Above: officials of Partnering for Research Innovation in MEntal Health (PRIME) and donor representatives join recipients of the PRIME X Community Grant. In attendance were IPW PM Kris Ontong (extreme right) and academic partner Dr. Bolaji Akinyele-Akanbi (sixth from left)
On January 21, the Newcomer & Ethnocultural-Led Mental Health (NELMH) Sector Table of Immigration Partnership Winnipeg was officially awarded the PRIME X Community Grant, along with five other community organizations at the 3rd Annual PRIME Conference held at Inn at the Forks in downtown Winnipeg. The grant was made possible through the generous donors of the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba such as RBC and Sobeys Family of Support.
This funding recognizes the importance of community-led, culturally grounded approaches to mental health promotion and suicide prevention among immigrant and refugee children, youth, and families. Through this initiative, the sector table will strengthen cross-sector partnerships, amplify ethnocultural community leadership, and advance upstream prevention strategies that reflect the lived realities of newcomer communities. The sector table is deeply grateful to PRIME and its donors for their commitment to building a stronger, more equitable mental health ecosystem in Manitoba.
The grant will fund the sector table’s community-based research study on“Suicide and Suicidal Ideation in Manitoba’s Newcomer Community,” which will address critical knowledge gaps in how suicide risk, stigma, and help-seeking behaviours manifest across diverse cultural and migration contexts. This study is significant because newcomer communities are often underrepresented in mental health research and underserved in policy and programming, despite facing unique systemic barriers and settlement-related stressors. By generating community-driven evidence, the research will inform culturally responsive interventions, strengthen service delivery, and guide policy advocacy to ensure mental health systems in Manitoba are inclusive, equitable, and responsive to the needs of ethnocultural communities.
“In a world shaped by significant political and economic turmoil, our collective mental wellness has taken center stage. We are increasingly aware of how the ripple effects of these global events can reach into our local communities and impact our most vulnerable neighbors. On behalf of the Project Team, I am deeply grateful for this opportunity to study and understand these complex challenges within the newcomer community,” said Kris Ontong, Project Manager for the NELMH Sector Table. The project’s academic partner, Dr. Bolaji Akinyele-Akanbi, was also present when the PRIME X Community Grant was officially awarded, highlighting the strength of the community–academic partnership guiding this work.