Amalgamation of CMHA-AB and CSP

Mental health matters. It matters to every single person in Alberta. The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is the longest standing mental health charitable organization in Canada. We’ve promoted mental health and suicide prevention long before these issues were commonplace and will continue to do so well into the future. We work to erode stigma, illuminate hope and provide tangible supports for people and their families, sometimes in their darkest hours.

In Alberta, CMHA exists as one provincial Alberta Division office (“CMHA-AB”) and eight regional offices located in Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Edmonton, Camrose, Red Deer, Calgary, Lethbridge and the Centre for Suicide Prevention. Over a year ago, the opportunity arose to amalgamate CMHA-AB with the Centre for Suicide Prevention to create a streamlined and integrated provincial organization with the goal of becoming Alberta’s primary organization for community mental health and suicide prevention care. This is an exciting opportunity.

For years, CMHA-AB and the Centre for Suicide Prevention have operated in parallel. Each has a provincial scope and each works with the CMHA Regions and many other community partners. Combining the organizations will leverage both organizations’ large partner networks, amplify relationships with the CMHA Regions and the Government of Alberta, raise the profile of suicide prevention, and reduce operational duplication.

The new organization will have a closed membership consisting of up to 32 members, including community agency partners. The new membership list is attached as Schedule C to the Amalgamation Agreement that is attached to the formal Notice of Meeting.

The Board will be nominated and elected by these members. For the first year, the Board will be a transition board comprised of seven directors appointed by the Regions, three directors who are currently CMHA -AB directors at large and four directors who are currently CSP directors (see Schedule C to the Amalgamation Agreement attached to the formal Notice of Meeting). After the first year, the Board will be elected by the members through a nominations process to reflect skills, mindsets, lived experience and geographical representation. Regions will be engaged to identify potential nominees to the Board.

The teams of both organizations will be integrated which will present a critical opportunity to scale the Centre for Suicide Prevention’s training and education research base and operating model and blend it with CMHA-AB’s broad reach of mental health promotion. With the CMHA Alberta Regions, the new organization’s vision is to drive intentional design and a systems approach to community mental health care and suicide prevention. We are moving from a collection of partners to a collective, designed to enhance our impact province-wide.

At the upcoming Special General Meeting, we invite you to join us on this exciting journey! Register to vote to support the launch of this groundbreaking new organization. Together we are shaping the future of community mental health care and suicide prevention in Alberta.