Bell Lets Talk () is a campaign created by the Canadian telecommunications company, Bell Canada, in an effort to raise awareness and combat stigma surrounding mental illness in Canada. It is the largest corporate commitment to mental health in Canada. Originally a five-year, $50 million program to create a stigma-free Canada and drive action in mental health care, research, and the workplace, Bell Let's Talk was renewed in 2015 for five years with a target of committing $100 million, and in 2020, the initiative was renewed for a further five years, and a commitment of $155 million. The most prominent part of the initiative is "Bell Let's Talk Day," an annual one-day advertising campaign held on the fourth or last Wednesday of January where money is donated to mental health funds based on the number of social media and communication interactions that include the branded hashtag, #BellLetsTalk, or its Canadian French equivalent, #BellCause.
Since its founding in 2010, the campaign has committed over $121 million to mental health in Canada with over 1.3 billion interactions registered across various forms of media. #BellLetsTalk became the top trending topic on Twitter in 2015, and in 2018, it was the most used Canadian hashtag [of 2018] on Twitter. Although the program has received praise for being the first corporate campaign to acknowledge the stigma surrounding mental health, it has also been the subject of controversy for the alleged "corporatization of mental health".
History The Bell Let's Talk initiative began with a five-year goal of contributing $50 million to mental health programs around Canada. The campaign was started with a $1 million donation to the Royal Ottawa Hospital's Telemedicine program. Then-CEO George Cope desired a corporate social responsibility program for the company to compete with rival company, Telus, as they had recently taken up the cause of breast cancer.
Mary Deacon was brought on as chair of the new program. She previously served for ten years as the president of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto where she searched for brand partners to support their mental health initiatives. Cope, Bell's president, met Deacon at a volunteer event for the Centre and offered her the job. She accepted, stating that she "would not have come to Bell if [she] did not believe absolutely that there was a genuine, authentic commitment to make a difference." According to Deacon, mental health was chosen to differentiate Bell in the marketplace.
The program was designed with a marketing motive in mind; the topic of mental health was chosen largely because it was uncharted territory in the corporate sponsorship area and was sure to be influential. There was much deliberation towards the name, and over whether or not "Bell" should be included in the brand. In the end, the name was included to convey that the company was willing to de-stigmatize mental health by standing beside the issue. The name "Bell Let's Talk" was chosen both as a reference to the campaign's goals of encouraging participants to speak up about mental health issues, as well as a play on the company's role in the telecommunications industry.
Since the beginning of the annual Bell Let's Talk Day in 2011, Bell has recorded over a billion total interactions. Regarding #BellLetsTalk's progress, Mary Deacon noted that, "It's been an incredible outpouring of support for those who struggle with mental illness over the last 8 years, and we're now ready to break a billion total messages."
Methods Through the use of various outlets, the campaign aims to support mental health issues through four main sectors: anti-stigma, care and access, research, and workplace leadership.
Social media Bell's initiative is designed to spread the awareness of mental health issues through conversation and social media, primarily through the use of its hashtag. For every "interaction" on Bell Let's Talk Day, the company pledges to donate five cents towards Canadian mental health, which is then divided among various community projects and major institutions across Canada.
+The interactions counted towards the 2022 campaign include (five Canadian cents donated for each): Media Platform Interactions Twitter and TikTok Every use of the hashtag in a tweet or TikTok video, or view of the video posted on Bell's account counts as one interaction. Facebook Every use of the photo frame and view of the video. Instagram LinkedIn and YouTube Every view of the video. Snapchat Every use of the Bell Let's Talk lens and view of the video. Talk Every call made by Bell wireless or home phone customers counts as one interaction. Text Every text message sent over a Bell network.
Community Fund Grants In February 2011, Bell announced the establishment of the Bell Let's Talk Community Fund, a fund established to provide "community grants" ranging from $5,000 to $25,000, to registered mental health organizations throughout Canada. The Community Fund excludes additional projects related to anti-stigma, events, research, and those involving neurological disorders such as autism. Since its inception, the Community Fund has provided 888 grants, accumulating to over $15 million in donations. The program also donates "major gifts" consisting of larger sums to high-profile institutions- often in partnership with governments and other charity organizations.
Celebrity support Since the formation of the program, six-time cycling Olympian Clara Hughes has been the main spokesperson for the Bell Let's Talk initiative. Famous for being the only Canadian dual-season athlete to win multiple medals, Hughes herself has had depression throughout her life, and has taken part in many outreach events to support mental health awareness. Aside from taking part in regular tours to promote the Bell Let's Talk program, Hughes created the 2014 event, Clara's Big Ride. Over 110 days, she cycled over 11,000 kilometres around Canada, visiting 95 communities to spread her message. After visiting each province and territory, Hughes' trip ended in Ottawa on Canada Day of that year. The following January, a documentary about Clara's interactions over the trip aired on Bell Media-owned CTV.
