leadership | building the movement

Using our voice to inspire change

This year CAMH made remarkable progress in pursuit of helping people with mental illness believe life is worth living. To close the care gap, we advocated for a bold response to the national opioid crisis, for a greater supply of affordable housing and for a reversal of decades-long underfunding of mental health. All levels of government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, heard our call to make mental health a priority in funding agreements that were negotiated between the federal and provincial governments this year.

Throughout Canada’s sesquicentennial year, CAMH will continue to inspire a movement for change. Our commemorative 150 Leading Canadians for Mental Health initiative, co-chaired by Sandi and Jim Treliving, will honour mental health champions in communities across the country and will build on the momentum of our national One Brave Night for Mental Health™.

CAMH’s efforts to ensure mental health remains at the top of the public policy agenda are possible because of our clinical, research and educational excellence and evidence-based approach to advocacy. We are improving access to mental health care for young people at walk-in YouthCan IMPACT clinics. Adults who live with treatment-resistant mental illnesses are finding hope through new forms of brain stimulation available at our Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention. Our leading researchers and scientists are uncovering the biological underpinnings of illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and depression to create innovative treatments. New mobile applications developed by our educators are facilitating patient-centred care in novel ways.

PHOTO: STAN BEHAL

Thanks to support from more than 40,000 Canadians, our $200-million Breakthrough Campaign will help us break ground on the next phase of our ongoing redevelopment — an exciting milestone as we build a recovery-oriented hospital, inspiring hope for people living with mental illness. The following pages will demonstrate how CAMH is making its voice heard — and leading change — across the country and into the future.