Canadian Mental Health Association is a 4-star charity with a B+ results reporting grade, which is above average. Its overhead spending is outside of Ci’s reasonable range. The charity’s reserve funds could cover program costs for just under eight months, which is within Ci’s reasonable range.

Founded in 1918, Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) works to promote mental health and support people experiencing mental illness through community programs, advocacy, education, and access to local services across Canada. According to CMHA, the number of Canadians reporting their mental health as "poor" or "fair" is three times higher than it was before the pandemic, and 2.5 million Canadians are unable to access the care they need. CMHA runs two main programs: Social Change and System Change. In the fiscal year ending March 2025 (F2025), it spent $8.6m on its programs and grants. The charity did not provide a breakdown of program spending.

Social Change provides support for people struggling with mental illness through crisis services, personalized support, counselling, and community-based social programs. CMHA reported that 2,498 people attended its Recovery Colleges between September 2024 and the end of that year, and that over 300,000 employees are currently using its Not Myself Today workplace program.

System Change works to improve mental health systems by advocating for better policies, improving access to care, and raising awareness about mental health issues. In F2025, CMHA’s Mental Health Week campaign got almost 1,000,000 views. It also participated with Members of Parliament in organizing the Mental Health Summit held in Ottawa.

The grants disbursed by CMHA in F2025 were distributed to its 68 CMHA branches across Canada.

Canadian Mental Health Association’s audited financial statements use line-item costing, which is not a best practice. Ci used the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA to report program, fundraising, and administrative costs.

In F2025, CMHA received $7.7m in donations and special events (79% of total revenue). It also received $1.4m in fees for service from its Workplace Mental Health program and $338k in investment income.

Program costs and grants were $8.6m (89% of total revenue), and the charity ran a deficit of $2.2m.

CMHA spent $2.0m on fundraising costs (26% of donations) and $1.2m on administrative costs (13% of revenue less investment income) in F2025. Total overhead was 39%, meaning that for every dollar received, 61 cents are available to go to the cause.

At the end of F2025, CMHA had $5.5m in reserve funds (cash and investments). This could cover just under eight months of its annual program costs.

CMHA uses external fundraisers. In F2025, it paid fundraisers $1.5m to collect $4.0m. It cost 36 cents to raise a dollar through external fundraisers.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Canadian Mental Health Association for review.

Updated on June 4, 2026 by Ava Anderson.