The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH)

The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) is the national voice for mental health in Canada.

Established in 1998, CAMIMH is a member-driven alliance of 16 mental health groups comprised of health care providers and organizations that represent people with mental illness, their families and caregivers.

CAMIMH’s strategic objectives are:

to engage Canadians in a national conversation about mental illness to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and provide insight into the services and supports available to those living with mental illness; and
to ensure that mental health policy is placed on the national policy agenda so that persons with lived and living experience of mental illness and their families receive appropriate and timely access to care and support.

Vision

We envision a country where all Canadians enjoy good mental health.

Mission

Canadians with lived experience of mental illness, their families and care providers must have timely access to the care, support and respect to which they are entitled and in parity with other health conditions.

Guiding Principles

We are committed to a National Action Plan that upholds the following principles:

Mental illness and mental health issues must be considered within the framework of the determinants of health and recognize the important linkages among mental, neurological and physiological health.

Given the impact of mental health issues and mental illness – on the suffering of Canadians, on mortality, especially from suicide, on the economy, on social services such as health, education and criminal justice – governments and health planners must address mental health issues commensurate with the level of their burden on society.

Mental health promotion and the treatment of mental illnesses must be timely, continuous, inter-disciplinary, culturally appropriate, and integrated across the full life cycle and the continuum of care (i.e. physical and mental health; social supports and tertiary care to home/community care).

Board of Directors and Management Committee

Co-Chairs

Florence Budden

Anthony Esposti

Board and Management Members

Florence Budden (Co-Chair)

Anthony Esposti (Co-Chair)

Catherine Low

Nicola Otter

Chris Summerville

Katie Hardy

Glenn Brimacombe

Michelle D'Amico

Kim Hollihan

Public Affairs Committee

Glenn Brimacombe (Chair)

Kim Hollihan

Florence Budden

Margaret Eaton