About Reasons for Hope

It could happen to your parent or your child. Your brother or your sister. Your friend or your colleague. It could happen to you. Mental illness impacts everyone.

Medicine has come a long way over the last half century. Well-funded research has led to countless new breakthroughs and improvements in care for many different diseases.

Yet, advances in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness have often lagged behind.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can drive positive change for new generations of Canadian children and youth.

Together, we can have Reasons for Hope.

More than 6.5 million Canadians are affected by mental illness, with 70 per cent experiencing first symptoms before the age of 18. These conditions can be devastating, both to the individual experiencing them, as well as to their families and broader communities.

Just as it is for other illnesses, early intervention and a focus on prevention is key to reducing the toll of mental health conditions and their most severe outcomes, including suicide.

Since 2015, volunteers from the business community have partnered with the University of Toronto’s Department of Psychiatry — one of the largest and most influential departments of psychiatry in the world — to fund important new research and catalyze innovative ideas that will translate into improved care for people living with mental illness.

To date, Reasons for Hope (previously known as the Miner’s Lamp Dinner) has raised almost $5 million — funding important, youth-focused research studies that are expanding our understanding of mental illness, and improving our ability to diagnose and treat these conditions.