Why now?
We know a great deal about what helps in mental health care. Why Now is two days about closing the distance between knowing and doing — panels and a hands-on workshop, in one room, on the coast.
Why this, why now
A field that knows more than it gets to use.
The research on what actually helps people is deeper than it has ever been. The distance between that evidence and an ordinary Tuesday in practice is still wide — and it is where a lot of good care gets lost.
Why Now brings clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience into the same room for two days. Not to admire the problem, but to work on the part we can each move: turning what we know into what we do.
The weight we carry
people in Canada live with a mental health problem or illness in any given year.
CMHA, 2021
people worldwide live with a mental disorder — around 1.1 billion of us.
WHO, 2025
And what changes it
greater odds of recovery when care is guided by regular measurement.
Zhu et al., 2021
Sources—Canadian Mental Health Association, Fast Facts about Mental Health and Mental Illness (2021)·World Health Organization, Mental disorders fact sheet (2025)·Zhu et al., Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (2021)
The program
Two days, two ways of working.
Day one is for the big conversations. Day two rolls up its sleeves. Come for both — they are built to be taken together.
- MorningThe measurement gapWe know a great deal about what helps. Opening the day on the distance between the evidence and everyday practice — and what closes it.
- MiddayTrauma and the nervous systemA panel on how the body carries stress, and what steady, measurable recovery actually looks like over time.
- AfternoonAttention and everyday functionExecutive function, focus, and the practical supports that hold up outside the clinic.
- EveningA fireside, in the roundLived experience and clinical practice in the same conversation. Questions from the room encouraged.
- MorningMeasurement in the roomA hands-on working session: folding validated scales into the flow of a session without adding paperwork.
- MiddayFrom scores to conversationsTurning a number on a screen into a shared decision a client can actually feel part of.
- AfternoonOffice hoursBring a real caseload question. Small-group tables with facilitators and peers.
- CloseWhat we carry homeA short, honest close — one thing each of us can put into practice on Monday.
Full timings and session leads are published closer to the date.
The voices
The lineup is being confirmed.
We are inviting leading voices in trauma, attention, and evidence-based care — alongside people who have lived the work. Names are announced as they are set.
Where
Victoria, on the Inner Harbour.
The Victoria Conference Centre sits in the heart of downtown Victoria, next to the Fairmont Empress and steps from the water. Fall on Vancouver Island is mild, green, and easy to get to — by ferry, by float plane, or a short hop from the mainland.
One of Canada's gentlest climates, ocean and old forest within reach, and a compact walkable core: a fitting place to talk about restoration and do some real work while we are at it.
Presented with
Why Now is hosted by HiBoop with the support of our partners in research, care, and community.
Join us
Seats are held by invitation.
Why Now is kept small on purpose. Request an invitation and we will keep you posted as the program and lineup come together.
+ Workshop