Royal Ottawa launches $75M campaign for mental health research

The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre launched its Lives Reclaimed fundraising campaign during Mental Health Week, aiming to raise $75 million for research and treatment for people experiencing mental illness and addiction.

At a May 5 press conference, the Waverly House Foundation kickstarted the effort with a $14 million donation, with a pledge for an additional $1 million once the campaign reaches 15,000 community donations — reflecting the number of patients The Royal treats annually.

Carl Bernade, now 33, is one of those patients. He began experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia at age 20 while playing football for the Ottawa Sooners and preparing to study criminology at Carleton University. "From that night, something snapped in my head. From one second to the other, everything changed," he said of his first auditory hallucinations.

Bernade's family immigrated to Canada from Haiti in 2007, where mental health supports are virtually nonexistent. "In Haiti, there's no mental health organizations or opportunities for people to get well who deal with mental health. I'm fortunate to be in this country to be able to receive this help, and that The Royal really helped me when I came in," he said. Today he works as a music producer and rapper.

The campaign will fund the opening of The Royal's urgent care clinic, research into biomarkers that could help prevent suicide, and expanded use of brain imaging in personalized treatment plans. Bruce McKean, founder of Waverly House, emphasized the importance of sustained funding for basic research. "The science, the therapies, the technology, the pharmacology can provide or improve tools to deal with the mental health issues that are so persistent, so complex, difficult to deal with and not going away — we need better tools and further research," he said.

The Royal operates campuses in Ottawa and Brockville.