Our story

Our Story

Program Timeline

The announcement of funding for UCalgaryStrong laid the groundwork for an initiative that would help to facilitate a culture shift in UCalgary's campus community. Since it was launched, UCalgaryStrong has encouraged students to be active citizens in their community and advocates for resilience and positive mental health, both for themselves and for others.

  • The UCalgaryStrong Festival is returning to campus in 2022. The event will be hosted outdoors, and will offer students on campus an opportunity to unwind together, take part in fun activities and take a break from studying.
  • Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the UCalgaryStrong Festival did not run in 2020.
  • Despite COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, virtual festival events were held to help students celebrate the end of the semester, and to take a break from studying to share time with their peers.
  • The fifth UCalgaryStrong Festival took place in the Olympic Oval, and once again welcomed over 3,000 attendees to take part in festivities provided by a larger stage, more inflatable games and a host of other exciting activities.
  • Co-hosted annual provincial Wellness Summit, with the theme of Transitions (200 registrants).
  • Fourth UCalgaryStrong Festival - improved on activities and grew the event to welcome nearly 3,000 members of the campus community for an afternoon of celebration.
  • Third UCalgaryStrong Festival - improved on activities and grew the event to welcome more than 3,000 members of the campus community for an afternoon of celebration.
  • Strengths Milestone - To date, 11,700 members of the campus community have taken part in Strengths programming. Platform expanded to 47 sections in six academic courses.
  • Bystander Intervention Training - Trained more than 1,500 members of the campus community to be active bystanders.
  • Second UCalgaryStrong Festival – more than 3,000 members of the campus and campus community attended.
  • Strengths milestone: More than 1,200 students, staff and faculty participated in programming. More than 30 sections of seven courses in four courses make use of Gallup framework in a teaching environment.
  • Bystander Intervention Training - Trained more than 1,300 members of the campus community to be active bystanders.
  • Second cycle of National College Health Assessment Survey (20.6% response rate).
  • Launched the Campus Mental Health Strategy - Identified 6 strategic focus areas and 28 key recommendations to ensure relevant campus policies and processes are supportive of mental health.
  • The Campus Community Hub opened, offering housing health outreach, training, peer support and wellness initiatives.
  • 2016 Wellness Summit - Healthy Campus Alberta, in collaboration with the Wellness Centre, hosted the 2016 annual Wellness Summit on Building Healthy Communities (196 registrants).
  • First UCalgaryStrong Festival - More than 2,500 members of the campus and local community attended the end-of-year celebration.
  • First UCalgaryStrong Carnival - Event welcomed new UCalgary students during Fall Orientation.
  • Bystander Intervention Training - Trained more than 1,500 members of the campus community to be active bystanders.
  • Launched the Mental Health Strategy Task Force
  • Launched Healthy Campus Alberta Community of Practice - Announcement took place at annual Wellness Summit, with representation from all 26 provincial institutions, student groups and community partners.
  • Strengths milestone: More than 1,100 students, staff and faculty completed their CliftonStrengths inventory.
  • New wellness programming introduced - The Inquiring Mind, UFlourish Week, Man-up for Mental Health all developed to address key challenges faced by students.
  • Received generous donation - UCalgaryStrong made possible by community contribution.
  • Developed a full health outreach portfolio - Delivered 135 workshops and reached more than 3,900 students.
  • Organized second annual provincial Wellness Summit - began to explore partnering with Alberta post-secondary institutions to build a provincial mental health framework.