Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC) is supporting emerging Indigenous researchers through a studentship program that provides funding and opportunities to conduct community-led mental health research.
Offered nationally in partnership with Mitacs, with additional support from Research Manitoba for eligible researchers in the province, the MHRC-Mitacs Annual Indigenous Mental Health Studentship provides $15,000 for a six-month research project.
The program connects Indigenous student researchers with academic supervisors and Indigenous community organizations or local service providers, allowing them to pursue research, shaped by community priorities and lived experiences.
Barani Ganapathi, senior consultant of research grants and impact at MHRC, explained that the program aims to strengthen Indigenous representation in mental health research while supporting students’ professional development.
“Indigenous-led research is essential because research is stronger when the people, knowledge and relationships closest to an issue help shape the work,” Ganapathi said.
He emphasized that the studentship provides opportunities for researchers to develop relationships, gain practical experience and build research capacity beyond their individual projects.
Among the students supported through the program are Madison Young, a second-year U of M’s master’s student in the clinical psychology department, and Dante Carter, a doctoral student at the University of Saskatchewan. Their research examines different dimensions of Indigenous mental health and well-being.
Young is investigating perinatal mental health screening for First Nations mothers. She is also a research assistant in the Hearts and Minds Lab and a trainee with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM).
Her research focuses on how healthcare providers screen First Nations mothers for mental health concerns during pregnancy and the first year following childbirth. Young explained that screening practices can vary considerably depending on the healthcare provider and setting. While some providers use standardized screening tools, others rely on conversations with mothers to identify potential concerns.
Young’s project involves interviewing healthcare providers to understand these differences and examine what happens after screening, including whether mothers receive referrals or resources for additional mental health support.
Young’s interest in the subject developed through her previous work with children and families, alongside personal family experiences involving mental health challenges. Although her research remains in its early stages, she has been working with CHRIM’s Indigenous Advisory Council to refine her interview questions and incorporate different perspectives into the research process. Young expects to have her full research findings by August 2027.
“I’m hoping that [my research] can eventually lead to the development of some screening tools that might be more culturally responsive and informed by Indigenous people and Indigenous healthcare providers,” she said. Young, whose home community is O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation, emphasized that her connection to her community is central to the motivation behind her work.
On the other hand, Carter’s research explores the relationship between economic abuse, intimate partner violence and Indigenous well-being.
Carter, a second-year PhD student in interdisciplinary graduate studies at the University of Saskatchewan, is from Onion Lake Cree Nation, which spans the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. Her research focuses on how Néhiyák, or Cree, women and two-spirit people understand economic self-determination and what resources they need to strengthen their economic well-being.
Economic abuse is a form of intimate partner violence that can involve controlling another person’s access to financial resources. According to Carter, its consequences are often overlooked in discussions about intimate partner violence.
Carter’s research builds on her master’s work, during which she conducted sharing circles with community members. Those conversations revealed that economic abuse extends beyond individual financial control and is connected to broader structural challenges, including housing shortages, government funding barriers and underfunded community services.
“Economic abuse and economic well-being are relational and structural. It’s not just a budgeting problem,” Carter said. She emphasized that economic well-being must also be understood through Indigenous relationships, cultural practices and community knowledge.
Carter’s earlier research identified kinship, ceremony and teachings from Elders as important elements of well-being. Now, she is consulting with community departments, leadership and individual members to better understand the services and resources needed to address economic insecurity and abuse.
The studentship has allowed Carter to spend more time in Onion Lake and maintain face-to-face relationships with community members and her Elder advisor.
“One thing with community-based research is that it can’t be rushed. It’s led by community,” she said.
Carter hopes her research will encourage broader discussions about economic well-being that recognize Indigenous understandings of wealth beyond conventional financial measures.
She also encouraged other Indigenous students to consider applying, even when their research does not fit conventional understandings of mental health.
Despite their different research interests, Young and Carter’s projects demonstrate how Indigenous-led research can address mental health and well-being through community knowledge and experiences.
Ganapathi noted that MHRC does not prescribe a single approach to Indigenous mental health research. Instead, the program prioritizes meaningful community involvement and research questions that reflect local needs.
“Our role at MHRC is to help create the conditions for strong research to happen,” he said.
Applications for the 2026 MHRC-Mitacs Annual Indigenous Mental Health Studentship are open until Oct. 28. Each award provides $15,000 in funding for a six-month research project.
