Create Healthy Boundaries with your Friends with #bytelearning

Learning bytes are short courses, typically no more than 6 minutes, that are designed to be easy to digest. You can search Rumie’s library for the topics you would like to learn, then choose a course and start learning!

This week’s #bytelearning follows the theme #health. Take a look at the following learning bytes to learn helpful tips about setting boundaries and having hard conversations with your friends:

How I Learned to Make New Friends shares how difficult it can be to make new friends and what steps the author took to meet people. Some things to remember about meeting new friends is that not everyone has to be a forever friend or a best friend. You can have friends that are important for different reasons such as fun time friends, forever friends, and school friends.

How Do I Socialize in the Post-pandemic World? This learning byte provides helpful advice about socializing post-pandemic. Try keeping your social bubble small and do your best to slowly combat any fears or anxiety you may have.

How Do I Talk to My Messy Roommate About Keeping our Place Clean? This learning byte teaches you the steps you can take to most comfortably and confidently talk to your roommate about keeping the place clean. It is important to find the right time to talk, a polite way to approach your concerns, and to create a plan together to ensure the best outcome.

Rumie Initiative is technology company, a nonprofit organization, and a Canadian registered Charity. Check out the website here.

“We fill the gap between what you learned at school and what it takes to succeed by building the habit of lifelong learning.” – Rumie Initiative. 

Struggling to Keep Track of Your Finances? Try Making a Budget

A budget is a great way for you to organize your finances and plan for the future. It is important to know where your money is going, what your income is, and what your living expenses are. Though it does sound overwhelming, the outcome can be very positive. If you learn how to budget, you can learn how to save, which means you will have more opportunities to spend your money on the things most important to you. Budgeting doesn’t have to be scary, that’s why we’ve got great resources for you!

Let’s look at Government of Canada’s “Making a Budget” to learn why creating a budget is important:

A budget is a plan that helps you manage your money, know your income, track your spending, and save. Making a budget can help you balance your income with your savings and expenses and can guide your financial goals.

Here are some additional reasons why a budget is important:
  • You can set spending limits
  • Save regularly to pay off debts
  • Reduce costs and save money
  • Save for things important to you
  • Feel in control of your money
  • Reduce stress

These are the top free resources for Budgeting according to CNBC:

  • Try Mint for your mobile device (check out a beginner tutorial for Mint here)

Try the resources above to make a budget right for you. Google Sheets requires you to manually input your spending, but Mint does not. 

*The information above was sourced from Making a budget – Canada.ca and Best Free Budgeting Tools of 2022 (cnbc.com).

Learn How to Touch Type with TypingClub

Do you find sometimes you struggle with typing quickly? I did not have the chance to learn how to touch type in second grade, so I am trying to learn how to do it now as an adult. Touch typing can help you type faster and more efficiently so that you don’t have to feel like you’re struggling to keep up with your boss, professor, or teacher when you have to take notes.

I have tried the touch-typing exercises and I think they really help, but the biggest part of learning touch typing is muscle memory. Try to practice as much as you can and eventually your typing speed will improve!

Try the Typing Jungle lesson for fun games and exercises to help you improve your typing skills!

Visit TypingClub here.

Give Yourself an Energy Boost with a 5 Minute Yoga Routine

It’s hard to find energy when the days are short and the weather can be so cold. If you find yourself in need of an energy boost, sometimes doing the opposite of our negative thoughts can help us feel better. If you don’t have a lot of energy, but want to feel a little boost, try a short 5 minute yoga routine. As daunting as it might feel, you might find you’re able to take on the rest of the day with a little more energy.

Yoga with Uliana has a great 5 minute yoga routine to give you a boost!

Create a Healthy Eating Routine with #bytelearning

Learning bytes are short courses, typically no more than 6 minutes, that are designed to be easy to digest. You can search Rumie’s library for the topics you would like to learn, then choose a course and start learning!

This week’s #bytelearning follows the theme #health. Take a look at the following learning bytes to learn how to create a health eating routine:

Learn to Practice Self Discipline for Healthy Eating in 3 Min teaches you how to set realistic goals and shares that setbacks happen and that’s okay.

How are Habits Formed? This learning byte shares tips on what a habit is, how to form them, and tips on where to start when creating new ones. 

Hunger vs. Food Cravings distinguishes the differences between hunger and food cravings and shares tips on how to prevent and reduce food cravings.

Be sure to register for the next Build Your Own Byte Workshop taking place on March 29th, 2023 from 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM. We will be focusing on themes such as “how do I tell my friend I’m a youth in care” and “how to remind yourself you matter in 5 small ways (with a BIG impact)”. Hope to see you there!

Rumie Initiative is a technology company, a nonprofit organization, and a Canadian registered Charity. Check out the website here.

“We fill the gap between what you learned at school and what it takes to succeed by building the habit of lifelong learning.” – Rumie Initiative. 

Searching for a New Employment Opportunity? Try One of These 6 Job Boards

Where do I search for my next job? How will I find a better position? What places are hiring in my area? These are very common questions and concerns to have when looking for your next employment opportunity. Finding the right place to start in your job search can be difficult, but Fostering Community is here to help! 

Online job boards are great places to search for opportunities that best suit your personal and professional goals. Check out the following online job boards for current openings:

  • Workopolis.com Search by job title, company, keywords, and/or location to find current opportunities.
  • Mosterjobs.ca Search by job title, company, keywords, and/or location to find current opportunities. 
  • Indeed.com Search by job title, company, keywords, and/or location to find current opportunities.
  • Charityvillage.com Search by job title, organization, keywords, and/or location to find current opportunities.
  • Glassdoor.ca Search by job title, keywords, companies, and/or location to find current opportunities. This website requires you to make an account to view jobs.