In addition to Hughes, the Bell Let's Talk movement has two major groups of support leaders: Experts and Ambassadors. Experts of the movement include 22 people, primarily with medical and higher degrees; their primary role is to offer support and raise awareness for mental health initiatives. By contrast, Ambassadors of the movement include 6 people whose lives are all within the public eye; their primary role is to inspire change about how mental illness and health are discussed. The program is also supported by dozens of other self-described "team members", whose stories surrounding their experiences with mental health are promoted on the Bell Let's Talk website and other Bell Media properties leading up to Bell Let's Talk Day.
Post-secondary outreach
Many Canadian post-secondary institutions have programs associated with the Bell Let's Talk initiative. The York Lions athletics program from York University in Toronto hosts various events throughout the month of the event, encouraging students to create posters with messages of support, and offering prizes that can be won through participating with the #BellLetsTalk hashtag. The posters are part of Bell's community program, with speech bubble templates sent to schools and businesses across Canada. Brock University led the creation of their Thrive Week, a series of events coinciding with Bell Let's Talk day to promote self-care and mental health awareness in the school. Their hashtag #LetsThriveBrockU was designed to be used in conjunction with the #BellLetsTalk hashtag to spread awareness in the school. In addition, Toronto Metropolitan University (previously Ryerson University) presented a campus activity day on Bell Let's Talk Day in 2018, called the "Sprinkle of Self-Love" event. Presented by Ryerson's tri-mentoring program, the event included food, games, and a photo booth to promote sharing images on Instagram using the hashtag.
Canadian university athletics league U Sports widely promotes the Bell Let's Talk program throughout their member institutions. A majority of schools from the AUS, RESQ, OUA and CWUAA divisions all participated in various events over the course of January 2018. Through 100 schools, over 20,000 student-athletes participated in the outreach programs. Spokesperson Clara Hughes played a large role in the partnership, stating that "athletes are deeply involved in campus life and passionate about their school communities, and I offer my heartfelt thanks to them all for bringing their incredible energy and ideas to the mental health cause."
Timeline since Inception
2011
In addition to the inaugural $1 million donation to the Royal Ottawa Hospital Foundation, the Fondation Hôpital Charles-Lemoyne and Streetohome Foundation respectively received $300,000 and $250,000, and the University of British Columbia was granted $1 million towards their research programs.
In addition, the largest corporate donation to a mental health initiative in Canada at the time was a $10 million endowment to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. When the announcement was made on May 11, 2011, Bell CEO George Cope stated that it was part of "a new era for mental health in Canada."
2012 Following the 2012 Bell Let's Talk day, $2 million in donations were made to the Douglas-Bell Brain Bank in Montreal. Since its opening in 1980, it has become one of the largest brain banks in the world with a collection of over 3,000 brains in various conditions of physical and mental health. They are a major contributor to many research projects focused on mental health initiatives.
Other donations include $200,000 and $150,000, respectively given to the Fondation Cité de la Santé and the Ontario Shores Foundation. Additionally, a grant given to Queen's University in Kingston was used to create a position for the Chair of Mental Health and Anti-Stigma Research.
2013 Following the 2013 campaign, a $1 million contribution went to the True Patriot Love Fund, a Canadian foundation established in 2009 to help support soldiers and military families deal with the mental health issues associated with a return from service. Since their founding, they have raised over $25 million for various research and rehabilitation programs.
A second $1 million donation went to Brain Canada, a convenor for neurological and mental health research across Canada. Since their 2011 partnership with Health Canada, their research fund has been designed to increase contributions to brain research and monitor their investments across the nation.
Other contributions that year include $500,000 to Concordia University, $230,000 to Jewish General Hospital Foundation, and $1 million to Fondation de l'Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal.
2014 2014 was marked by a $1 million contribution to Bell Let's Talk's own fund in support of Canada's northern territories; in addition, the donation went towards a newly established partnership with the Alberta Government to provide better mental health support for youth in the province.
The nationwide Kids Help Phone service also received a $2.5 million donation to assist with their goal of providing telephone and text mental health counselling to kids in both English and French. They noted in their end of year report that it was the largest corporate donation they had ever received.
The year's other major gifts were also aimed at strengthening mental health resources for children across Canada. $1 million to the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, $500,000 to the Universite de Montreal, and $225,000 to the Universite Laval Foundation were all aimed at supporting young people, while $500,000 to McGill University was used to create a wellness portal for students.
2015