning, apply teaching methods and asses efforts
• Bringing Mental Health to Schools
  A self-guided, fully online, classroom ready, modular mental health curriculum resource. In this course, educators will learn how to apply this classroom-ready, web-based, modular mental health curriculum resource (the Guide) as well as upgrade their own mental health literacy. Educators can then use this curriculum resource in their schools to successfully address mental health related curriculum outcomes designed to be delivered by usual classroom teachers to students in grades 7 – 12.

Sex and sexuality can be challenging issues for teenagers and students. Guidance and accurate information from trusted adults can help ease their minds and encourage them to make good decisions about sex and their sexual health.

Sexual health education is also part of supporting their physical, emotional, social and mental well-being. Visit the Sexual health toolkit for educators for age-appropriate resources that align with B.C. curriculum and best practice guidelines.

The following crisis and information lines offer help for teachers and school administrators who need immediate advice on emergency student health issues, or need to refer a student or family in crisis.

• Suicide crisis line: 1-800-SUICIDE or 1-800-784-2433
• Fraser Health Crisis Line: 1-877-820-7444 or 604-951-8855
• Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868
• Mental Health Support Line: 604-310-6789
• Here to Help BC Mental Health Info Line: 604-669-7600
• Alcohol and Drug Information and Referral Service: 1-800-663-1441 or 604-660-9382
• QMUNITY Queer Resource Centre: 1-800-566-1170 or 604-872-3311
• Vancouver Rape Relief Crisis Line: 604-872-8212
• Options for Sexual Health Sex Sense Line: 1-800-SEX-SENSE or 1-800-739-7367
• Youth Against Violence Line: 1-800-680-4264
• HealthLink BC: 8-1-1
• Report child abuse or neglect: 604-310-1234

On July 1, 2025, the minister of education issued the Support services for schools ministerial order, which includes a mandate for school boards to establish, maintain and make publicly available a policy for responding to unexpected health emergencies (Response to unexpected health emergencies policy). The policy states that AEDs must be available and readily accessible in each school.