Mental health donations in action

Sun Life’s funding has supported the establishment of new bilingual mental health services for French-speaking youth across New Brunswick.

Visit the Atlantic Wellness website for more information

Unites the work of Carizon Family and Community Services, KW Counselling Services and Monica Place all under one umbrella. Strengthening the delivery of four psychoeducational groups to respond to youth and their families' mental health and well-being needs, as well as KW Counselling’s OK2BME program to support LGBTQ+ youth in the Waterloo Region of Ontario.

Visit the Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health website for more information

Just as we are committed to creating an inclusive and respectful workplace in all of our company, Sun Life also cares about the well-being of marginalized populations at risk of poverty and exclusion. That’s why we have partnered with Centraide of Greater Montreal, which has created the EDI Fund to support and develop equity, diversity, and inclusion practices in communities across Montreal, Laval, and the South Shore. Our support is integral to Centraide’s EDI efforts.

Visit Centraide's website for more information

Supporting the Healing Pathways program, a new group-based therapy program for Indigenous youth and adults across Ontario.

Visit the CAMH website for more information

Through Sun Life’s support, CAFC has launched the Sun Life Bright Futures Kids Wellness Program, a pan-Canadian mental health prevention initiative for young people (6-18 years old) living in government care, with a focus on Black and Indigenous children.

Visit the CAFC website for more information

Working together with Sun Life, CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation ensure that kids and teens have the mental health resources they need. As part of our commitment, Sun Life is helping create a provincial referral centre for telemedicine-based pediatric psychiatry. That includes setting up a dedicated helpline for Quebec professionals, including family physicians, pediatricians, and child psychologists. These initiatives aim to improve access and care for the most vulnerable young people and their families and to reduce emergency room visits, transfers, and reassessments.

Visit the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation's website for more information

Sun Life is a partner of the Fondation Jeunes en Tête, whose mission is to prevent psychological distress among Quebecers aged 11 to 18 and to support their families. Sun Life contributes to key initiatives, including the Mental Health Basics and Partners for Life workshops offered in high schools and content for online kits aimed at teens, their parents, and school staff. The Foundation benefits from additional internal resources to strengthen its outreach team. Sun Life is also helping to promote the Parfaitement Imparfait web series. Each episode is a unique opportunity for a young person to spend time with a public figure discussing a common mental health issue. In 2020, in partnership with the City of Québec, Sun Life created a mental health fund for youth in the Capitale-Nationale region. The fund, managed by the Fondation Jeunes en Tête, helps increase awareness, access to mental health care, and resources for early detection.

Visit the Fondation Jeunes en Tête website for more information

Support for Black-led non-profit and charitable organizations serving Black communities across Canada. Sun Life's donation aligns to the following priority initiatives: mental health programs that teach coping skills and resilience to youth and physical activity programs for youth that encourage healthy and active lifestyles.

Visit the Foundation for Black Communities' website for more information

Supporting the growing network of free health and wellness services for youth and their caregivers, in-person and online, across British Columbia.

Visit the Foundry BC website for more information

Supporting Brighter Days, an Indigenous Wellness Program. The program will help reach 4,500 youth through the delivery of 300 mental health sessions. The sessions aim to empower youth with skills, tools and resources to support their mental health and well-being.

Visit the Kids Help Phone website for more information

Improving mental health outcomes for girls in Toronto's Neighbourhood Improvement Areas through the Sky High Basketball Program, which prioritizes Black and female youth of colour.

Visit the Lay-Up website for more information

Since its creation in 1991, the Maurice-Tanguay Foundation has launched numerous initiatives to provide respite and contribute to the well-being of children with special needs and their families. Some of the Foundation’s key activities include building permanent infrastructure, setting up adapted spaces to facilitate integration into different environments, and providing specialized equipment. In line with our shared values, Sun Life has also partnered with the Foundation to host activities where the children and their families can have a little fun. One is the Ma ville est basket initiative, which aims to inspire young people to lead healthy, active lifestyles. The Maurice-Tanguay Foundation and Sun Life intend to renovate or build basketball courts across Quebec through the program.

Visit the Maurice-Tanguay Foundation website for more information

Supporting youth who experience complex barriers to navigating services in the mental health and addictions systems, through the Transitional Youth Program in Toronto, Ontario.

Visit the MGH website for more information

Funding has supported the launch of Ready to Rebound, a free, culturally-relevant program for communities who face barriers, providing a positive mental health intervention, while building on-court skills through basketball.

Visit the MLSE Foundation website for more information

More determined than ever to build psychologically healthy and resilient communities, Sun Life has partnered with the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. Our investment helped create a Specialized Centre for Adolescent Mental Health, Le SPOT Montréal, one of the largest outpatient centres in the country, providing support to 1,000 Canadian youth who have considered or attempted suicide. This initiative provides an alternative to hospitalization, allowing youth between the ages of 12 and 18 to stay in school and continue their regular activities. Young people and their families can receive up to 12 weeks of individualized, intensive therapy, to help them learn coping skills to better manage the psychological distress that has become so prevalent since the pandemic. Ongoing support is also provided to ensure a smooth transition to community services.

Visit the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation website for more information

Sun Life has partnered with Relief, whose mission is to support and empower marginalized people living with anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder and their loved ones by giving them the appropriate tools. Sun Life supports the Relief Affaires funding program, which provides free mental health training to SMEs in collaboration with Service Québec. A key aspect of the program is the development and delivery of self-management workshops tailored to Indigenous Peoples, LGBTQ+, seniors, and other marginalized communities. Finally, Sun Life is a sponsor of the R3 Summit, a public awareness event with activities related to mental health in the workplace.

Visit the Relief website for more information

Sun Life supports the enhancement of the Engage Program, which uses Hip Hop art forms as a catalyst for teaching mental health well-being and resiliency to underserved youth, to new locations in Halifax, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and the Greater Toronto Area.

Visit the Unity Charity website for more information

The Unsinkable Youth program supports diverse groups of youth into becoming agents of change, by harnessing the power of their own mental health stories and experiences.

Visit the Unsinkable website for more information

Building youth resilience and connecting at-risk youth to mental health programs in Vancouver, British Columbia through the Supporting and Connecting Youth through Leadership and Resilience Program.

Visit the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation website for more information

“Feeling Explorers” is a socio-emotional learning program developed to promote skills and strategies in grades 1-3 that targets self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.

Visit the George Hull Centre website for more information