This September 2010, the World Health Organization, and its regional office, the Pan-American Health Organization, re-designated the Douglas Mental Health University Institute as a "WHO/PAHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health".

The Douglas-based "Montréal WHO-PAHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health" was first given the designation in 1982, and was the first of its kind in Canada. The WHO requires its Centres to go through a re-designation process on a regular basis and our Centre, considered as a strong player in global and international mental health activities, successfully maintained its title.

The expertise of the "Montreal CC" (as we sometimes call it) is visible in many areas, including policy, workplace mental health, intellectual disability, psychosocial research, primary care training, disasters-related interventions, and others. Our Montreal CC is present at this time in Haiti, in the Caribbean - Barbados, Belize and Dominica, as well as in Catalunya.

This redesignation is a reflection of the outstanding experts who have contributed in one way or another to the work of the Montreal CC, mainly from our institution, the Douglas, and also from McGill Universtiy and from other Quebec institutions.