Great-West Life renews funding for CMHA

Toronto, May 2, 2017- The office is becoming a safer place for Canadians thanks to CMHA’s national workplace mental health program – the Workforce Mental Health Collaborative.

CMHA is pleased to announce that Great-West Life is renewing its commitment for an additional three years to further develop the Collaborative, a suite of training, information resources, and consultation services to support employers, unions and employees in improving psychological health and safety.

“Workplaces need to innovate when it comes to mental health.  They need workplace training to prevent mental health problems and they need new and better tools to assist their employees. With Great-West Life funding, the CMHA Workforce Mental Health Collaborative is able to provide that very training, and those very tools,” says Dr. Patrick Smith, National CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Created in 2014, the Collaborative received start-up funding from Great-West Life and in kind support from the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace (the Centre). Since then the Collaborative has trained 180 advisors across Canada to return to their own workplaces with the tools to create safer and healthier work environments.

The Collaborative was recognized among the top four Mental Health Service Providers in the Canadian HR Reporter’s first annual 2016 Readers’ Choice Awards.

Adds Mary Ann Baynton, Program Director, Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace: “With the Collaborative’s national footprint, workplaces across the country now have greater access to a diverse suite of workplace mental health tools and resources. We’re pleased the Centre is able to contribute to the strength of the Collaborative.”

Along with their support of the CMHA Workforce Mental Health Collaborative, Great-West Life and the Centre have also sponsored and promoted the Bottom Line Conference, CMHA’s premier workplace mental health conference. Nine in ten survey respondents said they know more about how to advance the mental health strategy in their own organization as a result of the Bottom Line Conference.

Contacts

Sarika Gundu
CMHA National Director, Workplace Mental Health Program
[email protected]

Tim Oracheski
Director, Media and Public Relations
Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life
[email protected]
204.946.8961

About CMHA

Founded in 1918, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is the most established, most extensive community mental health organization in Canada. Through a presence in hundreds of neighbourhoods across every province, CMHA provides advocacy and resources that help to prevent mental health problems and illnesses, support recovery and resilience, and enable all Canadians to flourish and thrive.

Visit the CMHA website at www.cmha.ca.

About Great-West Life

Great-West Life, together with London Life and Canada Life, serves the financial security needs of more than 13 million people across Canada. Responsible and ethical management is an intrinsic value of the companies and is essential to long-term profitability and value creation. As an Imagine Caring Company supporting the principles of corporate citizenship and benchmarks for community investment established by Imagine Canada, the companies donate a minimum of one per cent of average pre-tax profits to non-profit, charitable and community organizations each year.

Learn more about the organization’s approach to corporate social responsibility.

About the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace

Established in 2007, the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace (the Centre) is a leading source of practical ideas, tools and resources designed to help with the prevention, intervention and management of workplace mental health issues. In 2017, the Centre is celebrating 10 years of helping employers take concrete steps to foster a psychologically healthy and safe workplace and manage employee mental health issues.

For more information, visit the Centre’s website at WorkplaceStrategiesforMentalHealth.com.