Understanding Advocacy
Individual Advocacy
This is when you speak up for yourself to address your own needs, rights, or well-being. It’s about communicating your experiences and taking action to ensure you are treated fairly. Examples include requesting academic accommodations, appealing a decision, or advocating for your own mental health support. By practicing individual advocacy, you gain confidence, develop essential communication skills, and ensure your voice is heard in decisions that affect you directly.
Peer Advocacy
Peer advocacy means using your voice to support and stand up for someone else. You work to amplify their needs and wishes—never replacing their perspective, but helping to make sure it’s heard. This might involve accompanying a classmate to report discrimination, guiding a friend to the right campus resources, or speaking on behalf of peers in meetings. Peer advocates act as allies, offering both support and solidarity while helping others navigate challenges they might not be able to face alone.
Group Advocacy
Group or collective advocacy happens when you join with others to create change for a shared cause. This is the classic image of activism—uniting voices to demand action from decision-makers. Whether you’re lobbying for a new university policy, running a campus-wide awareness campaign, or rallying for affordable and healthy food options, collective advocacy draws strength from numbers. Together, you can gather input from the community, organize petitions, and hold events that represent the unified voice of many, making it harder for your message to be ignored.
These categories can overlap—for example, you might begin advocating for yourself and discover that many others share the same concern, turning it into a collective effort. No matter the scale, all advocacy is about making a difference by ensuring that voices are heard and issues are addressed.
Academic
Student Academic Success Services (SASS) – Queen’s University
Provides workshops, coaching, and resources to help students strengthen writing, learning strategies, and academic skills—equipping them to advocate for their own academic success and navigate academic challenges confidently.
AMS Peer Support Centre
Offers confidential, peer-led support for students navigating academic and personal stressors, helping them identify campus resources and advocate for their needs.
Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS).
Supports students with disabilities by coordinating academic accommodations, providing advocacy in navigating university policies, and ensuring equitable access to learning through individualized plans and accessibility resources.
Academic Affaris Centre
Whether it’s understanding academic regulations, exploring accommodation or appeal options, accessing academic integrity support, or applying for accessibility bursaries, the AAC connects students with resources and guidance. It also works toward institutional change by advocating on behalf of students to improve fairness, clarity, and support in academic policy.
I-EDIIA
Human Rights and Equity Office
Provides confidential guidance, policy advice, and education to help students address discrimination, harassment, and equity issues—empowering them to act on their rights under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Yellow House Student Centre for Equity and Inclusion
A community hub for QTBIPoC students, fostering empowerment through programming, advocacy initiatives, and space to organize around equity and inclusion issues.
Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre
Supports Indigenous students’ cultural, academic, and personal well-being, and serves as a platform for Indigenous advocacy and reconciliation on campus.
Faith and spiritual life
Advocates for inclusive belonging by supporting students of all faiths and worldviews through pastoral care, interfaith dialogue, and spiritual resources.
Office of Indigenous Initiatives
Advocates for reconciliation and Indigenous representation by promoting Indigenous ways of knowing and fostering culturally safe learning spaces.
BIPOC Talk
Advocates for racial equity by providing a platform for dialogue, peer support , and community-building among Black, Indigenous, and students of colour.
Queers 4 Peers (Q4P)
Advocates for 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion by offering confidential peer support, resources, and a welcoming environment for queer and questioning students.
Mental Health
Student Mental Health Services by SWS
Provides clinical support, workshops, and crisis intervention—helping students advocate for accommodations and access timely mental health cre.
988 Suicide Crisis Helpline (Canada)
A national 24/7 line offering immediate emotional support and crisis intervention, advocating for mental health awareness and suicide prevention.
AMHS-KFL&A Crisis Services
Local crisis team providing immediate intervention and connecting students to long-term supports—helping them navigate mental health systems.
Kingston Community Health Centres (KCHC)
Provides community-based mental health programs, including counseling and outreach—ensuring equitable access and advocating for community wellness.
Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Service
Supports survivors in accessing mental health care and navigating reporting or complaint processes—advocating for trauma-informed approaches.
Legal Aid
Queen’s Legal Aid (QLA)
Offers free legal representation and advice to students and low-income individuals on issues like tenancy, employment, and human rights—helping students stand up for their legal rights.
Community Legal Clinic Partnerships (via Queen’s)
Collaborates with local clinics to expand access to legal advocacy for students and community members facing systemic barriers.
Housing
AMS Housing Resource Centre (HRC)
Provides peer-led advice on leases, landlord disputes, and tenant rights—empowering students to advocate for fair housing conditions.
Off-Campus Living Advisor Resources
Guides students through housing searches, legal obligations, and city by-laws—ensuring they can advocate for themselves as tenants.
Queen’s Community Housing (Off-Campus Housing Owned by the University)
-Offers secure, well-managed housing with clear policies that support student rights and conflict resolution.
Food
AMS Food Bank
Provides confidential, stigma-free food access—advocating for food security as a student right.
PEACH Market
Offers pay-what-you-can meals, challenging financial barriers to nutrition and advocating for equitable food access.
Food Sharing Project
Supplies healthy food to schools and community programs—addressing systemic child and youth hunger.
Soul Food
Their mission is to transport unserved food from cafeterias and select retail food places on campus to Kingston shelters and other agencies that distribute to people in need.
Sustainability
AMS Collective Closet
Free clothing exchange program that reduces financial strain and supports sustainable consumption—advocating for waste reduction and economic accessibility.
Greeenovation
Runs sustainability-focused programs, including furniture and goods reuse—promoting environmental advocacy and resource accessibility for students.
Sustainability Hub
A Queen’s University initiative that connects students, staff, and faculty with programs, resources, and advocacy opportunities focused on environmental sustainability.