Mental Health First Aid
For Everyone. And Every One.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) provides the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for participants to recognize changes in mental health, respond supportively, and apply practical actions for declining mental health and crisis situations. It helps participants build confidence, reduce stigma, and enhance their own mental health.
Delivered in 35 nations worldwide and with over 8 million people trained, MHFA is a global movement.
MHFA is offered through three course types:
An innovative and leading-edge program in the sector, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) now offers official certification.
This in-depth course, upon completion and assessment, provides participants:
- A nationally recognized MHFA Certification that is valid for 3 years.
- Increase Mental Health Awareness
- Understand stigma, diagnostic labelling, and barriers to helping
- Learn effective communication techniques
A suite of courses, focused on core knowledge and practical skills. The courses do not lead to Certification.
Within the Essentials suite is a streamlined one-day course as well as adaptations to support unique populations and specific roles, including:
- MHFA Supporting Youth
- MHFA Supporting Older Adults
- MHFA Veteran Community
- MHFA Police
Culturally grounded and co-developed with the communities they serve. They are delivered with local knowledge and community support to ensure safe, relevant, and trusted learning experiences. These programs are designed to reflect the lived realities, values, and ways of knowing of the local communities, including:
- MHFA First Nations
- MHFA Inuit
- MHFA Northern Peoples
Choosing the course that best suits your needs
| Certification | Essentials | |
|---|---|---|
| Increase Mental Health Awareness | ||
| Define Mental Health and recognize indicators of mental health across the continuum. | ||
| Distinguish between mental: health, illness, health conditions. | ||
| Understand factors influencing mental health and mental health disorders in Canada. | ||
| Explain the Two Continua Model of mental health. | ||
| Improve Confidence to Help | ||
| Apply the ALGES framework in scenarios of declining mental health and crisis. | ||
| Develop effective interaction skills, including effective listening, non-judgmental communication skills, and application of reassurance and sharing of information.  | ||
| Explain recovery-oriented approaches to providing support.  | ||
| Identify barriers to MHFA, and questions to initiate supportive conversations.  | ||
| Develop a list of resources and supports.  | ||
| Decrease Mental Health Stigma | ||
| Recognize stigmatizing language and practice respectful alternatives. | ||
| Reflect on personal attitudes and biases that contribute to stigma. | ||
| Understand risks and limitations associated with diagnostic labeling. | ||
| Explain stigma, including self, public, and structural, and strategies to reduce. | ||
| Enhance Mental Health | ||
| Identify personal self-care strategies using the Three Pillars of Self-Care | ||
| Recognize when self-care is needed and how to integrate it into daily life, and commit to actions to maintain personal well-being |
Note: Because Community-Based programs are developed through close community consultation and cultural alignment, they do not follow the same structure as MHFA Essentials or Certification courses. As such, they are not included in the comparison table. For more information about these offerings or how to access them, visit our Community-Based Mental Health Training page.
Learn how to use ALGES
MHFA actions ALGES provide a framework for supporting someone in distress: first approach them, assess for any crisis, and offer immediate help if needed.
Then, listen without judgment, give reassurance and information, and encourage both professional help and other supports like family, friends, or self-care strategies. Finally, the first aider must also practice self-care to manage the emotional impact of providing help.
- Approach the person, assess, and assist with any crisis
- Listen and communicate non-judgmentally
- Give reassurance and information
- Encourage the person to reach out to supports
- Self-care for the first aider
Mental Health First Aid Full Course Selection
Type of training
Format of training
Length of training
Frequently Asked Questions
While the base information for Essentials and Certification is similar, MHFA Certification adds additional coverage for mental health disorders and their prevalence, as well as more scenario-based training exercises and discussions around key concepts. The topics covered in Community-Based courses are built in the unique context of the community it serves - as a result, the topics covered can be different than the Essentials and Certification options.
Certification is only available through the two-day MHFA Certification course. If you have taken previous offered MHFA Standard or Basic courses within the last 24 months, you have the opportunity to upskill through MHFA Bridge to Certification .Â
Our facilitator network will stop delivering MHFA Basic and MHFA Standard as of March 31st, 2026.
Certification is only available through the two-day MHFA certification course at this time. If both are required, we recommend taking the Certification course in addition to the adaptation you are interested in.
Become a Certified MHFA Facilitator
The Facilitator Certification Training is designed for people who want to offer the MHFA course in their communities, workplaces or organizations. As a Certified MHFA facilitator, you will join the Opening Minds Facilitator Community that is over 2000 people strong across Canada.
Mental Health First Aid Case Studies
Learn more about how MHFA is helping to transform mental wellness in organizations across Canada.
