Speakers’ Spotlight joins Canadians across the country to mark Remembrance Day as we all pause to reflect on the sacrifices of wars past and give hope to modern-day conflicts coming to an end. For those looking for further insight into veterans issues, we are pleased to represent Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Stéphane Grenier, who shares his experiences with PTSD with audiences, and seeks to draw more attention to mental health issues within the military and beyond.

Grenier is a former member of the Canadian Military who retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after serving for just over 29 years. Faced with undiagnosed PTSD after a deployment to Rwanda, Grenier took a personal interest in the way the Canadian Forces was dealing with mental health issues.

Grenier is a former member of the Canadian Military who retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after serving for just over 29 years. Faced with undiagnosed PTSD after a deployment to Rwanda, Grenier took a personal interest in the way the Canadian Forces was dealing with mental health issues. In 2001, he coined the term “Operational Stress Injury” (OSI) and developed and managed a government-based national peer-support program for the Canadian Military.

In 2007, he was appointed as the OSI Special Advisor to the Chief of Military Personnel and entrusted with the task of creating a Canadian Forces-wide workplace mental health education program. His work led to the launch of a second mental health program that delivers “peer based” mental health education to over 20,000 military personnel a year.  In 2009, Grenier conceived of a corporate mental health awareness campaign that was endorsed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health.

Grenier was named a National Champion of Mental Health Award by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health, and is on the Mental Health Commission of Canada on assignment from the Canadian Military to spearhead the development of Guidelines of Practice for Peer Support in Canada.