Last night marked the successful conclusion of our 2024 Press Start CoLab Program, during which we honoured the outstanding achievements of our young social change leaders. Throughout the summer, 50 talented youth from across Canada ages 18-29 years invested their time and creativity into developing innovative social enterprises designed to address the Mental Health Crisis in Canada. Today’s press release highlights the nine grant recipients, who have been awarded funding in collaboration with North Cover, RMA and Gen Re Canada. We offer our heartfelt thanks to our wonderful grant sponsors and in-kind partners North Cover, RMA, Gen Re Canada, Kids Help Phone, jack.org, Common Good Solutions, The SandBox Project, Loran Scholars, Step Above Stigma, Unsinkable, League of Innovators, and Frame of Mind Coaching. We express our sincere appreciation to our distinguished mentors Jonny Morris, Keosha Love, Faduma Mohamed, Lydia Sequeira, Jessie Brar, Cheesan Chew, Patrick Glinski, Chey Kidd, and Matthew...
In last month’s blog, we announced the Teachers Life Living Values Service Excellence Awardee from OSSTF Peel District, Karen Goodeve. This month, we are pleased to share that Megan Anderson is the Teachers Life Living Values Service Excellence Awardee recipient in the OSSTF Windsor-Essex District 9. When we approached the Essex District leaders about the award, they took a slightly different approach. They had each of their high schools nominate one candidate. There was a random draw for the winning recipient, and that draw winner was Megan from Leamington District High School. We had the pleasure of chatting with Megan about her love for teaching and what motivates her daily as a teacher. Before we dive in, we would like to acknowledge and give a shout-out to all the other incredibly talented and exceptional teachers who their schools in OSSTF Windsor-Essex also nominated. These include: Belle River District High...
In the first quarter of 2024, I had the privilege of visiting many high schools with one of our OSSTF districts. The aim was to promote our new Member Flourish+ program that we had recently co-created and launched in partnership with our OSSTF local leaders. This was an incredibly worthwhile experience on a few fronts. First, it helped us spread awareness about Flourish+. It also allowed us to connect face-to-face with Education Leaders and Teachers to better understand some of the challenges they face in their daily work. As a Life, Sickness, and Disability Insurer, we are very aware of the types of claims we see for Long Term Disability (LTD). Regardless of industry sector, mental health-related claims now account for roughly 50% of all LTD claims. Stress and burnout in the workplace are real and cost employers on many levels. The Education sector is no exception. Thankfully, companies...
This Pride Month, we wanted to celebrate and bring focus to two of our Press Start CoLab Program Grant Recipients working to bridge the gap between mental health resources and 2SLGBTQIAP+ communities in Canada. We believe it is essential to emphasize the ongoing socioeconomic barriers to accessing 2SLGBTQIAP+ mental health services and the impact of discrimination on 2SLGBTQIAP+ mental health while also highlighting the strength, resiliency and innovative work that is being done by youth changemakers to create a better tomorrow. While not generalizing the individual experiences of members of the 2SLGBTQIAP+ community, let's take a look at some recent statistics of 2SLGBTQIAP+ mental health in comparison to heterosexual Canadians, and the inspiring work being done by Press Start CoLab Program Grant Recipients, Ilya Robinson and Mabe Kyle. 2SLGBTQIAP+ Mental Health Today Although progress has been made, many 2SLGBTQIAP+ individuals in Canada continue to face violence, discrimination and isolation in...
