Data for Good hosts the National Mental Health Datathon

Details
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.
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, mental health professional, or just passionate about making a difference, we welcome you to join!

What to Expect:

• Work with real-world mental health datasets
• Connect with a community of data professionals and mental health advocates

Registration Process for Participation in the Datathon:
Phase 1: Mandatory registration here, as we need to contact you with details: https://forms.gle/aM29u7FxP8ADobAo9
Phase 2: Data Use Agreement – 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 team formation and access to Discord, which will be our main platform for the datathon.

Launch Event: Saturday, April 5, 2025

• 8:30 - 9:30 - Check-in and networking
• 9:30 - 11:30 - Presentations from Mental Health organizations providing data provide context and describe the challenges to be addressed in the datathon
• 11:30 - 12:00 - Cross-country Tour of Data for Good chapters
• 12:00 - 12:30 - Review of the technical instructions for data access and discussion on reference materials available
• 12:30 - 4:00 - Opportunity for team formation and to being collaborating on generating insights
• Hybrid format – you are encouraged to join the in-person event in Calgary. There will also be an option to participate virtually

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 Calgary or participate virtually