Wellness and mental health

The University of Manitoba values the well-being of all students, staff and faculty, and strives to be a community that is committed, caring, healthy, responsive, supportive and resourceful. Read more about our mental health strategy, and explore mental health and wellness resources — whether seeking support for yourself or providing it for others.

Smiling students walk on campus wearing backpacks.

Wellness and mental health

Get support

Community resources

Learning and self-help

Employee training and workshops

Wellness creates a more positive work and learning environment, and improves work experience and productivity. Learn more about the training and workshops available to you by logging into UM Intranet with your UMNetID and navigating to the "Employee wellness" site under "Employee resources."

Employee Family Assistance Program (EFAP)

Employees have free access to mental health professionals, wellness counselling and even legal advice 24/7, 365 days a year. Learn more by visiting the EFAP UM Intranet page by logging in with your UMNetID and finding "Employee and Family Assistance Program" under "Employee resources".

Log in to the UM Intranet for resources

Give support

Creating an inclusive environment is a community effort! Find resources designed to help others and foster positive well-being experiences for students, faculty and staff.

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Our mental health and well-being strategy

UM's strategic plan, MomentUM: Leading the Change Together, identifies well-being as a core value and emphasizes the importance of safety, respect and social connection as essential to mental health and well-being for the UM community and its individual members.

To advance this priority, UM has established a Mental Health and Well-being task force. Their work will build upon previous mental health and wellness initiatives to design a robust and comprehensive strategy that reflects present-day opportunities and challenges.

UM Task Force on Mental Health and Well-being:

  • Co-chairs

    • Tracey Peter, Vice-Provost (Academic Affairs)
    • Laurie Schnarr, Vice-Provost (Students)
    • René Ouellette, Associate Vice-President (Human Resources)

    Academic administrators

    • Angie Bruce, Vice-President (Indigenous)
    • Kelley Main, Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies
    • Ayush Kumar, Associate Dean, Faculty of Science
    • Leisha Strachan, Associate Dean, Faculty of Kinesiology & Recreation Management

    Student representatives

    • Divya Sharma, President Elect, UMSU
    • Christopher Yendtz, President, UMGSA
    • Leena Regi Saleth, HSGSA Representative

  • Faculty members

    • Danna McDonald, Student Counselling Centre
    • Shay-Lee Bolton, Department of Psychiatry, Max Rady College of Medicine
    • Kristin Reynolds, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts
    • Jennifer Watt, Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Education

    Staff members

    • Leah Deane, Executive Director, Student Support
    • Edgar French, Coordinator, Spiritual Care and Multi-Faith Centre
    • Carla Loewen, Director, Indigenous Student Centre
    • Christine Nairn, Director, Office of Sustainability

    Resource members:

    • Don Stewart, past Executive Director, Student Support
    • Oluchi Ogbu, Faculty Relations Specialist
    • Janique Philippe, Employee Wellness Specialist
    • Arlana Vadnais, Associate Director, Wellness & Prevention
    • Sarah Vanderveen, Communications Coordinator

Read the Terms of Reference for the Mental Health and Well-being Task Force

Working groups

The Task Force has identified four working groups to inform their work towards developing a new UM mental health and well-being strategy.

  • Baseline Data - What data are being collected across the University in relation to mental health and well-being?
  • Environmental Scan - What is currently being done to advance health and well-being at the unit level?
  • Literature Review - What have other institutions done? What has the UM previously done with other mental health and well-being strategic initiatives?
  • Community Consultations - What University groups should be consulted? What questions should guide the consultations?

Share your perspective

We are asking for your feedback to inform the development of a new comprehensive mental health and well-being strategy that reflects the needs of our diverse and vibrant community.

The Task Force on Mental Health and Well-being wants to hear from you about how we can better support and advance mental health and well-being across our campuses. A feedback form has been created to allow community members to share their experiences, challenges and suggestions. This form is anonymous, private and confidential.

Contact Us

Inquiries regarding the mental health and well-being strategy

provost.communications@umanitoba.ca