INvesting $1.5M IN Community-Led Mental Health Initiatives

April 3, 2025

The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia is awarding $1,490,408 to support 72 community-based mental health initiatives in the first round of its 2025-26 Community Grant funding cycle. This funding helps community organizations across the province deliver timely, relevant and local mental health and addictions support. 

The full list of funded programs this round can be found here.

“This funding reflects the incredible work happening in communities across Nova Scotia to strengthen mental health and addictions support closer to home,” says Starr Cunningham, President & CEO of the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia. “These initiatives are developed by communities, for communities — and we’re proud to play a role in helping bring them to life.”

Community Grant-funded projects are designed to meet the unique needs of the populations they serve, including youth, women, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, seniors, Black and Indigenous Nova Scotians, new Canadians, unhoused individuals, and people and families living with mental illness or substance use disorder.

The initiatives address areas such as complex trauma, youth empowerment and skill-building, suicide prevention training, addictions, mood disorders, grief, and psychosis.

“Together with our grant recipients, donors, and partners in public health, government, and the non-profit sector, we’re helping expand access to the support that Nova Scotians need, where and when they need it,” says Cunningham.

About the Community Grant Program

The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia awards Community Grant funding twice a year, made possible through the support of donors and the Nova Scotia Office of Addictions and Mental Health. Eligible projects can receive up to $25,000.

Applications for the next round of 2025-26 Community Grant funding will be accepted from July 3, 2025 until 12 PM (noon) on August 14, 2025.

To learn more about eligibility and timelines, visit mentalhealthns.ca/grant-applications.