Mental health & wellness

U of T Engineering's commitment

U of T Engineering is committed to fostering a culture of care and support. To do this effectively we strive to embed these principles into the ways we administer our programs and services. Through our current Academic Plan we have made a commitment to leverage and create resources, and develop policies and procedures to support mental wellness, assist students in need and promote healthy lifestyles.

Read the Joint Task Force on Academic Advising & Mental Health final report (PDF) to learn more about the recommendations and actions taken to support the student experience.

On this page

If you are in distress or concerned about someone's safety, there are 24/7 counselling services and other resources available. In an emergency, call 911.

Find emergency and 24/7 counselling resources

Navi is your source for mental health resources and now provides information on where to find general U of T information including Admissions, Housing, Financial Aid, Careers, Getting Involved and more.

Find mental health resources on Navi

U of T Engineering student services & support resources

Mental health programs officer

The faculty's Mental Health Programs Officer builds capacity at U of T Engineering to support student mental health and well-being by offering mental health programs and training, conducting research and offering best practice insights. Students can schedule 1:1 resource navigation appointments to meet with the Mental Health Programs Officer.

Student-led wellness groups

Undergraduate: Skule™ Mental Wellness
Graduate: Graduate Engineering Council of Students (GECos) Mental Wellness Commission

Skule™ Mental Wellness and the GECoS Mental Wellness Commission both support students' well-being by advocating for mental health awareness, planning programs and events, and working with faculty and departments to implement positive change.

Health & wellness

Health & Wellness provides a range of health services for your physical and mental health, wellness programs and information to help support you in achieving your personal and academic goals. Students can request to work specifically with the On-Location Counsellor for FASE.

Accessibility

Accessibility Services works with students to navigate disability-related barriers that prevent academic success due to ongoing or temporary conditions. Services and supports aim to increase access to learning and improve personal well-being.

Academic support

Engineering’s Learning Strategist can help you reach your highest learning potential by providing programs and services that offer test & exam strategies, note-taking skills, learning & time management tactics, and resources to sharpen your concentration & motivation.

Departmental academic advisors and administrators

Departmental academic advisors are available to provide support for personal, academic, and career related matters. Contact the advisor for your specific program to learn more about the supports available to you.

Registrarial, scholarship and financial aid matters

U of T Engineering’s Office of the Registrar works closely with program departments to support undergraduate student matters. Consult with Advisors for support around academic and personal inquiries. Engineering students are welcome to call or visit the Scholarships & Financial Aid Office, located inside the Office of the Registrar, and make an appointment with the Financial Advisor for support surrounding financial challenges.

Equity, diversity and inclusiveness

Equity offices and U of T Engineering’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives provide resources and conduct education and awareness initiatives on how to best realize the University’s commitment to equity, diversity and human rights and provide guidance on specific issues as they arise.

Mental health resources for:

A selection of mental health resources curated for specific student groups to address needs that may be unique. Including resources that may be both on and off-campus.

