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Google.org has committed more than CAD $1.4 million in grants to Kids Help Phone and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada to support new youth-focused online safety and digital wellbeing programmes.
The funding centres on Be Internet Awesome, a Google-backed digital safety education curriculum. Both charities will use it to develop new resources and sessions for children, young people, and educators.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada will develop its first national, in-person digital safety programme. It plans to use interactive activities to teach children aged 8 to 12 about misinformation, online bullying, and other risks.
Kids Help Phone will create a new online safety module for its Counsellor in the Classroom programme and launch an Online Safety Resource Hub. The hub will focus on building digital resilience.
The announcement comes as parental concerns about children's online experiences continue to rise. Google Trends data cited by Google shows searches in Canada for topics such as parental controls and limiting screen time reached record levels in 2025. Searches for Google's Family Link also hit all-time highs over the same period.
Google also highlighted product updates across Google and YouTube related to supervised accounts, parental controls, and youth wellbeing. Some changes have already rolled out, while others are expected later.
School and clubs
The Boys & Girls Clubs programme is positioned as a national, in-person offering for upper primary age groups and covers common online risks. Its use of interactive activities suggests a workshop format rather than a purely classroom-based resource.
Kids Help Phone's new module will sit within Counsellor in the Classroom, which is delivered in schools. The planned Online Safety Resource Hub is intended as an ongoing library of materials for young people and those supporting them.
Google marked the announcement with an event at its Canadian headquarters in Toronto, hosting more than 100 children from Boys & Girls Clubs in the city for an "interactive Online Safety Roadshow". Participants worked through the core principles of Be Internet Awesome and took part in activities focused on safe online behaviour.
Two federal representatives joined the event, according to organisers: Anna Gainey, the Secretary of State for Children and Youth, and Vijay Thanigasalam, the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.
Family controls
Family Link has a new design intended to make it easier to manage child profiles and devices from a single page, with advanced settings more accessible.
Family Link also includes a Screen Time tab that consolidates controls. Parents can view device-specific usage summaries, set time limits, and adjust Downtime and School time settings in one place.
YouTube has updated parts of its family experience, including a sign-up process designed to make it easier to choose an appropriate viewing experience and content settings.
Google also outlined new controls for YouTube Shorts. Parents can use supervised accounts to set limits on time spent scrolling Shorts, and an option to set the timer to zero-blocking Shorts scrolling entirely-is expected soon.
Other updates include custom Bedtime and Take a Break reminders for supervised accounts, building on default-on wellbeing protections for teens.
Content and AI
YouTube has introduced teen quality content principles that influence how videos are recommended to teenagers and provide guidance for creators.
Google also pointed to partnerships with content providers for family-focused viewing, citing Sesame Street as an example of the programming it aims to surface for families.
In education, Be Internet Awesome has been expanded with an AI literacy guide, including lesson plans and classroom activities to introduce foundational concepts.
Google also highlighted online workshops for beginners: Meet LEO for parents and Meet LEA for educators, focused on building familiarity with new tools and digital topics.
"Kids deserve online experiences where they can learn, grow, and discover safely. We're committed to continuing to raise the bar for the industry, while working alongside community leaders and policy makers to build a safer online environment for all Canadians," said Sabrina Geremia, Vice President and Country Managing Director, Google Canada.