First Place Options provides support to anyone facing an unexpected pregnancy or pregnancy-related challenge, including those seeking a pregnancy test, pregnant individuals, and their partners or support people. We also provide support to anyone who might be struggling in the postpartum stage or after abortion.

We serve individuals of all ages, abilities, gender identities, sexual orientations, religions, nationalities, cultures, and ethnicities. We know that pregnancy can bring challenges, regardless of your age, life stage, or circumstances. We are here for you!

You can contact us through our website contact page, emailing us at info@firstplaceoptions.ca, or calling the office at 613-228-7475

There is no charge for any of our services! Everything is completely free. We are here for you.

If you visit First Place Options in person, you will be welcomed by one of our staff members in our reception area. You will be provided with our Limitation of Services and asked to fill out some basic information (there is no pressure for you to share any information that you prefer not to).

If you are connecting virtually with First Place OPTIONS, one of our support team will dialogue with you by email and set up an Intake appointment for you. You will be provided with our Limitation of Services.

You will be introduced to a member of our support team who will do the intake session with you. The focus of our intake session is to listen to you. We care about your concerns and provide a safe, non-judgmental surrounding for you to sort through your feelings and plans. Our intake appointments are usually about an hour long, but we do our best to accommodate those who may have less time available or need more time to talk. Please let us know if you can only visit for a short time (i.e.: you are on a lunch break) or if you need to schedule an appointment outside of our usual hours.

We are not a medical clinic, and we do not provide any medical services. We do have information about how to access midwives, prenatal and well-baby clinics and walk-in clinics in our community.

First Place Options uses a client-led, permission-based approach to sharing information. We have medically accurate and evidence-based information about each pregnancy option (abortion, adoption, and parenting). 

If you are considering placing your baby for adoption, we tailor our services to meet your unique needs before, during, and after the placement. 

We are not a licensed adoption agency so we will put you in touch with Ministry-licensed adoption agencies in Ontario which will help you, the birth parent(s), with the adoption process in addition to giving you other support.  We are committed to supporting you throughout the process.

Practical items and emotional support are available for clients through our Pregnancy and Parenting Support services. 

While we do our best to provide items like diapers and gently used baby clothing every month, we can only offer items as they are made available to us through our generous community donors.  If we do not have what you need at the time, we will make appropriate referrals to other community partners.

There is not a set time limit for how long a person can be a client.

People contact First Place Options at various stages of their journey; some people might only visit once and others continue to receive support for longer. For example:

• Those who place a baby for adoption are provided with ongoing emotional support to help process their complex emotions; there is no set timeline for this.
• Support after abortion might include a one-time visit or our more structured, eight-week program.
• Our parenting support is designed to emotionally and practically help parents during the first year of parenting when there are often many changes and adjustments to make.

Although we aren't very 'religious', we began as a Christian service organization over 30 years ago. Our original mandate was, “to offer emotional and practical support to every woman facing difficulties during pregnancy, irrespective of whether they choose to go through with the pregnancy or not.”

We do not impose our Christian beliefs on anyone; however, we are proud to have them guide us in our effort to serve our community. We remain committed to our mission to offer hope and to Love people. Period.

Our desire to offer love, compassion, and grace as modelled by Jesus is an important aspect of our mission.

This is what that means to us:

• We listen to women
• We encourage women to take control and make their own decisions
• We provide women with life-giving options
• We welcome partners and families and extend support to them
• We offer education and resources free of charge
• We educate our community about healthy relationships
• We provide ongoing practical and emotional support to all clients who want it

We believe that aligning with a particular political view concerning abortion is unhelpful and often creates barriers for those who want to receive help. We believe that every person has intrinsic value and worth and that every person has been given free will to make decisions concerning their lives.

We feel more connected to a view of pro-grace where we value both the woman experiencing the unplanned pregnancy as well as the life of her child. Both are deserving of love and care. We believe that every woman should be fully informed about her pregnancy options which include the possible physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual implications of having an abortion.

Facing an unplanned pregnancy comes with unique and difficult challenges for each person. We endeavor to create a safe, non-judgmental place for women (and men) to process their situation and to experience being loved, valued, and heard. Regardless of the outcome of the pregnancy decision, we will provide ongoing, practical, and emotional support. 

Although we are always happy to meet you in person, you can access our support services online. However, some services (such as pregnancy tests) naturally would require that you come to the office. Please contact the office at 613-228-7475, or info@firstplaceoptions.ca to discuss your particular situation, and we will do our best to accommodate you!