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"Oh my goodness, what a day of celebration," said Bev Gutray, CEO of CMHA BC Division. This year was a year of accomplishment: a National Standard, Bill 14, a national conference. Finally, it feels that stars are aligning and greatness is just around the corner.

But nothing great happens without someone behind it. Someone scheduling meetings, managing the venue, supporting the steering committee, getting the snacks, keeping the conference work plans on point, and, like a true leader, sharing her personal story.

After a day of inspiring, empowering and catalyzing speakers and presentations, delegates discussed what they will bring back to their own workplaces.

We asked:

From what you have heard, what will you take back to your workplace?

Here are just a few of the delegate's responses:

Jim Sinclair said that as part of the labour movement, he was picketing outside the first year of the Bottom Line Conference. But over the past nine years, he has worked with the Canadian Mental Health Association and become a part of the movement of increasing psychological safety in the workplace. It doesn’t have to be a confrontation, but a collaboration between the labour movement and other sectors.

Words from some of the most inspirational leaders we know:

A panel shared about initiatives that are taking place at provincial and territorial levels. Highlights include:

Fred Smith, Regional Director of Group Benefits for Great-West Life, introduced Mary Ann Baynton, Co-chair of the Technical Committee on the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.

Kathryn Gretsinger introduced TV sports hosts Michael Landsberg by saying, “Michael lives in the land of jocks”. His program, Off the Record, has been on air for 15 years, and in a world where people focus on success, competition, strength—Landsberg is able to get “behind the mask”. Gretsinger added that Landsberg became a game-changer when he talked about his own depression, talking off his own mask.

Part 2 of Dame Black's talk focused on the story of workplace mental health in the UK.

UK’s Perspective

In 2005, the UK had too many people leaving the labour market with a health condition, with mental health as the main concern. There were also rising costs to provide for incapacity benefits.

People were leaving work due to common mental health problems. We do know, however, that people can be at work with a chronic condition or a health condition, or disability—but they need supportive workplaces.

Wearing the brightest pink jacket of the day so far, perhaps in a nod to Anti-Bullying Day, Professor Dame Carol Black provided a global perspective on employment and Mental Health, including the UK’s experience and a few words on next steps.

Turning from sharing personal experiences to big-picture perspective, the delegates welcomed Peter Coleridge, CEO of CMHA National, to share.

Coleridge said that CMHA’s Bottom Line Conference and its workplace mental health initiatives are a “source of pride” for him and for many of his CMHA colleagues. He traced the evolution of the Bottom Line Conference and the national conversation about mental health in the workplace over the years.