John Smyth

BA, BSW, MSW

Honorary Doctor of Laws

John Smyth helped advance mental health services to the immigrant and refugee communities in Canada.

He was a social worker, family therapist, and mental health clinician for 26 years before becoming Executive Director of Aurora Family Therapy Centre at the University in 2011.

Over the following decade, under John’s leadership, the centre quadrupled its staff and grew its operating budget sixfold.

John recognized Aurora needed to serve the mental-health needs of refugee newcomers to Manitoba. During his directorship, the centre served 20,000 people, 7,000 of whom were refugees.

John oversaw Aurora’s Dove of Peace Program, which provides a trauma-informed understanding of the settlement experiences of newcomers who have left behind mass violence. The federal government selected the program—the only one of its kind in Canada—to triage all newcomers to Winnipeg whose settlement pathway is affected by trauma.

He was the principal author and driving force in the creation of the Newcomer Collaborative Community Mental Health Service, which is a collaboration of community, community-based agencies, and the formal mental health system designed to engage and provide service to newcomers with moderate to severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

John became the go-to expert on refugee trauma treatment in Canada by creating a space for and collaboration with people who have not been listened to in the past. He understands newcomers contribute valuable insight into the conditions for their own well-being. He believed community needs far exceeded any single agency or service and required collaboration to have a chance at success and make a difference in the life of so many people.

In 2016, he was one of four Canadians accepted into the acclaimed Certificate in Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery at Harvard.

Gentleness and humility continue to characterize John’s personal style. Staff at Aurora have told him he has Ubuntu, an African philosophy of love and care in community, which loosely translates as, “I am because you are.”

For developing groundbreaking mental-health programs and services for refugees and immigrants, and for his decades-long commitment to empowering marginalized and traumatized people, The University of Winnipeg is proud to bestow an Honorary Doctor of Laws on John Smyth.