Photo credit: Resource Centre for Suicide Prevention.

By Curtis Galbraith

Mental Health

CDN Controls agrees to sponsor mental health program that has spread across two countries after starting in Grande Prairie

Dec 19, 2024 | 6:00 AM

A mental health program that started in Grande Prairie, and has since spread across Canada and the U.S., has now attracted a corporate backer.

CDN Controls has agreed to sponsor mental health training offered through the Tough Enough To Talk About It program, one that is for people in industries like oil and gas.

The company’s Jennifer Chatman says CDN has a reputation in its industry of taking care of everything.

“And so, if you are going to take care of everything, if you’re going to take care of clients, if you are going to take care of communities, if you’re going to take care of great, meaningful Indigenous relationships, if you’re going to take great care of clients and customers, then you also have to take great care of the people inside your organization and the hard-working people within our industry.”

Tracy Golnick with the Resource Centre for Suicide Prevention oversees the program. She says the people that work in the industry CDN is in are the ones they are trying to reach.

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“Tough Enough To Talk About it is a mental health literacy program and it’s specifically designed for trades and industry.”

“We started back in the late 1990s as Men at Risk and it’s just really grown since then.”

Golnick says she is “incredibly proud” that the program started here and is now offered in Canada and the U.S.

“I think it’s an amazing program. It’s amazing opportunities for companies to start showing their commitment to psychological health and safety and (t) start conversations in their workplace.

Golnick adds Tough Enough reaches 2000-2500 people per year, on average.

She says the centre started looking for someone to “tag along” in their growth and that CDN “jumped at the opportunity.”

Golnick is hoping this sponsorship leads to more awareness of and growth.

“CDN is aggressively growing in Canada. Tough Enough is aggressively growing as well and I think the partnership just to be able to talk about it, to share it, is going to create a little bit of buzz, hopefully.”

Chatman says other businesses have offered this training and that it “really resonated with employees.”

“And so we thought we know we want to engage with this program as well but we want to take it one step further by actually putting our name on it, so that every tine it’s delivered that people know that undercutting that cost of service delivery is a company that truly is committed to the mental wellness and the mental health of its employees and our industry as a whole.”

CDN also says that all of its employees that it refers to as “people leaders” will complete the training under Tough Enough To Talk About it by July 1.

“I think we’re going to see tremendous engagement by our leadership and that’s why we’re making it available to all people leaders.”

“But I think the true surprise is going to come in the back half of the year when we open this up to employees.”

Chatman says employees have this is something to an eager to take part in.