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Kids Help Phone and Toronto Metropolitan University launch a pivotal five-year research collaborative to usher in a new era of youth mental health
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TORONTO , May 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kids Help Phone (KHP) and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) today announced a five-year research partnership that will transform the future of youth mental health in Canada. Marking an important milestone, the partnership launches with a $3.2 million award from Wellcome—one of the world’s largest charitable foundations—to develop a generative artificial intelligence (AI) powered conversation simulator and performance assessor that will enhance rigorous training for KHP texting volunteers.
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KHP and TMU Partner to Advance Mental Health Research
The formalization of this partnership brings together two leading Canadian institutions with deep and complementary strengths, creating a shared platform for research and innovation as equal partners. This partnership will leverage KHP’s data ecosystem, digital health leadership, and clinical and practice-oriented research expertise, alongside TMU’s research strengths in generative AI, learning sciences, and clinical psychology. This announcement marks the first formal research partnership with a post-secondary institution for KHP.
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“Today’s announcement between KHP and TMU represents a new chapter for youth mental health in Canada,” said Rebecca Shields, President and Chief Executive Officer of KHP. “This five-year partnership formalizes a bridge between our crisis responders and academic research at KHP and TMU to develop responsible AI in mental health, which is more important than ever before given the rapid uptake of these tools by younger generations. This partnership is the most recent example highlighting how KHP constantly evolves to ensure that every young person has access to the resources they need and space to Feel Out Loud.”
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Teams at TMU and KHP’s research portfolio will work together to develop projects to answer research questions within the youth, digital, and mental health research field, while also building novel service delivery methods and strengthening the next generation of AI researchers, clinicians, and scientists at TMU.
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“At TMU, we know that mental health is one of the most pressing challenges facing young people today,” said Mohamed Lachemi, President and Vice-Chancellor of Toronto Metropolitan University. “We are proud to work with community partners like KHP to find innovative and interdisciplinary solutions, and develop future focused approaches, to better equip those who are on the frontlines supporting our young people today, and in the future.”
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Advancing AI Training for Mental Health Support
The first major joint project between TMU and KHP will span 24-months and will develop a generative AI prototype to provide crisis responders undergoing training with the opportunity to practice with a secure model built on more than 750,000 de-identified KHP transcripts to generate realistic and anonymized youth crisis scenarios. This will provide a risk-free environment with cultural and linguistic accuracy to support skill development by giving trainees a safe and structured opportunity to practice before becoming a KHP crisis responder volunteer. The tool will provide real-time performance assessment feedback, aligned with KHP’s clinical standards to enhance the rigorous training KHP volunteers already receive.
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