Data for Good Ottawa - National Mental Health Datathon

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

The National Mental Health Datathon runs April 5 -26, 2025, bringing together data enthusiasts, mental health organizations, and nonprofit leaders to analyze real-world data and uncover insights that can drive meaningful change in mental health care across Canada.

We will be participating live with 8 other DFG chapters across Canada: Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, Waterloo, Regina, Montreal, and Maritimes!

This is a great opportunity to use your data skills for good, contribute to evidence-based solutions, and make a real impact. Whether you're a data scientist, analyst, student, researcher. mental health professional, community partner, or just passionate about making a difference, we welcome you to join!

Please check the bottom of this even description for the Ottawa in-person event location details

What to Expect:

• Work with real-world mental health datasets
• Connect with a community of data professionals and mental health advocates
• Collaborate on data-driven solutions supporting mental health innovation

Registration Process for Participation in the Datathon:
Phase 1: Mandatory registration here, as we need to contact you with details: SORRY, REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
Phase 2: Data Use Agreement – All participants will receive an email in the next few weeks with a link to review and sign the agreement.
Phase 3: Team Formation & Platform Access – Once fully registered, participants will receive instructions on how to collaborate with others, including team formation and access to Discord, which will be our main communication platform for the datathon (this info will also be shared at the in-person event on April 5).

Launch Event: Saturday, April 5, 2025

• 10:30 - 11:30 - Check-in, networking
• 11:30 - 1:30 - Presentations from the Mental Health organizations who are providing data: they will provide context and describe the challenges to be addressed in the datathon
• 13:30 - 14:00 - Cross-country Tour of Data for Good chapters
• 14:00 - 14:30 - Review of the technical instructions for data access and discussion on reference materials available
• 14:30 - 16:00 - Opportunity for team formation and to begin collaborating on generating insights
• Hybrid format – you are encouraged to join the in-person event in Ottawa, where we will be live-streaming with the main event in Calgary. Otherwise, there will be an option to participate in the main event virtually (please indicate your choice upon RSVPing).
• Food and refreshments will be provided, so it's important that we know how many will be attending in person.

April 5th to April 26th
From the launch to the wrap-up teams will be diving into the following datasets to generate insights on challenges / objectives related to mental health.
The datathon will have four core datasets –

• National polling initiative from Mental Health Research Canada
• 2021 StatsCan census data through HelpSeeker’s Social Data Explorer
• Call data across the country from 211 Canada
• State of Mental Health 2024 from Canadian Mental Health Association (National)

A number of Converge partners will also contribute their organizational data as participants –

• Crisis Line data from Distress Centre (Calgary) and CMHA-AB (Edmonton)
• Program data from Big Brothers Big Sisters (Calgary)
• CMHA AB + Centre for Suicide Prevention - ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) outcome surveys

Wrap-up Event: Saturday, April 26, 2025

• Recap of Datathon objectives and overview of activities
• Presentations from teams from Data for Good chapters across the country
• Feedback from organizations that contributed data and mental health sector representatives
• Concluding comments from Converge and Data for Good
• Hybrid format – join the in-person event in Ottawa or participate virtually

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In-person event location for April 5 Launch Event in Ottawa:
🙏 A huge thankyou to the University of Ottawa's Career Development and Experiential Learning Team for generously sponsoring their beautiful Career Corner space for this event! Your support helps bring this community together to drive meaningful change.

University of Ottawa - Career Corner (Room 216 of UCU Building, second floor- this is the top floor)

• You should leave yourself some extra time to arrive/park and find the building and room.
• There are several entrances to the building. We have added some campus map images to this event to help you get there. We will also have some print-outs on the doors and inside the building with arrows indicating the way. Feel free to reach out to us on the discord channel if you need assistance finding the room.

Accessibility: Please see the campus maps attached to this event for the location of the building's elevator and barrier-free directions to the room from the elevator. Contact us as soon as possible with any specific accessibility needs or concerns so we can ensure appropriate accommodations.
Food and drink: Please feel free to bring your own refillable water bottles and/or travel mugs. Please no outside food.
Transportation: uOttawa campus is conveniently located along the O- Train Line 1. Plan your trip via public transit to uOttawa campus using this site: https://www.octranspo.com/en/ottawa-destinations/uottawa
Parking: Paid parking is available nearby in the Brooks Parking Garage on campus. on weekends the cost is $9 max. You can pay using the HotSpot app. Brooks garage is HotSpot#4001. You may be able to find free parking in sandy hill or the golden triangle (which is connected to campus via a pedestrian bridge). Leave yourself some extra time to arrive!
Feel free to bring:

• Your own water bottle
• Your own coffee mug if you drink coffee/tea
• Your laptop/device

Don't bring:

• Outside food (food and refreshments will be provided)
• Any seafood / shellfish into the room as there is an allergy