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MIRA 7.0 is live featuring enhanced explainability, accessibility, and safety features; ongoing work focuses on offline capability, voice access, and evaluations with partners to scale equitable mental health navigation.
Available for all Canadians looking for mental health resources
Now accepting submissions of interest for the upcoming issue.
Interconnected is the world’s only digital mental health magazine.
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MIRA tackles the fact that Canadians facing mental health struggles often can’t find timely, trustworthy help in an overwhelmed, fragmented system. One in three Canadians will face a mental health or substance use issue, yet 44% report unmet needs and wait times often exceed three months. The internet compounds this with widespread misinformation, leaving people unsure where to turn.
MIRA closes that gap by anonymously connecting users to a vetted, expert-reviewed resource library, cutting through confusion, reducing stigma, and directing people to the right support faster, especially those in underserved or equity-deserving communities.
A few things worth knowing: MIRA never pulls from the open internet — every resource is expert-reviewed for accuracy and safety, which sets it apart from typical AI chatbots. It’s built with strong LLM guardrails, including safety classifiers to catch harmful content, and it’s fully anonymous, collecting no identifiable data. MIRA is Canadian-led, university-hosted, and co-designed with people with lived experience and Indigenous communities under OCAP principles. It’s actively evolving — adding explainability features, crisis-service integration, and academic validation through user studies — making it a trustworthy, continuously improving resource for mental health navigation.
MIRA is a proven, growing success — a free, anonymous AI chatbot connecting Canadians to trusted mental health resources instead of unreliable internet searches. Since its pilot with healthcare workers in Alberta and Nova Scotia, it’s expanded nationally, backed by strong academic and community partnerships including the University of Alberta, Dalhousie, and Western University. With over 2,820 volunteer hours invested and continuous version upgrades, MIRA keeps improving through real user feedback and rigorous evaluation.
It’s a genuine, ethical, homegrown Canadian innovation making mental health navigation simpler and more equitable.
Three ways to get involved:
Choose the level that fits.
