Howard Chodos

Howard is a Co-Investigator at the Centre and a member of the Centre’s research team for Mental Health Reform and Policy.

He is the Director of Mental Health Strategy for Mental Health Commission of Canada, based in the Faculty of Health Sciences, SFU, and his research interests include mental health policies and issues, and he has extensive knowledge of federal government and legislative functions.

Howard is Vice President, Mental Health Strategy, for the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC). The development of a mental health strategy for Canada is one of the three key elements of the mandate of the Commission. Howard was the first person employed by the MHCC and worked closely with former Senator Michael Kirby, the Chair of the MHCC, to get the Commission up and running following its creation by the Government of Canada in March 2007. Under his leadership, the Commission completed the first phase in the development of a mental health strategy for Canada in November, 2009, with the release of a framework document, Toward Recovery and Well-Being. The second phase of this process is now underway and will focus on creating a strategic plan to achieve the seven goals outlined in the framework.

Before joining the Commission, Howard had been an analyst with the research service of the Library of Parliament since 2000. In that capacity, he acted as lead author of the final report on Mental Health, Mental Illness and Addictions by the Senate Social Affairs Committee – Out of the Shadows at Last – that recommended the creation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Previously, Howard helped to research and write several influential reports by the Senate Social Affairs Committee on the health care system in Canada.

Howard completed his undergraduate studies at York University in Toronto and did his graduate work in Political Science at the University of Manchester, England. He subsequently held a SSHRC post-doctoral fellowship at the School of Public Administration at Carleton University, and, in recognition of his contribution to mental health policy in Canada was appointed Adjunct Professor by the Faculty of Health Sciences at SFU.