Youth Mental Health Initiative (YMHI)

2024-2025

Access to mental health care for Quebec's English-speaking youth

The Youth Mental Health Initiative promotes the mental health of English-speaking youth by improving their access to resources and services and involving them in the design and implementation of activities that promote their agency and reduce stigma in their peers and community. In 2021-24, YMHI focused on mental health literacy and awareness building with youth while promoting the adaptation of mental health services and resources to be more inclusive, youth-friendly and culturally appropriate to reach underserved English-speaking youth.

YMHI is implemented by CHSSN in partnership with 29 community organizations across Québec who develop and implement projects to engage youth, develop, translate and adapt mental health resources, and provide activities and events in their regions.

YMHI is guided by 6 principles:

Support Positive Youth Development

Engage youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that’s productive and constructive to foster positive relationships and resiliency skills.

Enhance Protective Factors

Protective factors are individual or environmental conditions that reduce the effects of stressful life events. These factors also increase an individual’s ability to avoid risks, and promote social and emotional competence to thrive in all aspects of life.

Community-based & Flexible

Projects will always be community-based, community-paced, and use community-led approaches. They will also be flexible in recognizing the differences in communities, as well as the changing needs and circumstances of youth from one region to another.

Strive for Equity, Equality & Accessibility

Youth, regardless of their culture, language, or socio-economic status, are entitled to opportunities to help them develop and reach their full potential. Projects will be sensitive to the realities of English-speaking youth who may face multiple conditions of risk and barriers to accessing support.

Build Intersectoral Partnerships

Intersectoral partnerships and collaborative activities are essential to the development of holistic, coordinated, and sustainable mental health projects for Quebec’s youth.

Engage Mental Health Professionals & Service Providers

To ensure quality, safety and integration with existing mental health services, projects will engage mental health professionals/service providers and involve them in the design and delivery of projects.