Opening Minds

The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) launched the Opening Minds (OM) project in 2009, serving as the economy’s largest anti-stigma and antidiscrimination initiative for mental health. The OM project has successfully fostered commitments to collaboration from more than 150 organizations across diverse sectors, including health care providers, youth, workplace, and media outlets. The campaign model used under OM – which features evidence-based marketing, the identification of grassroots initiatives and supportive local leaders, and the development of evaluation techniques with university researchers – has become the primary model used for other projects initiated by the MHCC and has helped the organization earn recognition as a global innovator in anti-stigma work. This collaboration serves as a positive example in stigma reduction and mental health advocacy for other economies and organizations to draw upon.