New job postings are always being added, so be sure to revisit these websites for new opportunities.   

Manage a Stressful Semester with #bytelearning

Learning bytes are short courses, typically no more than 6 minutes, that are designed to be easy to digest. You can search Rumie’s library for the topics you would like to learn, then choose a course and start learning!

This week’s #bytelearning follows the theme #education. Take a look at the following learning bytes to learn healthy eating tips:

3 Ways to Study Smart Shares tips that can help you create study habits that work for you. Sometimes we might be missing just a few tips that can improve our studying.

5 Ways to Focus on Your Mental Health This Semester Teaches you how important it is to focus on your mental health first. School is important, but it’s not everything. You matter too!

How Can Routine Help Me Manage Stress? This learning byte is a great resource to use if you are having trouble getting your tasks done because of stress. Getting a routine going can work wonders and help you manage your stress.

Rumie Initiative is technology company, a nonprofit organization, and a Canadian registered Charity. Check out the website here.

“We fill the gap between what you learned at school and what it takes to succeed by building the habit of lifelong learning.” – Rumie Initiative. 

Canada-wide Mental Health Supports for Youth and Adults

This season is proving to be a mixture of winter storms and spring weather. With the lack of daylight, gloomy weather, and harsh cold keeping us inside some days, it can be a difficult time for a lot of people. This time of year can be quite stressful, so it is important that we take care of ourselves and are able to smoothly access resources and supports.

You can benefit from mental help resources and accessing counseling services not only during times of intense emotions, but for just about anything. Counselling can be great for stress, time management, and daily emotion regulation.

If you or someone you know if going through a lot and may need some additional resources and support, visit Canada.ca for Canada-wide mental health resources.

Additional Supports:

Visit Wellness Together Canada to access different levels of support including:

  • One-on-one counselling
  • Credible articles and information
  • Self-guided courses and programs
  • Peer support and coaching

To connect with a mental health professional one-on-one at Wellness Together Canada:

Call 1-888-668-6810 or text WELLNESS to 686868 for youth.

Call 1-866-585-0445 or text WELLNESS to 741741 for adults.

Crisis Lines:

Call Talk Suicide Canada at 1-833-456-4566. Support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Quebec residents can call 1-866-277-3553 or visit suicide.ca.

Visit Talk Suicide Canada for the distress centres and crisis organizations near you.

For Children and Youth:

Visit the Kids Help Phone website for online chat support and to access further resources.

Call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free) or text CONNECT to 686868. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to Canadians aged 5 to 29.  

For First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples:

Call Hope for Wellness at 1-855-242-3310 (toll-free) or visit the website to access an online chat. Support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples seeking emotional support, crisis intervention, or referrals to community-based services.

Support is available in English and French and, by request, in Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut.

Fostering Community has a variety of resources and information about mental health, so check out our mental health channel for more.

10 Things You Should Know as a Tenant in Ontario

When you are a renter, it is important to know your rights. As a tenant there are certain rules you must follow, like how there are certain rules your landlord must follow too. Surprises can happen, so it’s important to be aware of what your landlord can and cannot do. 

Housingrightscanada.com is a great resource to use to learn more information about the rights you have as a tenant. This can help in cases like rent increases, illegal evictions, or maintenance requests. Through helpful articles, important resources, and people to contact, this information can help you feel more confident and aware if anything comes up.

Here are Housing Rights Canada’s Top Ten Tips for Ontario Tenants:

  1. Only provide deposits that landlords are allowed to request. When you are entering a lease agreement, your landlord cannot ask you to pay a damage deposit. Besides the first month’s rent, the only other monetary deposit a landlord can request is the last month’s rent and a key deposit.
  2. Request accommodations for your needs. If you have a disability, your landlord must make accommodations to ensure that you have equal access to and enjoyment of your rental unit. The landlord must work very hard to do this – up to the point of “undue hardship”, which is a very high standard.
  3. Do not accept a rent increase that is above the maximum amount allowed. For most units, rent increase amounts are governed by Ontario’s rent increase guideline, which sets the maximum amount that rent can be increased each year. For those units, the province will set an annual percentage that the rent can be increased by. For example, the rent increase limit in 2021 was 0%, and in 2022 was 1.2%.
  4. Hold your landlord accountable for repairs and maintenance. Your landlord must keep your unit in a good state of repair. It does not matter if you made a different agreement about repairs and maintenance when you signed your lease, or if you knew about a condition in your unit before you moved in. The law says that repairs and maintenance are always the landlord’s responsibility.
  5. Connect with your neighbours to resolve issues with your landlord. If you’re having issues with your landlord, talk to your neighbours. They may be facing similar issues, and together you can make plans about how to approach the landlord.
  6. Document interactions with your landlord. When possible, communicate with your landlord in writing and save all documents relating to your tenancy, such as your lease, rent receipts and any communication about repairs.
  7. Do not withhold your rent. In Ontario, you can bring a tenant application against your landlord if you think they are doing something improper. However, if you withhold your rent, you might be evicted.
  8. Do not move out immediately just because you received an eviction notice. There is a process through the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) that must be followed before an eviction can legally take place. In most instances, your landlord will have to get an order from the LTB to evict you.
  9. Do not move out immediately if your unit is sold. If the unit you are renting is sold to a new owner, it does not necessarily mean you have to move out. The new owner must continue to follow the lease. There are special rules the new owner will have to follow if they are planning to move into the unit.
  10. Seek help when facing challenges in your housing. CERA may be able to help you if you are facing an eviction or a human rights issue in your housing. Learn about our services. Call 1-800-263-1139 or 416-944-0087, or email cera@equalityrights.org. You may also find help at a legal clinic, the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations (FMTA) or the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO).

Visit housingrightscanada.com to learn more about your rights as an Ontario tenant.