Queen’s annual Thrive Week is expanding into Thrive Month this November to provide more opportunities focusing on mental health and wellbeing.
From Nov. 2 to 30, this year’s pilot program Thrive Month is offering more than 60 events aimed at raising awareness for mental health and wellbeing, teaching practical skills, and highlighting available resources. According to the Queen’s Calendar, sessions on using AI to reduce workplace stress, preventing and managing burnout, and fitness activities have already occurred.
According to Queen’s Department of Human Resources (HR), Thrive began at the University of British Columbia in 2009, and has since been adopted by multiple universities across Canada, with Queen’s joining the initiative in 2015. The initiative expanded from a week to a month because of feedback they received from the 2026 Employee Experience Survey.
READ MORE: Mental health initiatives Thrive at Queen’s
In an interview with The Journal, Employee Wellness and Engagement Coordinators Danielle Dias and Linda Henderson said the initiative is led by the HR department and focuses mainly on employees. Dias said many events welcome students, but eligibility to attend varies and registration spots are limited.
This year’s theme is “Wellbeing in Action: Skills, Strategies and Support for Everyday Thriving.” The events will cover topics such as mental and emotional wellbeing, physical health, social connection, creativity, workplace wellness, and learning.
“By expanding […], we would give them more flexibility and more opportunities to participate,” Dias said, adding that when the program was limited to one week, it made it difficult for employees to participate.
Dias and Henderson said HR will use this year’s pilot programming to decide whether the expanded timeline should continue in the future.
Dias recommended several events open to students, including a keynote by Tim Salomons on practical cognitive behavioural therapy skills, mindfulness and relaxation practices at Agnes Etherington Art Centre, watercolour painting sessions, observatory and library tours, and arts and crafts sessions.
Henderson said Thrive Month is not formally partnering with the AMS or other student clubs because its primary focus is on employees. Past collaborations have taken place when student groups approached the Thrive team, and they said they are open to future partnerships.
At the same time, the AMS Peer Support Centre is running a separate initiative called Talks Week, which is focused on informal support and community connection within the student body.
In an interview with The Journal, Sharnujan Sivanenthira, ArtSci ’28 and head manager of the Peer Support Centre, said Talks Week is not officially connected to Thrive Month but that the two initiatives share a similar focus.
“I think it’s really important to have open conversations about mental health,” Sivanenthira said. “It’s important that students feel comfortable seeking support.”
Queens Commerce Mental Health Association (QCMHA) is also organizing mental health events throughout November — separate from Thrive Month initiatives — such as reflection booths, hosting therapy dogs, and speaker panels.
In an interview with The Journal, QCMHA co-Chair Victoria Orlando, Comm ’28, said initiatives such as Thrive Month are important because students may appear to be doing well while quietly feeling overwhelmed.
“I really think months like Thrive Month are extremely important because of the student environment,” Orlando said. “What I’ve realized is everyone has such a great poker face where we all have a great way of kind of feeling overwhelmed but not showing that we’re overwhelmed.”
All Thrive Month events can be found on Queen’s HR Thrive 365 event page.
Tags
Human Resources, Mental health, Peer Support Centre, Thrive
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to eic@queensjournal.ca.