The annual Bell Let’s Talk mental health fundraiser is set for January 25 for 2023, and this year the program is shifting how it will raise funds.
The Bell fundraiser gained popularity by committing 5 cents per interaction and leveraged getting high-profile celebrities and others to retweet or support the mental health campaign, allowing the latter to typically go trending worldwide on social media.
Bell announced on Monday it will be changing the program this year to no longer donate 5 cents per interaction, like in years past. Instead, Bell says it is committing $10 million towards its goal of $155 million for mental health programs in Canada.
“This new funding of $10 million is more than Bell has ever committed on Bell Let’s Talk Day and it will shift more emphasis on the day toward practical actions that we can all take throughout the year to create change,” said the company in a press release. Last year, the campaign raised $8.2 million through the 5 cents per interaction method.
Bell Let’s Talk for 2023 has a new campaign of “Let’s change this” and will highlight mental health issues faced by Canadians, while asking people to take the following ‘CHANGE’ actions instead on January 25:
Despite having committed over $139 million towards its goal of $155 million, the Bell Let’s Talk initiative has faced some pushback in recent years.
In 2021, the hashtag “BellLetsCut” went trending in Canada on Twitter, after Bell Media cut over 200 media jobs in Toronto and also pulling popular sports radio stations off the air in mid-broadcast in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Hamilton. Last year, two months after the Bell Let’s Talk campaign, Bell Media cut the jobs of prominent TV anchors and radio hosts in Vancouver.
