Stigma-Free & Inclusive Workshop Series
A Pathway to Quality Health Care 2025-2026
You spoke, and we listened. We’re excited to bring in-person workshops directly to your community!
Overview
The Mental Health Commission of Canada is hosting in-person workshops to build capacity and foster meaningful engagement with health-care organizations seeking to improve the quality of their services. These workshops are designed to be informative, interactive, and collaborative in nature. Together, we’ll explore ways to improve the quality of care in health-care organizations in Canada.
Let’s build better systems – together!
Learning objectives
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Define quality mental health care from the perspective of people with lived and living experience (PWLLE) and recognize the importance of their voices in shaping care delivery.
- Describe the concept of structural stigma and the negative impacts of structural stigma related to mental health and substance use health (MHSUH) in health care.
- Identify and apply tools and resources from the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s Dismantling Structural Stigma in Health Care Implementation Guide, as well as strategies and key concepts from the Mental Health Structural Stigma in Healthcare e-learning course. Participants will also become familiar with two stigma measurement scales that can be used to assess structural stigma related to MHSUH within their organizational settings.
- Develop a high-level quality improvement action plan based on their workshop learnings to apply in their organizations and work settings.
Workshop Materials
- Workshop workbook
- Workshop agenda (Calgary, Montreal, Moncton, Ottawa)
Workshop Tools & Resources
Workshop Venues
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Calgary, Alberta
Date: November 5, 2025
Time: 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Language: Hosted in English
Location: University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary AB T2N 1N4
Room: ENG207 (Building Engineering Block G [ENG] – 2nd Floor)
Directions: You can find campus maps here. There is a comprehensive campus map, as well as maps of individual buildings (when you use the interactive room finder and click on the ENG building, you can download a PDF of the different floors to find room ENG207 in the building). -
Montreal, Quebec
Date: November 27, 2025
Time: 8:30 am – 4:00 pm
Language: Hosted in French
Location: Bibilothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ)
475, boulevard De Maisonneuve Est,
Montreal, QC H2L 5C4
Room: M.450 -
Moncton, New Brunswick
Date: December 9, 2025
Time: 8:30 am – 4:00 pm
Language: Hosted in English with simultaneous interpretation
Location: Wingate by Wyndham Dieppe Moncton –
69 rue du Marché,
Dieppe NB E1A 9K3
Room: Mascaret Ballroom -
Ottawa, Ontario
Date: December 11, 2025
Language: Hosted in English
Location: Constitution Square, 2nd floor
340 Albert Street
Ottawa, ON K1R 1A4
Room: Confederation A & B
Note: The room is on the 2nd floor of the middle tower, which can be entered by taking the elevators directly behind the security desk in the lobby.
Meet the team
Stephanie Knaak
Stephanie’s research with the Mental Health Commission of Canada specializes in mental illness- and substance use health-related stigma. She has led multiple major projects for the Commission on stigma and stigma reduction in Canada, and her research is published widely in peer-reviewed literature. Dr. Knaak holds adjunct professorial appointments at the University of Manitoba and the University of Calgary, and she is principal of INSIGHT Research and Consulting.
Heather Stuart
Heather is the Bell Canada Chair in Mental Health and Anti-Stigma Research, the first research chair of its kind in Canada, and a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, the Department of Psychiatry, and the School of Rehabilitation Therapy at Queen’s University. Dr. Stuart is also the senior consultant to the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s Opening Minds anti-stigma initiative and the past and founding chair of the World Psychiatric Association’s Stigma and Mental Health Scientific Section. She has worked in hospital- and community-based mental health treatment systems, as well as with international agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, and the World Psychiatric Association. In 2018, Dr. Stuart was named to the Order of Canada and inducted as a fellow in the Royal Society of Canada.
Javeed Sukhera
Dr. Javeed Sukhera is a globally recognized physician, educator, and researcher committed to advancing health and healing. He currently leads psychiatric services and directs a centre focused on racial trauma and community healing. With academic roles at several medical schools, he oversees training programs and research initiatives that emphasize patient-centred care and the integration of lived experiences into clinical practice. His leadership has improved patient outcomes and expanded educational and research efforts. He has authored over 75 peer-reviewed papers.
Advisory Committee Members
Al Raimundo
Al (they/them) is working to empower young people to overcome mental health stigma and create accessible and fun treatments. Inspired by their own struggles with mental illness, Al has been involved in a variety of projects. They helped create the BeanBagChat at Stella’s Place, which helps young adults find the support they need.
They have also shared their story on numerous stages, including at the United Nations, the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women, TEDxWaterloo, and One Young World. In addition, Al writes for has written a book aimed at schools to educate young people about suicide, and was featured in Vanity Fair alongside Cher
Don Mahleka
Don Mahleka (he/him) was born and raised in Zimbabwe and moved to Canada as a refugee during his high school years. He has brought many structural barriers he has faced since then (especially mental health-related supports) into collaborations with equity-deserving groups in areas such as program and policy development, change management, and community-based research to spark innovations in health equity.
As a speaker, facilitator, and equity consultant, Don supports organizations in dismantling systemic racism and oppression while rebuilding cultures of wellness and mutual accountability. Additional professional experience includes roles at Hamilton’s Youth Centre, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and several years in mental health crisis intervention and counselling.
Don has also supported the development of national standards for workplace and post-secondary mental health and wellness.
