Mental Illness Awareness Week is October 3 – 9, 2021.
Mental illness Awareness Week (MIAW) is an annual national public education campaign designed to help open the eyes of Canadians to the reality of mental illness. The week was established by the Canadian Psychiatric Association, and is now coordinated by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) in cooperation with many other supporters across Canada.
For over two decades, CAMIMH has been a leading voice in Canada advocating for mental health support at the national level, and investments by the federal government.
In its role as advocate, CAMIMH believes now is the time for the federal government, in strategic collaboration with the provinces and territories, which could be part of a re-negotiated First Ministers’ Health Accord, to significantly accelerate its investments in mental health programs and services, and research.
CAMIMH’s mandate is to ensure that mental health is placed on the national agenda so that persons with lived experience and their families receive timely and appropriate access to care and support. We envision a country where all Canadians enjoy good mental health. Canadians with a lived experience of mental illness, their families and care providers must have access to the care, support and respect to which they are entitled and in parity with other health conditions.
CAMIMH regularly engages parliamentarians advocating for additional investments in mental health as well as establishing a Mental Health Parity Act that recognizes the need for parity between mental health and physical health.