Mental health and type 1 diabetes
A directory of mental health providers by Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) Canada – This directory lists mental health care providers who have been specifically trained about type 1 diabetes. You can enter your province or territory of residence and get a list of available providers. (Treatment requires money and/or insurance coverage, recommended by: Holly)
Diabetes Distress Assessment and Resource Center by DiabetesDistress.org – This resource allows people to take the Diabetes Distress survey and get their results showing which areas appear to be most worrisome for them. (FREE, recommended by: Virtue)
Diabetes Sucks AND You Can Handle It by Mark Heyman, a psychologist in the US who lives with T1D – This book is all about mental health and type 1 diabetes. (Book requires money to buy it or library access, recommended by: Holly)
Disordered eating by the BETTER Registry – This link describes the link between T1D and disordered eating, and offers a number of resources and a recorded webinar (scroll to the bottom of the page.) (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
Mental health generally
BounceBack – A free online program from the Canadian Mental Health Association designed to help adults and youth (15+) manage low mood, stress, worry and symptoms of depression and anxiety. (FREE, recommended by: Matt)
Mental health support in each province and territory – This Health Canada website provides a list of mental health resources that are available in each province and territory, including support for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples, youth and young adults, and Veterans and their families. (FREE, recommended by: Matt; includes AMI-Quebec, which was recommended by Michaëlla)
Sexual assault centres, crisis lines, and support services – This website shows ways to get help nationally and by province or territory. (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
Suicide Crisis Helpline – Call or text 9-8-8 or use 988.ca. This is a suicide crisis helpline in Canada for people who are experiencing thoughts of suicide and need help, aren’t sure if they need help, or are worried about someone else. The helpline is provided by a network of organizations across Canada and is available to anyone in Canada. Quebec residents can also call 1-866-APPELLE (277-3553) to reach the suicide crisis helpline provided by the Centre de prevention du suicide de Québec. (FREE, recommended by: Holly and Matt)
Support for families and family caregivers – This is a list of resources for families and family caregivers of loved ones living with a mental health problem, provided by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. (FREE, recommended by: Matt; includes AMI-Quebec, which was recommended by Michaëlla)
Ways to get help with substance use – This website shows a list of ways to get help with substance use across Canada, as well as province-specific options. (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
Indigenous peoples
National Indigenous Diabetes Association – This resource is useful for people who want to learn about Indigenous culture and diabetes, and events relative to these topics. (FREE, recommended by: Sasha)
Non-Insured Health Benefits coverage – This resource is useful for First Nations and Inuit people who qualify for Non-Insured Health Benefits because it lists what is covered for diabetes, including, for example, coverage for continuous glucose monitors as of October 2023. (FREE, recommended by: Sasha)
Parents of Children with T1D
Curated lists of diabetes information designed for parents of children with T1D in English by BC Children’s Hospital and in French by the Montreal Children’s Hospital – These resources are especially helpful to parents of newly-diagnosed children, but are also useful to those who have been managing their children’s T1D for years. (FREE, recommended by: Sasha and Michaëlla)
Physical activity (exercise) and type 1 diabetes
Canadian 24-hour Movement Guidelines by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology – This resource is useful because it provides guidance on how much to move and rest for better wellbeing. (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
Consensus statement about exercise and T1D by a group of researchers, led by Mike Riddell, an exercise physiologist in Canada who also lives with T1D – This resource is useful because it provides guidance on how to manage blood sugar before, during, and after different types of exercise. The flowchart and table may be especially helpful. (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
Technology
Comparisons of pumps available in Canada as of 2025 by Endor Health and as of 2023 by the mother of a child with T1D who maintains a detailed and useful blog – These resources are useful for those who are considering different insulin pumps and want comparison tables like those available in the US, but specific to the devices available in Canada. (FREE, recommended by Holly)
Diabetes Canada’s Position Statement on Do-It-Yourself Automated Insulin Delivery systems by a group of clinicians, researchers, and people living with T1D – This resource is useful because it provides official guidance in Canada regarding noncommercial artificial pancreas systems (APS) like AndroidAPS, Loop, OpenAPS, and Trio that you can build for yourself or your child using open source software. (FREE, recommended by: Holly, Dylan)
Funding for technology – This coverage map assembled by Breakthrough T1D Canada (formerly JDRF Canada) shows different options for covering technology like continuous glucose monitors, flash glucose monitors, and insulin pumps across Canada. It also provides information about insulin availability across Canada. (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
Teens and Young Adults
Kids Help Phone Canada by Kids Help Phone Canada – This resource offers e-mental health to kids, teens and young adults in Canada. It has both texting and calling options, along with other online and in-person resources. (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
The Diabetes Link – This organization offers teen/young adult peer support. Find a chapter near you or start your own! (FREE, recommended by: Marley)
Virtual Peer Network (VPN) – This network, begun in 2017, has a private Facebook group for people aged 14-24 with type 1 diabetes in Canada. (FREE, recommended by: Marley)
Using insulin
Insulin for Protein and Fat by Diabetes Educators Calgary – This resource is written for health professionals. It is useful because it explains how protein and fat can affect blood sugar, and what we can do about it. (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
Insulin Timing and Dosing by the Diabetes Design Initiative at UC San Diego – This resource is useful because you can play around with insulin amount and timing and see how those variables affect blood sugar without actually having to experience the highs and lows. (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
Think Like A Pancreas by Gary Scheiner – This book gives practical advice about how to use insulin, no matter whether you are using needles, pens, or a pump. (Book requires money to buy it or library access, recommended by: Holly)
Other
BETTER Registry by a group of researchers, health professionals, and people and families living with T1D – This registry is similar to registries in other countries (for example, the T1DExchange registry in the US) in that it offers a way for people with T1D to answer surveys and provide data to help improve T1D care in Canada. The project also runs regular, free webinars about T1D topics and has useful lists of resources. (FREE, recommended by: Holly, Dylan)
Bright Spots and Landmines by Adam Brown – This book is a free resource that has lots of ideas relevant to living well with T1D. (FREE, recommended by: Dylan)
Diabetes Action Canada – This resource is useful because people with diabetes and caregivers of people with diabetes can see what types of research projects are being done, and they can become a patient partner to help guide what & how diabetes research is done in Canada. (FREE, recommended by: Sasha, Holly)
Diabetes Canada helpline 1-800-BANTING and Diabète Québec Service Infodiabète – These are phone lines, email addresses, and/or chat services that people can use to get individualized help. (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
Diabetes Community Hub – This is a listing of user-submitted communities (mostly online, but some offline) relevant to diabetes of all types. (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
How 2 Type 1 by Diabetes Canada – This is a series of videos designed for those who are new to T1D or who could use a refresher on some concepts. (FREE, recommended by: Peter)
Management lessons learned from 40 years with type 1 diabetes – This is a blog post by Holly, the lead scientist for CommuniT1D. Holly was a little uncomfortable with her blog post being recommended here but was convinced by others to let it be listed! They say it offers insight that is both broad and specific on a variety of topics, ranging from backcountry camping to perimenopause. There is truly something for everyone living with T1D to gain from reading this post. (FREE, recommended by: Dylan, Shayla)
What is type 1? By Victor Garber and Beyond Type 1 – This 2-minute video is a quick introduction to type 1 diabetes. It may be useful to share with people who don’t understand what type 1 diabetes is. (FREE, recommended by: Holly)
