Thinking of suicide or worried about someone you know? Call or text 9-8-8, toll-free, anytime, for support.

You are currently on the:

National Site

Visit our provincial websites

How to Leave a Legacy

Protect Mental Health

Supporting mental health means that you understand that mental health is fundamental to living a good life – and needs celebrating, protecting, and strengthening. You understand that mental health needs investment.  

For many, the best way to make a transformative gift is to leave a legacy for mental health. A gift that can be made outside the monthly budget, that creates lasting change and leaves a legacy of empowerment and compassion.  

Our legacy donors are building a new Canada. A mental healthcare system where no one falls through the gaps. A society where all of us are supported to thrive.  

I believe that leaving a legacy to CMHA to support mental health for all is like making a gift to my family’s and my community’s future. This makes sure there’s always a warm and supportive place for them, even when I’m not here.” 

Anonymous Donor 

Leave a legacy with a gift in your Will.

The easiest way to leave a legacy for mental health is through a gift in your will.

You can choose to leave CMHA a specific sum of money, or a percentage of the value of your estate.  

How can I make an impact?

  • What difference can I make?

    By supporting CMHA, you are:

    • Changing Care
    • Changing Minds
    • Saving Lives


    When Canadians think of mental health services, they often think of care that is delivered in a hospital to people with acute mental illness. But there are services and supports that can be delivered in the community to head off mental illness and promote and nurture mental health.

    CMHA works to keep people mentally healthy in the first place. CMHA acts before mental illness, so that it doesn’t take hold. Our work is about keeping people out of crisis. It is about keeping people out of hospitals, both before mental illness can occur, and after a crisis has passed.

    We know that much mental illness can be prevented and that mental health can be protected. We know that mental health is something we can strengthen.

    Your support of CMHA National can make transformational change in mental health and well-being. With your help, we can harness a vast, grassroots movement to promote changes at the national level in policy, culture, and service delivery. Your gift will help take pressure off the medical mental health care system. But more still, your legacy will change the way people understand mental health, and how they get care for years to come.

    CMHA is the most established, most extensive community mental health organization in Canada. Its national scope and community programs give CMHA an unequalled depth and breadth. Your legacy gift can have a significant positive impact on the mental health of Canadians.

  • What can I give?

    There are many ways to leave a legacy, and it’s important to know the possibilities and decide what works best for you and your family. We provide some options here, but we suggest you discuss your plans with your loved ones and a professional advisor as well.

      • A Gift in your Will
        A gift by bequest in your will is an easy and impactful way to make a meaningful gift. Your estate will receive a donation receipt that will produce generous tax credits to offset any taxes owing on your final tax return.

    Find more information on gifts by will here.
    Find sample wording for a gift by will here.

      • A Gift of Stocks and Bonds
        A gift of securities, including stocks, stock options or bonds, is an easy way for you to make a current or deferred gift. By making a gift of your appreciated securities, you can avoid paying capital gains tax that would otherwise be due if you sold these assets. Learn more.

      • A Gift of Retirement Assets
        Retirement assets [registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) and/or registered retirement income funds (RRIFs)] offer an excellent way to fund a legacy gift. By making a gift of your retirement assets, you will help further our important work.

      • A Gift of Life Insurance
        Your gift of a life insurance policy is an excellent way to make an enduring gift. If a life insurance policy is no longer needed, consider making this gift today to help further our mission.

Join the Foster Legacy Society

CMHA helps Canadians foster, strengthen, protect, and promote their mental health today and for the future. When you join CMHA’s Foster Legacy Society, you leave a legacy of care and compassion for future generations and create lasting change.

The Foster Legacy Society is a collective of caring individuals inspired by a very special member. As a registered nurse, Patricia Anne Foster spent her life caring for others. When she passed away in 2019, she left the entire proceeds of her estate to support CMHA’s fight for mental health as a human right. Patricia’s legacy of care lives on through CMHA, supporting the mental health and well-being of Canadians.

When you join CMHA’s Foster Legacy Society, you ensure that Canadians always have access to the mental health care they need, whatever the future brings.

Foster Legacy Society members:

  • Belong to a community of Canadians caring for the future
  • Receive invitations to special events
  • Receive CMHA National’s Annual Impact Report
  • Are listed in CMHA National’s Annual Impact Report
  • Receive ongoing information about mental health in Canada

We would be delighted to welcome you to CMHA’s Foster Legacy Society. If you have left a gift in your Will to CMHA National, please consider letting us know . We would love the opportunity to thank you and discuss how we can help honour your wishes.

Contact Us 

If you would like further information or wish to speak with us, please feel free to contact Amelia Sproule, National Senior Manager, Individual Giving Programs, to discuss how a legacy can meet your goals and improve mental health for all.  

(437) 836-8644 | [email protected]


CMHA is proud to partner with Will Power. Will Power is a national public education campaign designed to inspire Canadians to think differently about charitable giving, and empower them to create positive change through their Wills. To visit the CMHA Will Power page and learn more, click here.


This information is not intended to constitute or replace specific professional advice. Donors considering a legacy gift should speak to an advisor with appropriate tax and other expertise to implement a strategy that achieves their objectives.