Ajuinnata: the Mary Simon Catalyst for Mental Wellness

Strengthening community-led mental wellness across the Canadian North 

The Rideau Hall Foundation (RHF) is proud to announce Ajuinnata: The Mary Simon Catalyst for Mental Wellness, a new long-term project created in collaboration with the Right Honourable Mary Simon and inspired by her deep commitment to mental health and wellness.   

“Ajuinnata” is an Inuktitut word meaning “never give up” or “persevere,” reflecting the strength, resilience, and community leadership at the heart of the initiative.   

Ajuinnata is dedicated to strengthening community-based mental health supports across the North, beginning with communities in Inuit Nunangat. 

From Listening to Action 

The program builds on what Her Excellency heard through the Governor General’s Mental Health Learning and Listening Tour, launched in 2024 with support from the RHF. Through conversations with community leaders, practitioners, organizations, and people with lived experience across the country, a clear theme emerged: northern communities need greater support for peer-led, culturally grounded mental health services rooted in local relationships, knowledge, and lived experience. 

“Healing flourishes through connection and culture. That is why this program will focus on supporting community-based mental health. With the right training and adequate financial support, communities can make a meaningful difference. It is one of the most effective ways we can help build a strong and vibrant Canadian North for the future.”  ~ The Right Honourable Mary Simon 30th Governor General of Canada 

Supporting community-led care 

Ajuinnata is grounded in the belief that strong mental health systems are built locally, through relationships, trust, culture, and community leadership. 

Rather than delivering services directly, the program will support the people, organizations, and community programs working to strengthen mental wellness across the North. 

Working in partnership with northern organizations and communities, the Rideau Hall Foundation will support this work through: 

• Funding for community-led, culturally grounded initiatives  
• Capacity-building supports  
• Gatherings and knowledge sharing opportunities  
• Relationship and network building across the North   

The goal is to help strengthen connections, support promising community-led approaches, and create opportunities for organizations and leaders to learn from one another. 

The Need for Community-Led Mental Wellness Supports 

Across the North, communities are leading important work to support mental health and wellness. At the same time, many continue to face serious barriers, including limited access to mental health professionals, long wait times, gaps in crisis response, and services that may not reflect local cultures, languages, or community realities.  

The need is especially urgent in Inuit Nunangat, where geography and limited local infrastructure make access to stable, culturally safe care more challenging in some communities. 

The Mental Health Learning and Listening Tour highlighted the important role peer support can play in filling gaps in ways that are culturally grounded, community-based, and trusted. Participants emphasized that healing and wellness are deeply connected to identity, language, culture, and community connection.  

As The Right Honourable Mary Simon said in her Installation speech, “addressing mental health and wellness… is hard and necessary work, but think of the possibilities for stronger, healthier and more prosperous communities.” 

Areas of focus 

Ajuinnata is being developed as a long-term platform for collaboration, learning, and investment in northern mental health and wellness, and will begin with a consultation period to help define its parameters in partnership with communities and advisors. 

Areas of focus being explored include: 

• Funding for community-led programming supports 
  Supporting non-profit organizations, Indigenous organizations, and community-based service providers developing peer-led and culturally grounded mental health initiatives that reflect local priorities and strengths. 

• Capacity-building supports 
  Investing in training, mentorship, workforce development, and organizational capacity to help strengthen peer support networks and community wellness initiatives, including culturally safe and trauma-informed approaches. 
  
• Gatherings and knowledge sharing 
  Creating opportunities for organizations, practitioners, Elders, youth leaders, and community partners to connect, share promising practices, strengthen networks, and learn from one another across regions and communities. 
  
• Culturally grounded approaches 
  Supporting initiatives that integrate Indigenous languages, land-based healing, Elders, storytelling, and local knowledge systems into wellness programming and peer support models. 

A collaborative path forward 

Through Ajuinnata, the Rideau Hall Foundation hopes to help strengthen northern-led mental health and wellness supports grounded in community knowledge, relationships, and cultural strengths. 

Because a strong and vibrant Canadian Arctic depends on the strength, wellness, and leadership of its people. 

Support community-led mental wellness

Ajuinnata is a long-term commitment to strengthening community-led, culturally grounded mental wellness across the North. Your support can help create more opportunities for northern organizations, leaders and communities to build on local strengths and advance approaches rooted in culture, connection and community.