HCA 2025 Wellness Summit

Registration for the 2025 Wellness Summit has now closed. We look forward to seeing you at future HCA events!

The Wellness Summit serves as an annual gathering for the HCA Community of Practice, providing an opportunity to come together, learn, share, and celebrate efforts across the province to strengthen post-secondary mental health and wellness. We are excited to meet in-person to explore this year’s theme, 

Reimagining Campus Culture

View the Detailed Agenda for the Summit

View Agenda

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Context

The HCA Wellness Summit has been a groundbreaking event for students, staff and other partners in post-secondary institutions in Alberta. It has served as a safe space for inclusive and community integrated collaboration to discuss and generate innovative approaches to mental health and wellness on campuses. Through this year’s summit, HCA aims to address some fundamental as well as some emerging concerns in the current post secondary mental health landscape in Alberta. 

“Reimagining Campus Culture” calls for a collective effort to reshape campus environments across Alberta by cultivating wellness, belonging, and inclusion. It emphasizes the importance of engaging students, staff, faculty, administration, and community partners in a shared responsibility to transform campus culture. The summit will explore actionable approaches to mental health and wellness challenges, addressing systemic issues while anticipating future needs. By cultivating well-being as a collective priority, the summit aims to inspire meaningful change and create healthier, inclusive, resilient, and thriving campus communities across the province.

Cultivating a Sense of Belonging

How important is it that students, staff and faculty feel seen, valued, supported, and included in a campus? To develop a campus culture centered on wellness, it is important to understand how connection, inclusion, and a shared purpose contribute to shaping a thriving academic and social environment at a post-secondary institution.

What are some ways in which we can incorporate holistic approaches to creating this sense of belonging on campus? A post-secondary institution is a place where students forge their identities, where people find purpose, and where peoples’ careers spans years if not decades. A sense of belonging is the foundation upon which students, staff, and faculty can build resilience, navigate challenges, and achieve their full potential. Furthermore, a strong sense of belonging creates a stronger sense of community among the members of a post-secondary institution.

Strengthening Partnerships Across Campuses and Communities

The ability to build meaningful connections and strengthen them over time is a vital skill to possess at a post-secondary institution. This sub-theme highlights the value of collaboration between/within campuses and their surrounding communities to develop sustainable approaches to mental health and wellness. It emphasizes the importance of shared learning, collective action, and mutual support between institutions and community partners to co-create solutions that address systemic and social challenges rooted in the mental health and wellness landscape.

Collaborations with the community and with other campuses help institutions to co-develop programs and services tailored to their unique wellness needs. Interdepartmental partnerships and support systems help reduce departmental silos and further strengthen a culture of collaboration on campus. Moreover, a collaboration centered community on campus is reflective of a transformative culture within the post-secondary institution.

Integrating Wellness in Learning Environments

This sub-theme uses a whole campus approach to define a learning environment as any space in the entire campus that is integral for learning, growth, and well-being.

Integrating Wellness in Learning Environments focuses on the rapidly evolving post-secondary learning environment and calls for a reimagining of education that prioritizes mental health and well-being alongside academic achievement. It explores how wellness can be incorporated into learning environments, facilitating holistic student development and reducing barriers to student achievement as well as encompassing staff well-being through a whole campus approach.

By embedding wellness into the core of education, campuses can ensure that students are not only prepared for their careers but also equipped to navigate life’s challenges. The foundation of campus culture centered on wellness should start in the classroom itself. The mental health and wellbeing of students, faculty, and staff is vital in shaping a wellness focused culture on campus. Thus, this sub-theme explores the role of students, faculty, and staff on campus in creating a wellness-centered educational ecosystem.

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Learning Objectives

Through the summit, the attendees will:

• Identify and build diverse relationships across Alberta that strengthen collective action and campus-wide resilience to promote mental health and well-being.
• Learn about the role of campus culture in supporting post-secondary mental health and wellness and find necessary measures to build a healthy campus culture at one’s post-secondary institution.
• Recognize the interconnectedness of belonging, partnerships, inclusion, and wellness in creating healthy learning environments and explore actionable strategies to promote and integrate mental health and well-being in classroom settings.
• Explore how to build and sustain partnerships that share knowledge, resources, and goals for collective impact.
• Develop actionable plans, resilient leadership, and culturally appropriate approaches to mental health and well-being that align with a shared vision for healthy, caring campus communities.

