Educational Workshops

Planned Parenthood Ottawa (PPO)’s education program has worked with youth, educators, and families for decades to offer learned-centered, inclusive, and interactive workshops on relationships and sexual health. 

Our approach to education

Our Sexual Health Education Program is one of the only pro-choice, anti-oppressive, and evidence-based sexual health education providers in Ottawa, reaching thousands of young people each year. Tailored to speak to the realities that youth live in, our workshops are highly interactive and help young people develop the skills they need to make confident, informed decisions about their sexual health and well-being.

Workshops offered for:

Grade 4-5

Puberty and Anatomy
2 x 45 minutes (90 minutes total)

Puberty can be a scary time without the knowledge and skills to navigate the experience. Our workshop aims to equip learners with information that will empower them on this journey by covering: how to manage the physical changes of puberty and understanding the reproductive system.

Exploring and Managing Emotions
2 x 45 minutes (90 minutes total)

Everyone struggles to identify and cope with difficult emotions. This workshop will explore the concept of “zones of regulation” that can help learners identify and categorize their emotional experiences, and offer strategies for coping with uncomfortable emotions.

Relationships: Being a Good Friend
2 x 45 minutes (90 minutes total)

Empathy, active listening, and accountability are all skills that can enhance all our relationships. This workshop will explore practical skills to support a friend through a difficult time, and be introduced to the topic of accountability as foundational building blocks for building good relationships.

Grade 6

Consent: Exploring Everyday Experiences
45-60 minutes

Consent applies to everyday life experiences. From sharing water bottles, to giving hugs to friends or family, we all have different boundaries around what we are and are not comfortable with. As such, this workshop covers: the importance of establishing boundaries, a basic understanding of consent in everyday examples and communicating personal boundaries with peers.

More to come!

Our education team is working to update our existing content and create new content for Grade 6s. Check back soon to find out more details.

Grade 7-8

Birth Control: the Basics
60 minutes

It can be scary not to know how bodies work and what options exist for preventing pregnancy. To ease these fears, we provide learners with a basic understanding of the birth control in this workshop by covering: the basics of how pregnancy happens, and offer an overview of common types of birth control including barrier methods, hormonal birth control, emergency birth control, long acting birth control, and behavioural methods of birth control.

STIs: Understanding Transmission
60 minutes

Everyday we encounter different types of illnesses, but with information on how they’re passed we can make informed decisions on how best to reduce our risk of illness. In the same way, when we understand how sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are passed, we can find ways to reduce our risk. This workshop will cover: the ways in which STIs are transmitted and offer some strategies on reducing the risk of STIs.

Consent: Exploring Changing Relationships
60 minutes

As young people grow up and build new types of relationships, new questions arise about flirting, kissing, and dating. To support learners, this workshop will cover: the nuances of what consent looks like in everyday life and have students identify practical tools for communicating about consent.

Relationships: Understanding Power and Accountability
2 x 60 minutes

Power can exist in all our relationships, but learning to identify when a power dynamic is unbalanced and hurtful can be difficult. In order to support learners in building healthier relationships, this workshop will cover: when a power dynamic in a relationship could be unbalanced, strategies to address potential hurt that could come from an unbalanced power dynamic in a relationship and introductory ways to take accountability in relationships.

Sexual Decision Making
60 minutes

It can feel overwhelming to consider all the different factors when deciding on your boundaries around sexual activity. From identifying our values, communicating with others and navigating how to reduce your risk – there can be a lot to think about! In order to support learners, this workshop will cover: what sex, intimacy and abstinence can mean, and offer information to reflect on before becoming sexually active. This workshop works best at the start or the end of a sexual health unit as it can be used as an assessment for learning, or an assessment of learning.

Grade 9-10

Birth Control: Discovering What's Right for You
75 minutes

IUDs, Implants, Shots, and more! How do you know which one is right for you? Our birth control workshop can help people figure it out. This workshop covers: the basics of how pregnancy occurs, common birth control methods, reasons people might use them and how they might access them.

STIs: Reducing your Risk
75 minutes

Everyday we do things to reduce our risk of illness, like washing our hands or covering our mouths when we cough. When it comes to sexual activity, there are lots of things we can also do to reduce our risk of illness. This workshop will: unpack STI stigma, provide information on how to reduce your risk of STI transmission, and explore what to expect during an STI test.

Consent: Exploring Nuance
75 minutes

While many people can define consent, it can be much more difficult to identify what consent is in our relationships. This workshop will explore: the nuances of sexual consent while allowing students to share their perspective with a goal of building empathy. Students will get to practice identifying and building practical ways to talk about sexual consent.

Relationships Curriculum
4 x 75 minuutes

Building happier and healthier relationships is a lifelong journey. To begin, these workshops will help youth: Identify their needs and wants in a relationship, communicate more effectively during a conflict, learn strategies for conflict de-escalation, examine power dynamics in relationships and learn about accountability. To learn more about our curriculum, see here

Parents, Caregivers and Families

There are lots of questions when it comes to how to best support kids and youth in sexual and reproductive health. In order to empower parents and caregivers to have meaningful and effective conversations with their kids and youth, as well as understand how sexual health education can shape people’s lives, we offer an adaptable workshop that: 

  • Identifies common sexual development milestones for children and youth
  • Explores sexual Health values for families to reflect on and want to impart on their children
  • Covers what is in the Ontario Health & Physical Curriculum and how it translates to classroom settings
  • Teaches practical skills to responding to children and youth’s questions about sexual health

Our team is committed to supporting your community’s specific values and depending on your group’s specific needs, this workshop can be between 1-2 hours.

Professionals

Whether it be teachers, healthcare providers, or other service providers, many people are tasked with supporting the sexual and reproductive health lives of others. To meet your group’s unique learning needs we offer customized professional development training on topics such as:

  • Reproductive coercion prevention
  • Understanding abortion access 
  • Reflecting on sexual health values
  • Expanding understandings on how to support 2SLGBTQ+ clients in your work

Contact us so we can discuss what options might work for you!

Pricing

At Planned Parenthood Ottawa, we believe that everyone should have access to accurate sexual and reproductive health information. We strive to offer our educational content for free whenever possible. However, to sustain our educational program funding, we rely on community support. We offer our workshops at a cost between $250-$500 depending on your specific requirements. Additionally, we provide customized workshops, starting at $500.

Tabling

Make your community gathering a hub of knowledge and engagement by inviting Planned Parenthood Ottawa! Our dedicated team is prepared to uplift your event with a wealth of information, free resources, and enjoyable educational activities to promote sexual health education and services. From distributing free printed materials and safer sex supplies to hosting our acclaimed “Sex-pert Jeopardy” game, we strive to create an environment that encourages open, informed discussions on sexual health for all participants. We provide this service for free!

How to book

Booking a workshop, tabling or other educational opportunity is easy!

Fill out the form below or send an email to our dedicated education team at relationships@ppottawa.ca

Our calendar tends to fill up quickly, so don’t wait too long! We recommend booking at least 2-3 months in advance to secure your preferred date and time. Let’s start planning an engaging session for your group!

Get in touch with us

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Planned Parenthood Ottawa is able to provide vital services and information to the Ottawa communities thanks to our generous donors.