• Leaders of the major mental health organizations
• People with lived experience of mental health problems and illnesses
• Family members
• Community mental health agencies
• Health professionals
• Service managers
• Academics and researchers
• Senior officials in provincial, territorial and federal governments
• National aboriginal organizations

But the consultation with Canadians actually began before the Commission itself was created through the process that led to the publication of Out of the Shadows at Last.

Out of the Shadows at Last

Out of the Shadows At Last (May 2006) was the final report on mental health issued by the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. The Committee was led by then-Senator Michael Kirby, who became the Chair of the MHCC in 2007.

This report drew on the largest ever Canada-wide consultation on mental health, mental illness and addictions. Hearings were held across the country and two online surveys were conducted to supplement research gathered from Canada and around the world. The report led directly to the formation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada and helped to define its mandate.

Development of the Toward Recovery and Well-Being: A Framework for a Mental Health Strategy
for Canada

A key component of the mandate of the MHCC was to develop a mental health strategy for Canada that is oriented towards the promotion of mental health, the prevention of mental illness where possible and to improving the health and social outcomes for all people affected by mental health problems and illnesses and their families.

Building on the recommendations from Out of the Shadows At Last, the MHCC adopted a two-phase approach to the development of a mental health strategy. An extensive consultation process was undertaken to define a vision and goals for a transformed mental health system. Input was received from of people across the country with a wide variety of points of view and experience. In particular, feedback was gathered from:

• More than 450 stakeholders at a series of regional and national in-person meetings.
• Over 1,700 members of the general public and over 300 stakeholder groups through an extensive online consultation.

Based on this consultation, Toward Recovery and Well-Being (November 2009) outlined seven goals for a transformed system.

Development of the Mental Health Strategy

The Mental Health Strategy will translate the vision and goals of the Framework into a strategic plan. This plan will be organized around six strategic directions, and for each of these a number of priorities for action will be identified. In selecting the priorities for action we have been guided by the cumulative results of the various rounds of consultation that have taken place to date. In particular, the choice of the priority actions has been informed by:

• Feedback gathered during the development of Towards Recovery and Well-Being;
  
  
• Advice from a series of roundtables on several key topics attended by 125 people;
  Read the report from each of these meetings.
  
  
• Ongoing discussions with senior officials in Provincial, Territorial and Federal Governments;
  
  
• Dialogue with National Aboriginal Organizations;
  
  
• Regular consultation with the more than 200 volunteer advisors to the Commission (members of: the Board; the eight advisory committees; the Youth Council; and advisors to the various initiatives of the MHCC including At Home/Chez Soi and Opening Minds;
  
  
• Structured interviews with international mental health strategy leaders and with developers of strategies in Canada in other health areas such as Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Substance Use, Heart

In the summer of 2011, additional input on a draft was solicited from four hundred people through a series of eight workshops held in Ottawa and the Territories and an online survey.

The representative sampling of stakeholders included: leaders of mental health organizations; people with lived experience of mental health problems and illnesses and their families; community mental health organizations; elders and members of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities; representatives of immigrant, refugee, ethno-cultural and racialized communities; members of Francophone communities; service planners and managers; and policy makers inside provincial, territorial and federal departments and agencies.