We're proud to share the 2025–2026 CAMH and CAMH Foundation Annual Report. This year, we made meaningful progress across every front of Connected CAMH—our plan to build a mental health system that is more connected, more equitable and more responsive to people at every stage of life. From advancing new treatments and expanding access to care to sharing knowledge and establishing partnerships, this report highlights the work happening across CAMH that transforms mental health care in our communities and far beyond.
ADVANCE CARE
Advancing care means moving promising treatments into the hands of people who need them—and building the systems, spaces and scientific capacity to sustain that work.
More effective treatments for severe depression
For people living with severe, treatment-resistant depression, treatment options can be limited. A landmark clinical trial co-led by CAMH found that magnetic seizure therapy (MST) is as effective as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in treating severe depression, with significantly fewer cognitive side effects. Published in The Lancet Psychiatry, the study enrolled nearly 300 participants across three academic centres. Nearly half of patients in both treatment groups experienced a meaningful clinical response, while MST delivered those results with substantially better preservation of memory. The findings lay the groundwork for MST to become a new treatment option for people with severe depression—particularly those who might otherwise decline ECT.
Our findings show that MST can deliver similar benefits with much less impact on memory, which could make this kind of treatment a more viable option for many people who need it.” — Dr. Daniel Blumberger, Scientific Director, Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention, CAMH
Building the future of discovery and care
Two major construction projects reached important milestones this year as CAMH's campus transformation continued to take shape. The Temerty Discovery Centre is where the future of mental health research will take shape. Purpose-built to attract the world's best scientists, it will be a hub where ambitious ideas thrive and discovery translates quickly into improved care. This year, the structure reached the upper level as work progressed toward its opening in late 2027. The Waverley House Secure Care & Recovery Building will provide modern, evidence-based forensic care for people living with mental illness who are in contact with the justice system—a population that has long received care in spaces not designed for their needs or recovery. The building reached its top level this year and is moving on track toward its planned opening in 2029. Pictured right: A crane lifts steel structures into the core of the Temerty Discovery Centre, where they will become part of the striking atrium staircase that connects levels 3 to 7—a visual centrepiece designed to bring researchers together across disciplines.
Investing in the future of mental health care
The North Star Initiative The researchers we attract today shape the treatments available to patients a decade from now. The North Star Initiative—our $10-million commitment to bring world-class mental health scientists to Canada—creates a clear landing place for leading researchers and accelerates the connection between discovery and care. In February 2026, Dr. Fiona Coutts joined CAMH as the initiative's first recruit. Pictured right: Dr. Fiona Coutts is an AI scientist at CAMH's Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, where she develops clinical machine learning tools that help connect patients with the treatments most likely to benefit them.
CAMH-UHN Partnership Mental and physical health are deeply connected, yet health systems have long treated them separately. CAMH and University Health Network (UHN) have come together through a formal partnership to close that gap. This high-impact collaboration is grounded in clinical excellence and research expertise. Innovative research will focus on stress, inflammation and metabolism, while exploring new treatment possibilities such as drug repurposing—using existing medications in new ways to improve care and bring new options to patients faster.
CAMH and UHN are already working together in new ways to better serve people with complex needs. By bringing together our strengths and leadership in research, this partnership is generating new knowledge that can change how care is delivered across the system" — Sarah Downey, President & CEO, CAMH
GET UPSTREAM
Getting upstream is about reaching people before mental illness escalates—earlier in life, earlier in illness, earlier in crisis—and connecting them to the right supports at the right time.
A landmark gift for child and youth mental health
The Labatt Family Thriving Minds Program unites expertise from CAMH, SickKids and The Garry Hurvitz Centre for Community Mental Health at SickKids to accelerate access to outpatient mental health care so children and youth can receive the care they need when and where they need it—avoiding unnecessary hospital visits, long or multiple waitlists, and missed opportunities for early intervention. This year, the Labatt family donated $40 million to drive this work forward—the largest philanthropic investment in integrated child and youth mental health care in Canada. The gift will expand access to outpatient mental health care, support new treatment models shaped by clinical expertise and lived experience, and enhance the Information Hub so more families can find their way to care.
Together we will live up to the name and shape a future that reflects the best of what we have to offer." — Dr. Louise Gallagher, Chief, Child and Youth Mental Health Collaborative, SickKids and CAMH
Creating a model for youth mental health care
Youth living with mental health and substance use challenges can access services faster—and with less reliance on hospital-based psychiatric care—according to a CAMH-led study published in JAMA Network Open. The YouthCan IMPACT project is the first randomized clinical trial worldwide to compare an integrated youth services model with traditional hospital outpatient adolescent psychiatry. Young people receiving community-based integrated care began services within nine days on average, compared to 27 days in the hospital outpatient group—nearly three times faster—while experiencing meaningful improvements in mental health and functioning. That research led to the creation of Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO)—a provincewide network of free, walk-in services for youth aged 12 to 25. The network now spans 32 locations, and approximately 72,000 youth have visited hubs more than 380,000 times. This year, CAMH became the host organization for the Integrated Youth Services (IYS) Collaboration Centre, supporting Integrated Youth Services networks across the country through knowledge and data mobilization, education and training, shared resources, and implementation supports for the IYS model.
