Canadian Mental Health Association_Quebec / Association Canadienne pour la Santé mentale_Filiale de Québec

The Canadian Mental Health Association’s Quebec City branch a is part of a vast national network and, as such, its history is dependent on that of this network. It should be recalled that CMHA was originally called the Canadian National Committee on Mental Hygiene whose founders were Dr. Clarence M. Hincks and Clifford W. Beers, on January 26, 1918. Mental health was a very important cause in the eyes of Dr. Hincks, for he himself had suffered from mental illness. In order to form the committee, Hincks asked friends and professionals who worked primarily in the medical field to join him and his cause.

The Canadian National Committee on Mental Hygiene’s first meeting was officially held on April 26, 1918. Originally, the committee had five main objectives:

The desire to conduct psychiatric examinations of soldiers of war to provide them with adequate care.
Evaluating post-war immigrants for better selection of newcomers.
Having appropriate equipment to diagnose and treat mental illness.
Providing appropriate care for those who are mentally deficient.
Preventing mental illness.

Since its founding in Toronto, this community organization has grown over the years. To such an extent that there are now ten provincial divisions, two territorial divisions and more than one hundred and twenty-seven branches distributed throughout Canada. The Divisions allow exchanges between the branches as well as the creation of joint projects. They transmit the relevant information to the different branches and the latter can then organize their own activities, each of the branches being autonomous.