色色啦

鈥溕� gives you endless options for restaurants, events and careers,鈥� Hildebrand says. But she found the city’s hustle culture extended to every aspect of her life, except her social life. “And yet connection is just as essential as health and success.”

Now, Connection Collective has over 2,000 followers on Instagram and hosts events for 60 to 80 attendees twice a month.聽

Hildebrand鈥檚 experience is not unusual.聽A , and 聽shows that isolation is widespread in Canada. Clearly, there鈥檚 a hunger for connection in the city.

One of the closest friends Hildebrand has made through Connection Collective is Maria Burch, who runs her own wellness club. 鈥淔rom the start, we had so much in common, especially in how we see community, and our friendship has become this mix of personal and creative support,鈥� Hildebrand says. 鈥淪he shows up to almost every event, and we constantly encourage each other by sharing posts and bouncing ideas. It鈥檚 rare to find someone who really gets it, and she鈥檚 become that for me.鈥澛�

Hildebrand has also made plans with other women from the group 鈥� long walks, coffee dates 鈥� and hopes to host a dinner party for some of the closer friends she鈥檚 met through it. 鈥淚鈥檇 love to bring them together in one space and close that circle,鈥� she says.

In recent years, other women鈥檚 social groups have popped up across the city. , , , , and are just a few of them. They organize activities like pottery nights, yoga classes, speaker panels and other events with one main goal: building friendships. While they tend to attract women in their 20s and 30s, many welcome women up to their 70s.

Vindhya Kolluru, a 28-year-old journalist, joined 色色啦 Girlies in 2023. Two years later, some of the women she met through the group are among her closest friends; she鈥檚 about to attend one member鈥檚 engagement ceremony.

鈥淚 like that people are being more intentional about the friendships they鈥檙e building,鈥� Kolluru says. 鈥淚n a big city like 色色啦, although there are millions of people, it鈥檚 hard to create deep connections. Having that aspect of intentionality encourages people to invest their time and presence more diligently as they know they hold common goals and interests.鈥�

While activity-based groups like run clubs and book clubs are also growing in the city, users see the need for groups focused solely on friendship. ”(Activity-based) groups are great, but the focus tends to be more about the activity itself,鈥� says Sandhya Ravichandar, a 29-year-old dog walker who joined Connection Collective this summer. 鈥淲ith friendship-focused groups, everyone is there for the same reason: to connect. It makes the environment feel more wholesome and open.鈥澛�

Danielle Bayard Jackson, a Florida-based friendship coach and author, says groups like these are popping up in cities across North America. Even people who already have friends benefit, because research shows that having friends from different parts of your life 鈥� like work, hobbies, or community 鈥� makes you happier and healthier than relying on just one group of friends.聽

Bayard Jackson says the groups are a great way to make friends, provided you understand your own friendship goals and that the group aligns with them. She also stresses the importance of continuing to make friends the old-fashioned way. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e only going to the other side of town to find friends, you鈥檙e overlooking opportunities for people who live close by,鈥� she says.聽鈥淥ne benefit of meeting people out in the wild 鈥� neighbours, coworkers, and people at church 鈥� is that close proximity increases the chances you鈥檒l become friends, simply because you鈥檒l clock more hours together.鈥�

Demographic-specific friendship groups can also offer a much-needed sense of belonging. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e from a specific marginalized group and you don鈥檛 have any friends from that group in close proximity, it鈥檚 good to find groups that exist according to a certain set of values to offer safety, understanding, and affirmation for your various intersectional identities and interests,鈥� she says. In the GTA, caters to Black women, and 聽caters to South Asian women.聽

For some groups, the goal is about more than just making friends; it鈥檚 about shifting attitudes. 鈥淲e鈥檝e gathered feedback from community members who have shared that since joining, they feel more confident in their social skills, an increased sense of home since moving to the city, and more prepared to navigate their journey of making new friends,鈥� says City Girls Social Club鈥檚 founder, Stephanie Sim.

While the concept of curating friendships may seem unnatural to some, Hildebrand sees it as a cultural shift for the better. 鈥淒uring childhood, friendships are incidental and based on circumstance. For adults in a fast-paced city like 色色啦, belonging takes effort, and that effort is a reflection of care,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about building the kind of community you actually want to live in. In a culture that often leaves adults to figure out friendship alone, I think that is something really special.鈥