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Transportation Information

Getting Around: View the University of Calgary visitor travel info page here. Directions to MacEwan Conference and Event Centre can be found here. IMPORTANT: You MUST take Collegiate Blvd NW to access parking lots 10, 11 and the MacEwan Student Centre Parkade. 

Parking: Lots 10 and 11, along Collegiate Blvd., are available for visitor parking anytime. Parking in the MacEwan Student Centre Parkade  is also available anytime at a daily or hourly rate. View a map of these available lots here.  

Location: We will be meeting in the MacEwan Ballroom on the third floor of the  MacEwan Centre, and concurrent sessions will take place on the “Main Floor” of the MacEwan Conference and Event space. View a map of the Wellness Summit spaces here.  

 

We have compiled a list of transportation options with links: 

Bus within Calgary 

• Plan your trip to the University of Calgary here via Calgary Transit Bus or CTrain. 

 

Bus to Calgary 

• To/From Edmonton and Calgary, Red Deer, Fort McMurray – Red Arrow 

• To/From Lethbridge, Fort Macleod, Claresholm, Okotoks-Aldershyde, Calgary, Red Deer, and Edmonton. – Flix bus options  

 

Carpool 

• Check with colleagues at your institution or organization and organize a group of people to carpool to University of Calgary with. 

 

Airplane 

• The nearest airport to the University of Calgary is the Calgary International Airport (YYC) 
• Plan your trip from the Calgary Airport to the University of Calgary here. 

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Accommodation Options

Please note: There is a high demand for hotel space in Calgary the week of the Summit due to other major events such as the G7. Please do not hesitate to book as soon as possible if you require accommodations in Calgary.

Sandman Signature Hotel Downtown  

Booking link: https://reservations.sandmanhotels.com/113056?&groupID=4732732 

Summit Rates (space is limited):    

• • Signature King Room: $289.00/night

• • Signature King Room with Sofa Bed: $319.00/night

• • Signature King Room with Kitchenette: $329.00/night

This hotel is a 15-minute drive from the University of Calgary and close to a C-train station. This hotel provides a shuttle to the C-train station. 

Sandman Signature Hotel Northwest 

Booking link: https://reservations.sandmanhotels.com/113125?groupID=4732299 

Summit Rates (space is limited):  

• • Accessible King (1 accessible king bed) – Rate $209/night 

• • Standard Twin (2 doubles)- Rate $219/night 

• • Executive Twin (2 doubles, sofa bed) -Rate $229/night 

This hotel is a 13-minute drive from the University of Calgary. This location has free parking. 

Days Inn by Wyndham Calgary Northwest 

Summit Rates (space is limited):  

• • 2 Queen Beds $233.22 + 9% taxes/per night for double occupancy. Rate guaranteed until May 5th, 2025. Includes free continental breakfast, free Wi-Fi, access to a fitness room and parking for all guests. Pet fees, early check-in fee, cot, extra adult fees are not included. 

• • Booking Instructions: Primary guests may call us at 403-288-7115 to reserve their room. Primary guests will need a valid credit card and ID to check-in.  Please mention check-in date June 16, 2025, number of nights and group code UC061617 when calling in to make a reservation. Cancellations up to 4:00 PM June 9, 2025, without penalty.  

This hotel is an 8-minute drive from the University of Calgary or a 45-minute walk. 

Days Inn by Wyndham Calgary South 

Summit Rates (Space is limited): 

• • $139.00 plus taxes per room per night are available for Summit guests. Continental breakfast is included. Rate guaranteed until May 15, 2025. Rooms can be booked using this link.  

This hotel is a 30-minute drive from the University of Calgary. 

Aloft hotel – Only a few rooms available! 

• • $296 plus taxes per night. Aloft guest room king or Aloft guest room queen. 

Access the details via the following web link: Book your corporate rate for University of Calgary When booking a room under this rate, please note that guests will be required to present a valid University of Calgary ID or an event ticket upon check-in as proof of eligibility. This hotel is an 8-minute drive from the University of Calgary or a 45-minute walk. 

 Other nearby accommodations 

Best Western Plus Village Park Inn 

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Dates and Location

MacEwan Ballroom, University of Calgary, Alberta. 

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 (9:00 am – 5:00 pm) 

Wednesday, June 18, 2025 (9:00 am – 3:00 pm) 

Venue: University of Calgary 

Address: 2500 University Dr NW, Calgary AB T2N 1N4