The Brigid Rivoire Award for Champions of Agricultural Mental Health

See the finalists and winners of the 2021 award here!

Who is Brigid Rivoire?

Brigid Rivoire was the Executive Director at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) from 2001-2015. During her time at CFA she was always known to help others in need, and was always a very caring and giving person. Those who worked with her said that she would “give her last dime to help someone else.”

Brigid passed away in late 2017, just as CFA was developing a program to help spread awareness of and address mental health issues in agriculture. We felt that this program was very much in the spirit of Brigid’s supportive and generous personality, and wanted to honor her memory by creating this award in her name.

Does your initiative have to be directly tied to providing mental health services?

No! There are many ways that people or organizations can help improve mental health for farmers without providing direct support. Community building initiatives and activities that reduce isolation are also great fits for the award! Examples include events that bring rural communities together, online communities for farmers, social media campaign that raise awareness and much more.

Activities that raise awareness, reduce stigma, conduct research or reduce isolation are all extremely important to helping the mental health of farmers across Canada, and if you are doing work in these areas we hope to see your nomination.

Who is eligible?

While the award criteria will be focused on the extent to which a specific initiative has contributed to the support of mental health for Canadian farmers and the broader agricultural community, the award will be made available to a broad range of stakeholders, including (but not limited to):

A full overview of the award, including eligibility and evaluation criteria, as well as an overview of the nomination process, is available here.

Click here to read an FAQ for the award.

The nomination form can be found here.

What do you win?

This annual award includes a $2,000 donation to a mental health initiative of the recipient’s choice, along with an invitation to attend the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s (CFA) Annual General Meeting in February with all expenses paid.

The recipient will also be profiled by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture through a written profile highlighting their work in the community and sharing the good work they have done.

To share knowledge and experience more widely, CFA will publish articles about other nominees on its website as well, based on a written overview of their work provided in the nomination form.

What is the deadline for nominations?

The deadline for video and text nominations is October 11th, 2022. All nominations received after this date will be rolled over to be considered for the award the following year.

When will the award be given out?

The award will be given out at the CFA’s Annual General Meeting in 2023, taking place in late February.

How does the nomination process work?

Submit either a video or text nominations before October 11th, 2022. Details on what information is required in the nomination is outlined in the overview document here.

Short-listed applicants will be notified by email by October 25th, 2022, where CFA will request a letter of reference for their work/initiative.

The recipient and two other finalists will then be contacted in January 2023 to let them know they’ve been selected.

Where can I find the nomination form?

Nominations for 2022 are now closed.

2021 Finalist and Winner

In 2021 we had nominations from a variety of wonderful initiatives from across Canada. Click below to view a profile on our  runner-up, Julien Dupasquier, who creates a sense of community with his food truck tours and facebook page for farmers. Our winner this year was Au Coeur des Familles Agricoles (ACAF) who provide farmer-tailored counselling services to farmers all across Québec.

Click here to watch a recording of the award ceremony at the CFA 2022 Annual General Meeting.

2020 Finalists and Winner

2019 Finalists and Winner

2018 Finalists and Winner

Spread the word

Want to let everyone know about the award? Use the following resources for social media posts. There are also printable flyers to bring to events, meetings and to post in your office.

Mental Health Resources

The Do More Agriculture Foundation works to change the culture of Agriculture to one where all producers are encouraged, supported and empowered to take care of their mental wellbeing.

Click here to view their list of mental health resources across Canada.

Click here to read the Emergency Response Model for Mental Health During Agricultural Crisis

Read further for articles on mental health issues in the agriculture community:

Nearly half Canada’s farmers are highly stressed, survey finds

Agriculture Workers More Likely to Just “Man up” when It Comes to Tackling Depression and Anxiety

Agriculture tackles mental health

Mental health issues in agriculture receive higher profile

Awareness slowly growing of mental health needs for farmers

‘They need us right now’: New mental-health foundation aims to help struggling farmers

Farmers should ditch ‘cowboy mentality,’ talk mental illness, Alberta student says

Let’s Talk About Farming and Mental Health

Conflicts of Interest

While the award nominees are evaluated by a group of panelists, panelists are recused from evaluating submissions from their home province or from organizations of which they are a part of to avoid potential conflicts of interest.