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Stéphane Grenier

Retired Lieutenant Colonel | Mental Health Innovator

Stéphane Grenier is a nationally known mental health innovator, advocate and entrepreneur who was appointed to the Order of Canada. He retired from the Canadian military as a Lieutenant Colonel after serving 29 years. He participated in several overseas missions, most notably nine months in Rwanda in 1994/95, and six months in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2007. After retiring from the military he created Mental Health Innovations (MHI) a social enterprise dedicated to developing non-clinical mental health interventions as a complement to traditional clinical care. More recently, Stéphane launched a company charged with implementing and delivering peer support services within inpatient mental health units at the provincial healthcare system level.

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Available in French

Presentations

The Power of Human Interaction
In hopes of challenging society’s traditional outlook regarding mental health, Grenier has spent much of his career redefining how workplaces and individuals should care for and support those affected by mental health problems. By developing, implementing, and managing peer based programs aimed at reducing stigma, Grenier provides leaders and managers a firm understanding of how to deal with the fast growing realities hindering today’s brain based economy. His non clinical approach offers simple and pragmatic ways of giving purpose to the lived experience of members of workplaces and allows organizations to start down the path of systemic wellness and re-humanized workplaces where mental health stigma is no longer a barrier to recovery.

Awards

2018
Order of Canada


2009
Champion of Mental Health Award | Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health


Performance & Productivity
Health
  • He’s personable, energetic, and funny, so he was very interesting to listen to. I liked when he called participants by their name (it was not difficult, given each participant had a name plate, but one would not necessarily make use of it), and referred to the experience they had shared before his presentation begins, which was great. I also appreciated the fact that he did not promote his company. I also enjoyed the reflection that Stéphane was proposing in his presentation, the why we should have such a program, what it is and what it is not.

    - Corporate Human Resources Advisor, Employment & Social Development Canada / Government of Canada
  • He spoke powerfully, compassionately and with great clarity—all from his heart. He was able to describe his personal experience in a manner that included context and possible solutions. He had a great effect on the members of the audience- many of who commented and sent notes to acknowledge Stéphane’s effect on their thinking and their understanding of the issues. Stéphane Grenier’s contribution was very substantial and we were proud to include him in this memorable event.

    - Executive Director, Sky Works Charitable Foundation
  • An excellent speaker! I would like his contact information as I would like to recommend him for our international ATU conference. Stephane is an excellent speaker who fosters a sincere understanding of mental health challenges. A true inspiration! Thank you!

    - Annual Labour Law Conference
  • It was the most heart wrenching and eye opening talk I have ever heard anyone give.

    - Inspector Animal Health, CFIA

Summary Profile

In today’s modern workplace, mental health problems have become the leading cause of disability claims, accounting for 70% of workplace disability management costs in Canada. As a former post-traumatic stress disorder sufferer, Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Stéphane Grenier knows the toll mental health issues can take on individuals firsthand. Grenier offers audiences pragmatic advice designed to foster workplaces that support an open, non-stigmatized approach to mental health. Grenier has challenged society’s traditional outlook regarding mental health for much of his career by redefining how we should care for and support those affected by mental health problems. His body of work began in his very own workplace, the Canadian Military, where he created and managed numerous employee driven mental health programs that have proven effective over the years and have been sustained since his departure.

Grenier is a powerful speaker who provides a nice blend of evidence base, personal experiences and humor, allowing audiences a firm understanding of how we need to re-humanize the healing and recovery process. His body of work includes coining and defining the term “Operational Stress Injury” in 2001, a term later adapted by the US Marine corps as “Combat Stress Injury”. His views have resonated as far as with the American Psychiatric Association when debating the value of renaming the diagnostic of “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” to “Post Traumatic Stress Injury”. His work took him to lecture at US Marine Corps University, several Physician Health Program conferences in the United States and the international Physician Health Conference in Montreal Canada where he received a standing ovation by over 350 clinicians for his inspirational outlook.

He is a regular keynote speaker at major workplace focussed and labour conferences and more recently some of his conferences have been recognised by Continuing Medical Education Departments. In 2012, he retired from the military and created Mental Health Innovations consulting (MHI) in order to dedicate his full attention to developing non-clinical mental health interventions as a complement to traditional clinical care and also co-founded Peer Support Accreditation and Certification (Canada), a non- profit organization dedicated to the advancement of peer support. In 2015, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa by the University of Guelph.

Links

Montreal Gazette | From soldier to champion for mental health Montreal Gazette | My uplifting conversation with a traumatized soldier Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Stéphane Grenier to receive honorary degree at UofGH Convocation

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