Fifth Annual Peer Support Strong Conference: Our Biggest to Date

2025 marked the 5th Annual Peer Support Strong Conference, a virtual conference hosted jointly by the Lived Experience & Recovery Network and PeerWorks. We had our biggest turnout to date ranging from 115 to 150 participants at different points in the day-long conference. The actual number of participants was even higher as multiple Peer Support Organizations streamed the conference at their drop-in centres and conference rooms.  

This year’s theme, “Growing Together: The Expanding Role of Peer Support Across Diverse Communities” invited proposals on how peer support can meet the unique needs of newcomers, neurodivergent individuals, 2SLGTBQIA+, and other communities. We received a record number of proposals and accepted the six sessions, which were best aligned with the theme.  

The first session, “Building Bridges: Empowering Newcomers through Peer Support,” was a presentation by Kenyatta Barnaby and Sura Rogers about Krasman Centre’s Newcomers Warmline & Peer Crisis Support Services (NCWLPCSS). Through this program, Krasman Centre is providing 24/7 peer support via phone and chat (10 am-12 am) for members of the newcomer community. This is a free, confidential, trauma-informed, and low barrier option that provides culturally sensitive and inclusive care. First launched in March 2024, NCWLPCSS provides both non-crisis and crisis support to newcomers. Through translation services for phone and chat, this line addresses the linguistic gaps that may impede newcomers from seeking crisis support. The services can be accessed by phone at 1-888-233-5633 or through online chat from 10 AM to 12 AM at www.krasmancentre.com.

Calvin Prowse presented, “Claiming ‘Peer’: What’s in a Word?”. Their presentation asked participants to contemplate how we define “peerness” and the implications it has for peer support and peer work. Calvin made a powerful observation about the difficulty of seeing past the level of the individual and the real focus on community when so much of peer support is tied to the individual lived experience. Moreover, when peer support is viewed through the lens of who we are versus what we do, this can also lead to peer support drift.

In “Exploring the Intersectionality of Peer Support in Addressing Mental Health, Social Justice, and Community Resilience,” Zoe Carey talked about how peer support can act as a great unifier. However, Zoe cautions that when it comes to an intersectional approach in peer support, it is crucial to see all parts of an individual's identity as a coherent whole rather than trying to engage with only one aspect at a time. Furthermore, she argues that “engaging with a person one intersectional element at a time is a form of oppression.”  

Sarah Walker’s “Creating Inclusive Spaces: Neurodivergence in Peer Support Work” was a powerful meditation on what it means to support neurodivergent peers in accessing peer support services. Walker’s positionality on this topic comes from experience receiving peer support and providing it.  

Alex Bruneau (she/her) and Lindsay Young (they/he) of CMHA HKPR’s Trans Peer Outreach (Haliburton, Kwartha, Pineridge) spoke of their program in “Professional Peers, Co-learning and Community”. The presentation focused on importance of trans peer programming beyond vital medicalized services, ones that focus on "connection, community, joy, and belonging.” However, in the smaller communities, support may only come through informal, underfunded groups. The Trans Peer Outreach (TPO) is working to help bridge the gap in services in these smaller communities through one-on-one and group services in their catchment area. What is special about the TPO is that it is the result of collective community knowledge and care rather than impersonal, mainstream helping models.  

In the final presentation of the conference, Kristy Anthony brought her personal and professional experience to “A Perinatal Mental Health Peer Support Story from the African/Caribbean/Black community.” Kristy talked about adapting peer support frameworks to meet the unique needs of diverse cultural and social groups, in her case mothers from the African/Caribbean/Black community.  Whether it is through turning to the traditional African philosophy of Ubuntu, which emphasizes the interconnectedness between all human beings, dance, vagus nerve stimulation, and more, Kristy emphasizes a decolonized approach to healing.

This year’s conference elicited a lot of thoughtful questions, observations, and deep reflections amongst presenters and participants. We are so grateful to our presenters and to everyone who joined us. We are excited for the ways in which Peer Support Strong continues to inspire new ways of thinking, acting, and connecting in our communities.