A Place of Convergence: Mental Health for All National Conference

CMHA’s Mental Health for All Conference was held in Toronto/Tkaronto, the traditional lands of the Huron-Wendat, Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewa, Métis, and Mississaugas of the Credit.

A place of convergence

Toronto is home to one of the largest urban ravine systems in the world; rivers, streams and creeks flow from the Oak Ridges Moraine to the Don, Humber, and Rouge rivers, and onward to Lake Ontario.

Converging, diverging, ebbing, and flowing, these waterways work together, much like our mental healthcare system and the CMHA federation: dynamic, diverse, and resilient in the face of change.

Conference streams

Ripple effect: Advancing social justice and health equity

This stream was about confronting and resolving health inequities and promoting human rights and social justice. Mental health care in Canada has a long and troubling history, embedded in a colonial system that has created racist, traumatic and siloed systems of care, particularly for Indigenous and other racialized communities in Canada. Notions of “mental health” are rooted in White European ideals of health. Through this stream we aim to create a ripple effect that challenges and changes persistent social and health inequities to create a socially just and culturally safe mental healthcare system.

Braided river: Building for sustainability

Much like the CMHA federation, braided rivers are a network of many branches that intersect and diverge at different points. Braided rivers are weakened by bank erosion but can be strengthened when we build banks bank up—equitably. This stream focused on strengthening the foundation of mental health care across Canada, as individual organizations and collectively, to support sustainability.

Currents: Positioning ourselves as leaders

By exploring the “currents” in community mental health—programs, policy, research, and advocacy—we aimed to collaborate and innovate so we can respond to the needs of people across Canada through environmental shifts, changes in policy and governments, and emerging trends in research.