More campus student services & support resources

U of T Campus Safety - Special Constable Service	The U of T Campus Safety - Special Constable Service is dedicated to creating a safe, secure and equitable environment for students, staff, faculty and visitors. Special Constables are specially trained to respond to a variety of campus occurrences with sensitivity, discretion and authority.
Community Safety Office	The Community Safety Office offers short-term support and assistance to students, staff, and faculty members of the University of Toronto community who have experienced personal safety concerns including: Stalking, Harassment, Bullying, Intimidation, Threats, Intimate Partner Violence, Family Violence, Workplace Conflict and/or Volatile Behaviour. Download the UofT Safety App.
Centre for International Experience (CIE)	The Centre for International Experience (CIE) provides an array of services unique to international students and enables global learning for the U of T community.
Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office (ARCDO)	The Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office (ARCDO) works to foster an inclusive environment of racial diversity within the three campuses. ARCDO provides support to navigate concerns of harassment or discrimination based on race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, and creed.
Family Care Office	The Family Care Office (FCO) is a U of T-wide service for students, faculty and staff that helps families achieve balance. Members of the U of T community can visit the FCO to learn about daycare options, pregnancy, eldercare, student family housing and more.
First Nations House Indigenous Student Services	The First Nations House provides culturally relevant services to Indigenous students to support academic success, personal growth and leadership development. Learning opportunities are available for all students to engage with Indigenous communities at U of T and beyond.
Hart House	Hart House is where campus meets community. Students, faculty, staff, and alumni can connect with each other through engagement with the arts, dialogue and wellness.
Multi-Faith Centre	The Multi-Faith Centre supports the spiritual well-being of everyone on campus and provides opportunities for people to learn from each other through interfaith dialogue, arts and social justice. While U of T is a secular institution, everyone's right to worship is respected and supported.
Ombudsperson	The University Ombudsperson is devoted to ensuring procedural fairness and just and reasonable outcomes. The Ombudsperson offers advice and assistance and can recommend changes in academic or administrative procedures where this seems justified.
Sexual Gender Diversity Office (SGDO)	The Sexual & Gender Diversity Office (SGDO) develops partnerships to build supportive learning and working communities at the University of Toronto by working towards equity and challenging discrimination. The Office provides innovative education, programming, resources and advocacy on sexual and gender diversity for students, staff and faculty across the University’s three campuses.
Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre (The Centre)	The Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre is here to help and support students, staff and faculty who have been affected by sexual violence or sexual harassment. The Centre supports members of the U of T community to understand, access and navigate resources such as counselling, medical services, academic or workplace accommodations, financial aid and legal aid.
SGS Graduate Students' Health & Wellness	Graduate students can access counselling services at the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) — wellness counsellors offer tailored graduate student services and focus on identifying strengths, acquiring resiliency and building coping skills.
SGS GradHub	Graduate students can find resources to support their wellness and academic journey through the SGS GradHub- created by graduate students for graduate students. Find all the essential information you need to enhance your graduate experience.
Sport & Recreation	Sport & Rec offers sport and physical activity programs to the University of Toronto community. The dynamic range of programs offered allows participants of all skill levels to be active and engage accordingly.
Student Mental Health Resource	The University of Toronto Student Mental Health Resource page provides information for wellness resources both on and off campus. Members of the UofT community can find supports and services, build a wellness toolkit, view upcoming events, and explore U of T’s care model related to mental health.
U of T Telus Health Student Support	U of T Telus Health Student Support provides students with free and confidential, 24-hour counselling support. Ongoing support is available over the phone in 146 languages. Immediate support is available over the phone in 35 languages and over chat in Chinese, English, French, and Spanish.

Health plan coverage for students and staff

U of T Student Union Coverage	The University of Toronto Student Union (UTSU) administers a Health & Dental Plan for all domestic, full-time undergraduate students at the St. George campus. Students who did not opt out of the health plan can have access to coverage for mental health services.
U of T Graduate Student Union Coverage	The University of Toronto Graduate Students Union Health & Dental Insurance covers all full-time and part-time graduate students who are members of the UTGSU. Students can also enroll eligible dependents (spouses, partners and children) in the plan.
University Health Insurance Plan for International Students	The University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP) is the mandatory health care coverage for registered international and exchange students while they study in Canada. International and exchange students are encouraged to access U of T Telus Health Student Support for mental health support.
U of T Employee & Family Assistance Plan	The Employee & Family Assistance Program (EFAP) is available to employees of the University of Toronto and their dependents (spouses, partners and dependent children) to provide counselling, coaching and support at no cost.
U of T Staff Wellness Hub	The Wellness Hub brings together services, supports and resources available to employees across the three campuses. Resources and programming are available to support mental, physical, social and financial health to foster and improve overall well-being.

Training modules & other initiatives

U of T has a variety of mental health trainings, group counselling sessions, peer support groups, practices and other learning opportunities for students staff and faculty. Here are some that we thought you might be interested in.

Fostering a Culture of Care & Support at U of T Engineering: A Professional Development Certificate

Online learning module with components that can be done in person, 4-6 hours

A curriculum of training resources intended to build staff and faculty capacity to better support student mental health in their roles. A program evaluation will follow the completion of all components listed below as well as a digital professional development certificate endorsed by Dean Chris Yip.

Supporting Student Mental Health at U of T (IAR approach), 30-90 minutes
Three university resources to assist students in distress: SCRAP, CSO and CP (webinar), 25 minutes
Sexual Violence Education & Prevention Module, 40 minutes

Enroll in Fostering a Culture of Care at Support at U of T Engineering: A Professional Development Certificate

Skule™ Mental Health Bursary

The  Skule™ Mental Health Bursary provides financial aid to undergraduate engineering students at the University of Toronto who are experiencing challenging or unforeseen circumstances, with particular focus on students in need of increased mental health and wellness financial support. This may include: counselling, training, workshops, peer support groups, therapy sessions, resource guides and more. Applications accepted September – January, with two annual distribution cycles (October & February).

Apply to this bursary in the Award Explorer by searching “SkuleTM Mental Health Bursary”.

