Michael Anhorn

With a career spanning four provinces—Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario—Michael Anhorn (he/they) brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to the community to his role as CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association Toronto.

Michael has worked in the social impact sector for over 20 years, including eight years as Executive Director at the CMHA Vancouver-Fraser Branch and in leadership roles at BC Housing, which fueled their passion for integrating health and social care. Michael also serves on committees and boards of several organizations, including FindHelp211 and Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness.

Michael’s leadership is grounded in formal education, life experience and leadership training. He holds a Master of Arts in Planning from the University of British Columbia and a BA in Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School’s Executive Education in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management. Yet, the informal training—the lessons learned through life’s challenges and joys—has truly shaped their approach to leadership.

Leading through the COVID-19 pandemic in Vancouver and Toronto, he drew upon insights from earlier in life. Coming of age as a queer person during the AIDS pandemic taught Michael about navigating fear, uncertainty, and the profound impact of community. It instilled in them a deep understanding of what it means to lead.

Michael’s leadership philosophy is centred on deep listening, empathy, and community support—the support and expertise of the executive leadership team are essential ingredients. Michael has learned that leadership involves being adaptable while staying true to one’s values and responsive to the needs of staff, clients and the operating environment. Advocacy, which he describes as improving the world for people who are marginalized and ensuring staff are recognized for their complex work, is a big part of Michael’s role and life outside work. Michael is a collaborative leader who works for better income, housing, and accessible mental health care for all Canadians.

Michael believes in the power of community and belonging and often reflects on how sometimes you can become what you cannot see or imagine when you have been seen and accepted by a community. He envisions a community where individuals do not have to fight for their place in it.

Michael’s grounding in community and his leadership philosophy facilitated his ability to implement important changes ranging from revisioning the shelter system for unhoused people in British Columbia to negotiating structural transformation for CMHA Branches in Metro Vancouver to expanding mental health services in Vancouver and Toronto.

Michael’s journey so far shows that a boy from a tiny rural Saskatchewan farming town who wanted to help people and who spent most of their early life looking in from the outside can find hope and belonging in the community on their way to becoming more than they had ever dreamed.