Our History

Alberta Government funds post-secondary mental health and addiction initiatives

Ashley Humeniuk was hired as a full time facilitator to support the development of a Provincial Mental Health Framework

We welcomed Danielle Stewart-Smith as the provincial facilitator to support the provincial community

Establishment of the mission, vision, and next steps for the newly formed Healthy Campus Alberta

The HCA Design Team was formed to provide overall direction and guidance to the CoP, as well as the organization of events and activities. To learn more about the DT, explore the Terms of Reference and the Statements of Understanding.

Healthy Campus Alberta Website launched

To read the community summary report, explore here.

With the theme Building Resilient Campus Communities, this summit welcomed 186 attendees representing 23 campuses and 13 community organizations to the University of Calgary, where the Advanced Education Mental Health Grant was announced. To learn more, explore here.

HCA Grant Proposal approved

Hosted by the University of Calgary, this summit welcomed over 200 attendees representing 25 campuses and 46 organizations to learn together under the theme Transitions. To learn more about this summit, explore here.

Planned collaboratively by an advisory committee made up of representatives from 9 campuses and 3 organizations, this summit was hosted at the University of Alberta. We welcomed 128 attendees from 23 campuses and 12 organizations and highlighted the work of the CoP and the collaborative development of best practices. To learn more about this summit, explore here.

We welcomed Makayla Freeman back to the HCA staff team as the Project Assistant

HCA Website Relaunch

We welcomed our largest team to date including: Katy DeCoste as Student Communications Assistant, Katherine Liu as Student Event Assistant, Jennifer Nate as Administrative Assistant, and Helen Pethrick as Student Research and Knowledge Exchange Assistant.

Cynthia Ma joins the HCA team as the Student Event Assistant, one of our rotating student positions.

Aubrianna Snow joins the HCA team as the Student Communications Assistant, one of our rotating student positions.

Daniel V. Sadler (Event Assistant) and Cheyanne Soertaert (Community Engagement Assistant) join the HCA team in our rotating student positions. Helen Pethrick assumes the role of Research and Knowledge Exchange Facilitator. 

The HCA 2022 Wellness Summit took place online over 3 -days from June 14 to June 16, with the theme ‘Connect, Collaborate, Celebrate’. The Summit was attended by 83 unique participants over the three days with representation from 17 campuses across Alberta and 8 community organizations. Read the community report here. 

3 Regional Gatherings - two in person (Edmonton & Calgary) and one online - were designed to replace growing Community of Practice meetings. The gatherings were a half day and included facilitated collaboration.

The first HCA-hosted Student Lunch and Learn was held online through the Zoom platform on February 28, 2023, from 1-2pm. The event was facilitated by HCA student staff and students from SAIT and Bow Valley College and attended by 11 students from 6 Alberta campuses. 

122 people attended the 2024 Summit at the University of Alberta, June 13 & 14th. The summit's theme, “Introspection: Looking Back to Look Forward" included an HCA-led session where the community helped reimagine the vision and future of HCA and the CoP. 

 Seshnah Goorahoo (Community Engagement Assistant) joins the HCA team and Saugat KC (Event Assistant) was welcomed back for another year in our rotating student positions. 

The online space for the HCA Community of Practice to connect and collaborate on topics related to mental health and wellness in the post-secondary landscape was revamped and relaunched in the fall of 2024. CoP members can sign up for the community hub here.