The Canada Post Foundation for Mental Health

In October 2007, Canada Post adopted mental health as its cause of choice, becoming the first major Canadian corporation to do so. Now, Canada Post has created an independent organization, the Canada Post Foundation for Mental Health, to support this often-overlooked and stigmatized cause, to be officially launched on October 1, 2008.

Guided by an independent board, the Foundation will support front-line organizations serving patients, consumers* and caregivers, while eliminating the stigma of mental illness and raising awareness of how it affects the lives of all Canadians. The Foundation will receive funds raised by Canada Post and its employees, as well as from the public, and expects to begin distributing funds in 2009.

The Foundation will support front-line organizations serving patients and caregivers, while raising awareness of how mental illness affects the lives of all Canadians and eliminating the stigma. The Foundation will receive donations raised by Canada Post and its employees, as well as from the public, and expects to begin distributing in 2009.

Canada Post has recently completed a full evaluation of its sponsorship portfolio in seeking a cause of choice. In addition to developing a signature sponsorship, Canada Post wanted a cause of choice that our company and employees could rally behind.

Why mental health?

Mental Health hasn't found a major corporate supporter to step up and make mental health its cause of choice. Canada Post is pleased to deliver this commitment to all Canadians.

Canada Post's commitment to Mental Health is a real opportunity for us to play a leadership role in Canadian communities. We know that the magnitude of change that we can accomplish depends on the starting point. And Canada Post—the largest retailer in Canada, and its 72,000 employees, is a great starting point for bringing national awareness to this cause.

At Canada Post, we take a holistic view and believe that creating a mental health-friendly workplace affects all aspects of our working lives. And, it starts at the top, with strong corporate values, which reflect the principles, beliefs and aspirations that guide our behaviour and shape our corporate culture.

Three of our corporate values contribute directly to a mental-health-friendly workplace:

• We succeed by working together
• We treat each other with fairness and respect
• We act with integrity in all that we do

These values are the foundation upon which our values-based constructive culture is built.

We have a long road ahead but we are committed to this cause and to a mental-health-friendly workplace. In order to begin our quest in promoting this cause, we have entered into a sponsorship with various organizations in the mental health field.

Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) Sponsorship

Canada Post is proud to be one of the first large companies in Canada to champion mental health as its cause of choice. We want to place mental health front and centre so that people recognize it, understand it and, most importantly, are able to help those who are suffering.

Canada Post is happy to announce that, for a second year in a row, it will continue its support of mental health in 2008 with a Platinum Sponsorship of Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) which begins October 5, 2008 and ends October 11, 2008. (www.miaw.ca).

Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) is the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health's (CAMIMH's) annual national public education campaign designed to help open the eyes of Canadians to the reality of mental illness.

Mental Illness Awareness Campaign elements include: a grassroots public education initiative; the annual Champions of Mental Health Awards luncheon in Ottawa; and advocacy efforts directed at federal decision makers to ensure that mental illness and mental health issues remain on the social policy agenda.

With this sponsorship Canada Post hopes to address the stigma associated with mental illness and help advance the mental health agenda in Canada. Beyond the sponsorship, Canada Post is seeking to position itself as actively engaged in this issue of importance to its employees and all Canadians.

We are fully aware that change requires leadership and Canada Post and its employees are proud to lead this cause. We hope that our involvement in this cause, using 72,000 employee ambassadors for the cause, will deliver much needed awareness to this illness.

Stigma and discrimination are major aspects of every issue surrounding mental illness; they must be addressed and eliminated - as Canada Post's cause of choice we can bring much needed awareness to this important cause.

Canadian Mental Health Statistics ¹

• By 2010, depression will become the second cause of disability in the world following cardiovascular disease.
• In Canada, it is estimated that one in four (8 million Canadians) will suffer from a mental illness condition in their lifetime.
• According to Health Canada, about 20 per cent of the population will suffer from a mental illness at some time and the other 80 per cent will be affected by mental illness with a family member, a friend or colleague.
• More than 35 per cent of work absences in Canada are the consequence of mental illness.
• Nearly 500,000 Canadians are absent from work each week due to mental health problems.
• Cost estimates of the financial burden of mental health problems in Canada vary between $13-14 B, including $8-10 B in absenteeism.
• In 1999, 3.8 per cent of all admissions in general hospitals (1.5 million hospital days) were due to anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, major depression, personality disorders, eating disorders and suicidal behaviour.
• Mental illnesses may occur together. An individual can experience both depression and an anxiety disorder, for example. In addition, attempts to manage symptoms through alcohol or drugs may contribute to substance abuse for some individuals. In one US study, 54 per cent of those with a lifetime history of at least one mental illness also had at least one other mental illness or addiction to substances.²
• There are other significant mental illnesses (such as addictions) and issues surrounding special populations (such as children, the elderly and individuals with developmental delay).³

1. Sources: World Health Organization (2001); Health Canada; Mental Health Foundation.
2. Kessler RC, Ahangang Z. The prevalence of mental illness. Horwitz AV, Sheid TL, ed., A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health - Social Context, Theories and Systems, (Ch. 3). Cambridge University Press, 1999.
3. A Report on Mental Illnesses in Canada - Chapter 1 Mental Illnesses in Canada: An Overview.

* Many people receiving mental-health care prefer the term "consumer" rather than patient, to better reflect the active role they play in managing their mental health.