A new partnership: The John Tavares Foundation
In fall 2025, the John Tavares Foundation made a gift to CAMH Foundation in support of child and youth mental health—including early intervention, education and care for young people and their families. John, an NHL veteran and longtime member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and his wife Aryne visited CAMH to meet clinicians, researchers and youth receiving care.
Closing gaps in dementia care
Close to 733,000 Canadians live with dementia, and the quality of care they receive varies significantly across the country. Findings from the CAMH-led PACt-MD study showed that combining structured cognitive exercises with non-invasive brain stimulation can measurably slow cognitive decline in older adults at elevated risk. CAMH is also helping improve dementia care through the national Dementia Health System Performance Team, which is analyzing health data across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. Results will be made public and the work will expand nationally so more people living with dementia—and the families who support them—receive care that meets the standard they deserve.
CAMH didn’t just medicate and manage—they listened, they saw her, and they saw me. She’s now part of their geriatric outpatient program and she has had stretches of stability that once felt impossible.” — Christina Iannello, Caregiver and Loving Daughter
LIFT SOCIETAL HEALTH
When CAMH works with our partners and community to lift societal health, we ensure discoveries reach every clinician, patient and family member who needs them—wherever they are.
Global Learning Academy: Knowledge without borders
Too much of what we know about mental health never reaches the people who need it. Clinicians in under-resourced communities lack access to current evidence. Families navigating a loved one's illness struggle to find reliable guidance. People living with mental illness often have no way to access knowledge that could help them understand their own experience. The CAMH Global Learning Academy was built to close that gap. Launched in 2025, the Academy brings all of CAMH's education and training together in one place—accredited, evidence-based and accessible to health-care providers, patients, families and the public across Canada and around the world. Within its first month of launch, the Academy reached more than 6,500 registered learners from 25 countries. More than 370 courses are now available, and 13 formal education partnerships help sustain its growth. The reach is already extending globally. In partnership with the Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning, CAMH's Cundill Centre for Child and Youth Depression is adapting its youth depression training for clinical realities in Pakistan.
This is about giving people—whether they're clinicians, caregivers or individuals living with mental illness—access to the best knowledge we have. The Academy makes that learning easier to find, easier to use and more connected to real-world care.” — Dr. Sanjeev Sockalingam, Senior Vice-President, Education and Chief Medical Officer, CAMH
Celebrating five years of Shkaabe Makwa
In November 2025, Shkaabe Makwa—CAMH's Indigenous-led centre for First Nations, Inuit and Métis mental health and wellness—marked its fifth anniversary as a centre and 25 years of Indigenous care at CAMH. This milestone year also brought significant advances in Shkaabe Makwa's work:
- The Trauma and Substance Use Assessment Tool—developed with input from more than 250 front-line workers and 14 Indigenous service providers—helps clinicians understand symptoms within their cultural, historical and social context, guiding referrals to culturally appropriate supports.
- In December 2025, Shkaabe Makwa hosted a national gathering on Indigenous health data sovereignty, bringing together partners from across Canada to ensure that Indigenous communities control their own health data and shape the research that affects their lives.
System leadership in action
CAMH's work extends beyond the hospital—into homes, communities and systems that shape mental health and access to care.
- Housing as mental health: Through a longstanding partnership with LOFT Community Services, CAMH brings care directly to people where they already live, supporting youth experiencing early psychosis and older adults living with mental illness.
- A front door for the Toronto Region: CAMH was selected by Ontario Health to serve as the Mental Health and Addictions Coordinated Access Hub for the Toronto Region. When the Hub launches later in 2026, anyone seeking care in the region will have a clearer, more direct path to the right support.
- Shaping policy, changing outcomes: CAMH's research and advocacy informed national conversations on addiction, treatment and harm reduction through the CAMH Monitor and a companion study on alcohol-related harm. CAMH also advocated for sustained investment in mental health infrastructure, upstream prevention and equitable access to care.
9-8-8: A national lifeline, renewed
When 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline launched in November 2023 as Canada's national three-digit suicide prevention service, it represented a commitment: that anyone in this country who is thinking of suicide or worried about someone they know can reach a trained responder by call or text. In partnership with the Government of Canada, CAMH built and continues to operate the service in collaboration with crisis line partners across the country—ensuring people get support when they need it most. Since launch, 9-8-8 has answered more than 900,000 calls and texts. In January 2026, the federal government announced a renewed investment of $120.2 million over two years so that this critical lifeline can continue to answer, expand and improve. Callers can access the service in more than 200 languages via an interpreter, and First Nations, Inuit and Métis callers can also speak to a responder in three Indigenous languages through 9-8-8 partner Hope for Wellness. Behind every call and text is a person in need and a responder ready to help.
THANK YOU
The progress highlighted in this year's annual report depends on people. Every day, CAMH researchers, clinicians, staff, volunteers, donors and partners bring care, skill and commitment to improving mental health care across the system. Our goals are ambitious, and the work ahead is significant. Together, we will continue forging a better path for mental health care and ensuring more people get the care they need, when they need it. As we reflect on the year behind us, we do so with deep gratitude for everyone who made this progress possible and pride in what we have accomplished together. Let's continue choosing hope.