Mental Health Initiatives Community of Practice (MHI CoP)

With the support of the Mental Health Programs Officer and the Director of Skule™ Mental Health, the Mental Health Initiatives Community of Practice provides an opportunity for student groups within FASE to be connected to share resources and ideas on mental health initiatives. The MHICoP Microgrant also provides financial support to groups to fund their initiatives.

Learn more about the MHI CoP

Identify, Assist, Refer (IAR)

Online learning module, 30 minutes - 1 hour

The University’s Identify, Assist, Refer (IAR) online learning module was developed to provide all members of the U of T community with the basic skills and information needed to provide the initial support to a colleague, student or loved one experiencing challenges that are impacting their mental health.

Access the IAR Online Learning Module

Supporting Student Mental Health at U of T Engineering

This session is 30 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on the group’s requirements.

U of T Engineering's staff, librarians, faculty and student leaders all play an important role in supporting student mental health. In this session the Mental Health Programs Officer will review U of T Engineering’s reporting protocol and share information about helpful resources available to you throughout the process should you require assistance while supporting a student.

To prepare for this training it is helpful for everyone to have the same baseline understanding of mental health and the University's Identify, Assist, Refer model. To achieve this, we suggest that participants complete the IAR Online Learning Module prior to this session.

To participate in Supporting Student Mental Health at U of T Engineering, please contact mentalhealth@engineering.utoronto.ca.

Other offerings

We can also develop and help to source a wide range of workshops on topics relating to mental health and overall well-being.
Examples include:

Setting Boundaries
Building and Maintaining Self-Care
Managing Stress & Anxiety
Understanding and Preventing Burnout
Better Coping Skills
Sleep Well
Imposter Phenomenon
Navigating and Registering with Accessibility Services
Navigating Wellness Services as an Engineering Student

To discuss training needs or request a workshop, please contact mentalhealth@engineering.utoronto.ca.

Publications

Skule™: Mental wellness strategies for students

U of T Engineering’s Mental Health Programs Officer lays out some advice on how students can effectively deal with some of the new challenges they may be facing.

New Skule™ Mental Health Bursary supports wellness for U of T Engineering students

Skule™ Mental Health Bursary provides funding for students with financial barriers to access mental health services. Find out more about how the bursary came to be and continues to support FASE students.

Smartphones could automate mental health monitoring by recording ambient noise

A study from Professor Jonathan Rose (ECE) and Daniel Di Matteo (ECE PhD candidate) shows that recordings of ambient noise from a smartphone could be used to shed light on a subject’s mental health.

Build U Up event raises awareness of mental health resources available to engineering students

A mental wellness fair with campus partners and external organizations to showcase the resources and services that are available to support students both on and off campus. Students can explore the resources and engage with representatives from the various services.

Faculty Resources

Mental health programs officer

Teresa Woo, MSW, RSW,
U of T Engineering Mental Health Programs Officer

Meet with Teresa Woo, the Faculty’s Mental Health Programs Officer:

for support with student mental health resource navigation
to learn more about mental health training opportunities
to inform your programming with best-practice insights
to learn more about mental health initiatives at U of T Engineering

Undergraduate students: Book a meeting through the advising portal

Graduate students: Refer to the Health & Wellness section on the U of T Engineering Graduate Studies website

Staff & faculty inquiries: Email mental health programs officer

Your feedback

We are always looking for areas that need improvement and ways we can help our community feel more connected and supported. If you have a suggestion to share, please contact Teresa Woo, U of T Engineering Mental Health Programs Officer at mentalhealth@engineering.utoronto.ca.

Email Teresa Woo

Innovation Clusters

Partner with U of T Engineering

Mental health & wellness

U of T Engineering's commitment

U of T Engineering student services & support resources

Mental health programs officer

Student-led wellness groups

Health & wellness

Accessibility

Academic support

Departmental academic advisors and administrators

Registrarial, scholarship and financial aid matters

Equity, diversity and inclusiveness

Mental health resources for:

Training modules & other initiatives

Fostering a Culture of Care & Support at U of T Engineering: A Professional Development Certificate

Skule™ Mental Health Bursary

Mental Health Initiatives Community of Practice (MHI CoP)

Identify, Assist, Refer (IAR)

Supporting Student Mental Health at U of T Engineering

Other offerings

Publications

Skule™: Mental wellness strategies for students

New Skule™ Mental Health Bursary supports wellness for U of T Engineering students

Smartphones could automate mental health monitoring by recording ambient noise

Build U Up event raises awareness of mental health resources available to engineering students

Faculty Resources

Mental health programs officer

Your feedback