Bell makes mental health its new priority

The communications group Bell Canada has pledged C$50million ($49m, £31m, €35m) to Canadian mental health charities in one of the country’s largest corporate projects in the area.

The company, which will invest the money over the next five years, says it is targeting Canada’s single biggest health and social problem, and will focus on four aspects – combating stigma and changing attitudes towards mental health problems; improving community care and access; improving working conditions for those with mental illness; and financing brain research.

Bell’s first donation, to the Royal Ottawa Hospital, is a C$1m grant to expand a telepsychiatry programme. In addition, it intends to lead by example by improving its own workplace mental health programmes and ‘return-to-work’ protocols.

It is estimated that one in five Canadians will experience a mental illness at some time, but that fewer than a third of sufferers receive prompt treatment. Bell president George Cope urged ‘all corporate leaders to step up’ to help improve the situation.