Cheryl Pollard
Cheryl is a professor and dean of the faculty of nursing at the University of Regina. In this role, she is responsible for administrative leadership and the operational oversight of a comprehensive department.
Over her 35-year career in nursing, she has served in a wide range of academic and practice environments across large and small public and not-for-profit organizations in Canada. In 2019, the National League for Nursing recognized Dr. Pollard’s enduring and substantial contributions to nursing education by inducting her as a fellow into the Academy of Nursing Education. She is widely regarded as a thought leader and scholar in health-care education, innovation, and leadership.
Anita David
Anita has transformed her life and living experience into a career in mental health and substance use health advocacy, engagement, research, and education. As a lived experience strategic adviser at BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services, she is involved in meaningfully engaging staff members with lived and living experience. She also advises the organization’s Research Challenge program and Provincial Mental Health and Substance Use Network and is a hub member on its ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) team.
In addition, Anita works as a peer researcher and patient partner on community-based and patient-oriented research projects with organizations, health authorities, and universities in British Columbia. She advocates for meaningful peer employment and skill building through her work as a community-based research trainer and peer mentor with the Canadian Mental Health Association, frequently teaching workshops on patient-oriented research.
Jeanne Joannie Fogue Mgamgne
Joannie (she/her) is a passionate advocate for women and youth, with a focus on anti-violence, gender equality, sexual education, and mental health. She is currently in her final year of studying political science and French literature at the University of Alberta. As the advocacy lead for Students for Consent Culture Canada, she is committed to addressing gender-based violence on campuses and contributed to a significant white paper on this topic. Additionally, she is involved in a project assistantship with RDÉE Canada while pursuing a diploma in social entrepreneurship, aiming to empower French-speaking youth of African descent through advocacy and leadership.
The Commission’s workshop team
Nitika Rewari
Nitika is the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s director of prevention and promotion initiatives and leads programs and initiatives that are focused on suicide prevention, mental wellness, and life promotion. From grassroots, evidence-informed, capacity-building projects to national initiatives, the Commission is striving to build consensus and drive system transformation.
Nitika has been with the Commission since 2013 and has led several national and international initiatives in the areas of workplace mental health, student mental health, employment for people living with serious mental illness, and suicide prevention. Nitika has extensive experience in strategic planning, program management, stakeholder relations, program evaluation, and knowledge exchange. Nitika currently sits on the board of three organizations: the Canadian Mental Health Association – Ontario, Frayme, and Soch Mental Health.
Kamlesh Tello
Kamlesh is the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s manager of prevention and promotion initiatives. She brings experience in improving health-care services at the system and organizational levels across the continuum of care. She has worked in hospitals, government, and health-care consulting. At the Commission, Kam’s focus has included the Quality Mental Health Care Framework, psychological health and safety of health care workers, culturally adapted cognitive behaviour therapy, access to psychotherapy, and emerging adult mental health.
Louis Moubarak
A communications graduate from Carleton University in Ottawa, accredited in public relations (APR) and part of the advanced management MBA cohort from McGill University, Louis has over 20 years of experience in management, government affairs, and interest holders’ relations in Canada and internationally. He has led several high-profile advocacy campaigns, most notably in 2007 at the United Nations in New York City for the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Louis has held senior positions at the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, Public Relations Without Borders, and Canada World Youth. Before the Mental Health Commission of Canada as principal, external affairs and francophone relations, he was the philanthropy director at the Alzheimer Society in Montreal.
Uyen Ta
Uyen is the manager of mental health advancement at the Mental Health Commission of Canada, a role driven by her passion for improving health-care access and reducing health inequalities. Drawing on over 15 years of experience in the not-for-profit and health-care sectors, she specializes in strategic planning, program development, and project implementation. Since joining the Commission in 2018, she has applied her expertise to critical initiatives, including Roots of Hope, promoting safe and responsible conversations in suicide prevention, addressing structural stigma, advancing schizophrenia care through the Schizophrenia Quality Standards, and championing the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.
Hannah Kohler
Hannah is a senior program manager with the Mental Health Commission of Canada. For over a decade, she has worked to support better access to quality mental health services for people in Canada. Championing meaningful engagement of people with lived and living experience, promoting recovery-oriented practice, and prioritizing psychological health and safety in the workplace are her key areas of passion. Since 2019, Hannah has been leading work on structural stigma with the Commission and is excited about the transformative potential of this work to build a safer and equitable health-care system in Canada.
Carolina Chadwick
Carolina is a program coordinator with the Prevention and Promotion Initiatives team at the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Carolina is deeply committed to promoting mental wellness, psychological health, and safety, improving access to quality mental health services for all, and exploring the intersections of education and immigrant settlement experiences. Since 2023, Carolina has been a driving force in addressing stigma, offering hope for the future of mental health initiatives, and advancing the Quality Mental Health Care Framework.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who can attend the workshops? Health-care leaders, policy leaders, organizational partners and individuals with lived and living experience.
- Is there a cost to attend? No registration fee. Any associated travel/accommodation costs are the responsibility of participants and/or their organization.
- What if I can’t attend any of the scheduled dates? Complete the form to receive updates about future learning opportunities.
Stay connected with the Commission
Do you have questions or want to dive deeper into structural stigma and the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s current initiatives? We’d love to hear from you.
Please reach out to us at mhccinfo@mentalhealthcommission.ca with the subject line: Re: Structural Stigma workshops.