Supporting impactful community research
Our grants and research awards are designed to seed-fund research projects led by experienced academic researchers and community researchers/service providers collaborating to address gaps in community mental health and addressing community needs, while integrating the insights of people with lived experience into each stage of their project.
Susan Petryk and Jill Bally
Long waits and distance can make specialist care difficult to access for families across Saskatchewan. Co-principal investigators Susan Petryk and Jill Bally are exploring a consultation model that connects children and caregivers with a specialist by video while a nurse practitioner provides support in person, closer to home.
Gabrielle Kang-Auger
A facial fracture can affect daily functioning and appearance, yet its longer-term relationship with mental health is not well understood. Gabrielle Kang-Auger is studying Quebec hospital records to examine whether patients hospitalized for facial fractures have different subsequent mental health hospitalization risks than people without such fractures.
Vivian Tsang and Pamela Kryskow
Ketamine-assisted therapy may offer relief from difficult-to-treat mental health symptoms, but much remains unknown about care after treatment. Co-investigators Vivian Tsang and Pamela Kryskow are examining veterans’ longer-term experiences to understand what may help sustain wellness and guide better aftercare.
Denise Sinclair
Denise Sinclair is exploring how Black male youth aged 12–20 experience the youth justice system and how racial bias may affect their mental well-being. Their accounts of distress, resilience and coping could inform more equitable, culturally responsive youth justice and mental health supports.
Thomas Willman
Suicide-prevention planning requires evidence that reflects the communities and regions it is meant to serve. Thomas Willman is examining Ontario coroner records from 2015 to 2025 to better understand the circumstances associated with suicide among First Nations, Inuit and Métis adults in Northern Ontario.
Malcolm Disbrowe
Safe and stable housing matters for young people’s well-being, yet Indigenous youth can face overlapping barriers when seeking support. Malcolm Disbrowe is examining Indigenous youths’ experiences of Winnipeg housing systems to identify culturally safe, community-informed approaches to housing access and stability.
Molly Stewart
Positive moments at work can be easy to overlook, and many wellness programs struggle to engage employees. Molly Stewart is exploring whether personalized images generated by artificial intelligence, integrated into familiar workplace tools, could help people recall meaningful experiences and adopt everyday practices that support mental well-being.
Maria Paula Godoy
Supporting psychological health at work requires more than awareness: employers and workers also need practical tools. Maria Paula Godoy is evaluating a new workplace training micro-credential developed by the Canadian Mental Health Association Manitoba-Winnipeg and RRC Polytech, with the aim of improving its design, implementation and usefulness.
Courtney Labrecque
Farmers and ranchers face distinct pressures, and mental health services work best when they reflect agricultural realities. Courtney Labrecque is evaluating SaskAgMatters, a free therapy service for Saskatchewan producers, by gathering therapists’ perspectives on what works, what needs improvement and how the program can evolve.
Alashua Crowley
Inuit mental health workers play a central role in community care across Nunavut, yet recruiting and retaining local staff remains a challenge. Alashua Crowley is working with Nunavut-based organizations to understand Inuit frontline workers’ experiences, strengths and workplace needs, with the goal of informing more supportive and culturally responsive services.
Haley Bonnell
Peer supporters bring lived experience into mental health and addiction services, but integration into multidisciplinary systems can also create new workplace pressures. Haley Bonnell’s research with Lifewise is examining how work context shapes peer supporters’ mental health, well-being and experience of their roles.
Sam Hawkins
Online gambling can be accessed from almost anywhere, including during the workday. Sam Hawkins is using mobile sensing in a longitudinal study to examine how gambling during work hours relates to job performance and mental health, including depression, anxiety, stress and work engagement.
Maureen Plante
Restorative justice may offer survivors of sexual violence another way to pursue accountability and healing, but programs need to reflect Indigenous perspectives and community needs. Maureen Plante’s project builds on earlier community-engaged work to bring Indigenous-specific input into guidance for developing restorative justice programs in Alberta.
Nate Taylor
Sport officials work under constant evaluation, public scrutiny and frequent verbal abuse, yet many sport organizations have limited capacity to provide ongoing mental health support. Nate Taylor is examining what would make digital and AI-supported tools credible, confidential and useful to Canadian officials.
Maryam Shahzad
Burnout can look different from one workplace to another. Maryam Shahzad is using national mental health data to examine how burnout varies across Canadian employment sectors, what contributes to it and how it affects people’s ability to work, with the goal of informing strategies that can apply across occupations.
Raymond Jordan Johnson-Brown
For Indigenous youth in care, identity and belonging should be understood in their own words, not defined only by the systems around them. Raymond Jordan Johnson-Brown is working with youth and Tasiutigiit to explore how storytelling, creative activities and youth-directed research can support conversations about mental wellness and a stronger sense of belonging.
Madison Young
Mental health screening during pregnancy and after birth can help identify when support is needed, but the tools and practices used must reflect the people receiving care. Madison Young is examining how perinatal mental health screening can better incorporate First Nations mothers’ cultural, social and health-care contexts to support more culturally safe care.
Jersee Hill
Violence-prevention programs need to reflect the experiences and needs of the women they are designed to support. Jersee Hill’s research will gather professional and lived perspectives from Indigenous women to help strengthen Connections, a program for women with young children who have experienced violence in relationships.
Dante Carter
Economic abuse can limit a person’s independence, safety and well-being, particularly when access to housing, employment and financial resources is already constrained. Cree researcher Dante Carter is examining how colonial economic structures intersect with experiences of economic abuse in Onion Lake Cree Nation, and how Cree perspectives and community-led approaches may inform healing and economic well-being.
Jill Williams
For Inuit women in Nunatsiavut, sewing can be a place to share knowledge, build relationships and begin conversations that may otherwise be difficult. Jill Williams is exploring how sewing circles and gatherings on Inuit homelands can support connection and collective well-being, with community knowledge and Inuit ways of knowing guiding the work.