Video: Dr. Laurence Kirmayer introducing the MMHRC

Canada is a highly diverse society, close to 1 out of 5 people were born outside of the country. Every year about 250,000 immigrants are accepted into the country, about 25,000 refugees. The Multicultural Mental Health Resource Centre (MMHRC) is a clearing house for information on cultural diversity relative to providing mental health services to Canada’s population. A doctor, for example, can go to the website and print out available materials on specific mental health issues in the language best understood by their patient.

The website is targeted to four principle groups of people: 1) Health care and social service providers, 2) people with mental health problems, as well as their family and friends, 3) the personnel of ethnocultural and community organizations who want to help their clients better navigate the health care system, and 4) people involved in health planning and policy making. The MMHRC is actively engaged in making the latest and best research on culture and mental health available to people on the front lines, in a form that is most useful for them. By articulating both national and local networks of mental health service providers that tailor to the needs of ethnocultural communities, the MMHRC aims to strengthen the human and informational resources available for improving mental health services for all of Canada’s diverse population.