Take a look at some of our past projects
When communities work together to understand and address the factors that contribute to youth violence, they can create safer spaces where young people can thrive. Amplify supported the Regional Municipality of Durham in designing and facilitating community engagement sessions to inform the development of a Youth Violence Prevention Strategy. We organized two workshops, one with youth and one with community service providers, to understand the key risk factors that impact youth violence in the region and to identify actions that can be taken to address and mitigate youth violence. Feedback was analyzed and synthesized into a public-facing summary and a final report.
Client
Regional Municipality of Durham
Activities
Engagement design, facilitation, youth engagement, EDI focus, synthesis
Project
Youth Violence Prevention Strategy Workshops
Year
2025
Appropriate use of prescription medications happens when patients and health care professionals work together to choose the safest and most effective treatments for a person’s needs and goals. Amplify Engagement and Keltie Gale Consulting supported Canada’s Drug Agency in the final stages of developing a pan-Canadian Appropriate Use Strategy which outlines a coordinated approach for safe and effective medication use. Our team held focus groups and a town hall to engage federal, provincial and territorial governments, industry, patients, and other stakeholders nationwide. We shared the latest developments in appropriate use and gathered feedback on proposed actions, which informed the final strategy and implementation plans.
Client
Canada’s Drug Agency
Activities
Engagement design, facilitation, synthesis
Project
Appropriate Use Strategy Engagement
Year
2025
People who experience incarceration often face significantly poorer health outcomes than the general population. However, research on how incarceration impacts health rarely includes the perspectives of those with lived experience of incarceration. Amplify worked with a team from McMaster University’s Department of Family Medicine to establish the Prison Health Council, a group of people with lived experience of incarceration who aim to advance prison health research in Ontario by ensuring it is relevant, valid and appropriate. Amplify supported the recruitment of Council members, led the prioritization of its goals, and facilitated the first four monthly meetings.
Client
McMaster University, Department of Family Medicine
Activities
Engagement design, facilitation, recruitment, EDI focus, synthesis
Project
Prison Health Council
Year
2024-2025
iNeuron, a Canadian-led international research project, aims to improve the brain health of people with neurological disorders by looking at genes in neurons. As part of their first annual meeting, Amplify facilitated the workshop for their Lived Experience Advisory Board which includes people with dementia, epilepsy or stroke and their caregivers. The workshop introduced the concept of lived experience involvement in research projects, and invited participants to brainstorm what specific parts of the research process they would like to be involved in. This workshop set the stage for the role the advisory board will play in the future of the iNeuron project.
Client
iNeuron/University Health Network
Activities
Engagement design, facilitation, synthesis, patient engagement
Project
Lived Experience Advisory Board annual meeting
Year
2023
What are the most urgent mental health needs of our communities? In partnership with Santis Health, we worked with the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH) to develop and deliver an extensive engagement plan to inform CAMH's new strategic plan. We asked patients, families, equity experts, community organizations, Indigenous leaders and hospital staff what they felt were the important issues impacting mental health in their communities and what they felt the hospital's role should be in addressing these issues.
Client
Centre for Addictions and Mental Health
Activities
Strategic planning, engagement design, facilitation, synthesis, EDI focus
Project
Strategic Plan Engagement
Year
2023
How can you build safer communities? By addressing social conditions and local risk factors that are associated with violence and crime you can create an environment that is safer for everyone. We worked with the Town of Innisfil to help inform their multi-year crime and violence prevention initiative. We designed and facilitated two workshops with youth and community partners to understand the local context and factors that give rise to crime (e.g. family disorganization, substance use) and explored what actions the Town could be taken to address and support these risk factors.
Client
Town of Innisfil
Activities
Engagement design, facilitation, synthesis, youth engagement, EDI focus
Project
Building Safer Communities
Year
2023
A government that aims to provides equitable healthcare needs to work closely with communities to understand their needs and values. We collaborated with ICES and Ontario Ministry of Health to identify gaps in the Ministry's engagement pathways with priority populations. Working with community leaders, we developed recommendations for how the Province could improve the way it partnered with these populations (e.g., those experiencing homelessness, individuals who are HIV-positive, Black communities, 2SLGBTQ+ individuals, migrant workers). We also gained insights into how equity-deserving communities would like to be involved in the governance of their health and other data.
Project
Community Engagement Pathways Initiative
Year
2023
Client
ICES and Ministry of Health
Activities
Engagement design, facilitation, synthesis, recruitment, EDI focus
A medical school that challenges systemic inequities and meets the needs of equity-deserving populations must include the voices of the community at every step. Working with the Toronto Metropolitan University, we asked the Brampton community to help shape their new School of Medicine's admissions and curriculum and learned what their expectations are for a new generation of community-focused doctors.
Client
Toronto Metropolitan University
Activities
Engagement design, facilitation, synthesis, communications, EDI focus
Project
Community Engagement Forum
Year
2022
Understanding the perspectives of people with lived experience of incarceration and street drug use can inform the need for prevention, treatment and public policy. Working with a research team from McMaster, we invited people with lived experience to guide research that uses administrative correctional and coroners data on people who died from opioids and experienced incarceration in Ontario. Participants provide feedback and insights into the results, interpretation, and discussed who the findings should be disseminated to.
Client
McMaster University
Department of Family Medicine
Activities
Engagement design, facilitation, synthesis, recruitment, EDI focus
Project
Redefining the Story of Incarceration and Opioid Use
Year
2022
How can future brain research benefit the brain health and mental health of all Canadians? We worked with the Canadian Brain Research Strategy to develop and implement a national engagement strategy to involve people with lived experience of brain conditions and their caregivers in the creation of a national brain research strategy.
Client
Canadian Brain Research Strategy
Activities
Engagement design, facilitation, synthesis, recruitment, training
Project
Lived Experience Sessions
Year
2022
Labeled a “hotspot” throughout the pandemic for having a high number of COVID-19 cases, the Peel region unjustly became a target for blame from media and the public. We worked with Peel Multicultural Council to consult with members of the Peel community to understand their reflections on these racist representations and what changes they want to see for a more equitable and respectful society. Learnings from community dialogues informed a digital campaign including webinars, social media and earned media.
Client
Peel Multicultural Council
Activities
Engagement design, facilitation, synthesis, communications, EDI focus
Project
Empowering Racialized Communities in Peel
Year
2022
