Canada Awards for Excellence
Recipient ProfileThe University of British Columbia
2022 Gold Recipient
Mental Health at Work®
The University of British Columbia (UBC) was established in 1915 and is a global centre for research and teaching, consistently ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam, and in Kelowna on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Syilx.
The university has a longstanding history of leading action related to workplace wellbeing and mental health promotion since the launch of the Focus on People Strategic Framework in 2008. In 2015, UBC signed the Okanagan Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges making a significant commitment to strengthen the coordination of cross-campus efforts in order to move towards becoming a health-promoting university.
Subsequently, the Wellbeing Strategic Framework was developed and launched in 2019 to provide a shared vision and direction which continues to guide this work.
The Healthy Workplace Initiative Funds are available for teams looking to develop a program that supports healthy workplace initiatives such as mental health, arts, healthy eating, nutrition, and yoga.
“It is encouraging that our commitment to wellbeing, mental health and resilience is recognized at the gold level through Excellence Canada’s Mental Health at Work framework benchmark assessment. This recognition is a testament to the university’s continued leadership in the areas of health and wellbeing. Supporting and enhancing the wellbeing of UBC faculty and staff remains a priority, and one that we take to heart. As a world-class research university and employer of choice, we will continue to embrace wellbeing in our campus culture, in both large and small ways.”