Gender Diversity Clinic

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Children, youth and families Healthcare providers

About the Gender Diversity Clinic

The CHEO Gender Diversity Clinic is a multidisciplinary team of experts in gender care. We value inclusive, affirming, patient- and family-driven care. We use the most up-to-date national and international guidelines in order to care for gender-diverse and gender questioning youth and their families. Using a non-judgmental approach, we work with families to create individualized care plans that support each youth’s gender affirmation goals.

We will help your transition medically or socially either by direct or referral services

Information for children, youth and families

Before your appointment

You will need to bring the following items to your appointment:

health card
any medications

Please sign up for a MyChart account, prior to your first visit.

Our scheduling team will contact you by phone to schedule an appointment.

If something changes and you need to reschedule your appointment, please let us know at least 24-48 hours in advance if you are unable to make it by calling 613-737-7600 x2222. No-shows or frequent cancellations may result in discharge from the service.

Frequently asked questions

How can I make an appointment?

We accept referrals from:

Health-care providers, like your family doctor or pediatrician;
School guidance counsellors and teachers;
Community partners (this could be Youth Services Bureau, YouthNet, a psychologist in the community and others).
If you don’t have a family doctor or community partner who can refer you, you can refer yourself. Please give our Adolescent Health team a call at 613-737-7600 extension 3174.

Once we receive your referral, we review it and you will receive an intake call. We will call you directly to let you know your appointment time.

Who should I contact if I am worried or have questions?

For any emergency, including issues related to personal safety: call 911. This includes emergencies involving your child’s Gender Diversity-related concerns.

For patients who are being followed by the Gender Diversity Clinic
For patients who have seen a CHEO Gender Diversity Provider, call your Nurse Case Manager or send a direct message to them through MyChart. This is not for urgent calls. Our nurses are here to give support, education and will work to coordinate your child’s care. It may take 3-5 days for us to get back to you (and sometimes longer during holidays). We will return the most serious calls first. Please avoid leaving multiple messages for the same issue.

For patients who are waiting for their first visit with the Gender Diversity Clinic
Please do not call the nurses line if you have not yet been seen by a CHEO Gender Diversity Provider. Please call your family doctor, pediatrician or visit your nearest walk-in clinic for everything else.

Sign up for MyChart to access your CHEO health record anywhere, any time.
MyChart is a secure, online patient portal that connects you to parts of your CHEO electronic health record and allows you to send two-way secure communication to your care team, complete any questionnaires your care team sends and much more.
To learn more about MyChart and sign up, visit our MyChart page and fill out the MyChart Access Request Form.

Looking for more resources or supports on Gender Diversity?

Visit our Gender identity and sexual orientation resource and support page to find helpful websites, local contacts, videos and more.

Information for healthcare providers

Make a referral

Our clinic is now accepting e-referrals with Ocean!
If you’re already on Ocean, look us up via your account by searching "CHEO".
If you don’t yet have an Ocean account, no problem - signing up is free.
Make a referral in Ocean

You can make an e-referral using Ocean, or meet with your family doctor, pediatrician or school guidance counsellor, etc. and ask them to send in a referral.

Gender Diversity Clinic referral form

Referral criteria and eligibility

Referral criteria
Reason for referral	Criteria	Mandatory information to include in referral	Other information
Gender diversity	Lives in Ontario/Nunavut Pubertal and under 16.5 years old	Please complete online referral form – include as much information as possible	Please provide clear contact information for youth

Other information

For youth older than 16.5 years old who are not eligible for our clinic, resources are available through Rainbow Health Ontario and Centretown Community Health Centre Youth Gender Program, and Planned Parenthood Ottawa: Affirm.

Other helpful information for providers

Initial intake appointment will be with our team Social Workers.

Contact us

The Gender Diversity clinic is located at the main CHEO campus in C-5 (within our Adolescent Health clinic). Check out our maps and locations page to help you find it.

Gender Diversity Clinic (C-5), CHEO
401 Smyth Road
Ottawa ON K1H 8L1

Tel: 613-737-7600 ext 3174
Fax: 613-738-4258