Jeffrey Ansloos

Jeffrey Ansloos is a Canadian scholar known for his work in mental health, suicide prevention, critical suicide studies, and social and environmental dimensions of health. His work in these areas is in partnership with Indigenous Peoples, youth, people experiencing homelessness, and 2SLGBTQ+ peoples. He is an associate professor of Indigenous Health and Social Policy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, and holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Studies of Health, Suicide Studies, and Environmental Justice. He is an appointed member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists and a fellow at the Broadbent Institute. He is also a children's book author.

Ansloos' work sits at the intersection of Indigenous mental health, Critical Suicide Studies and Critical Geography. He is an affiliate faculty member at the School of Cities at the University of Toronto.

Education Ansloos earned a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia in 2008. His thesis, conducted in collaboration with the Antares Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), investigated traumatic stress among humanitarian aid workers assisting Iraqi and Palestinian refugees. In 2014, he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary under the supervision of Alvin Dueck. Concurrently, between 2008 and 2013, he completed a second Master of Arts in Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, with research in liberation theology, ethics, and contextual theology. In 2017, he was awarded the Digital Indigenous Studies Fellowship at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. From 2022 to 2023, he was a visiting faculty member at the University of Western Australia at the Centre for Best Practice in Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention, where he contributed to international collaborations on Indigenous mental health and suicide prevention.

In 2018, he founded the Critical Health and Social Action Lab (CHSA Lab) at the University of Toronto, which conducts research on Indigenous life promotion, climate justice, and community-led interventions in mental health. In 2024, he launched the Suicide Justice Salon. Inspired by the work of Kristen Cardon, the “suicide justice" salon offers an interdisciplinary space for the study of suicide, attending to racial, economic, environmental, sexual, gender dimensions of the phenomena. Media Indigena, and has authored op-eds in Maclean’s and HuffPost.

Professional Memberships and Service Ansloos is an active member of several professional organizations, including the Canadian Psychological Association, where he previously served as the Chair of the Indigenous Peoples’ Psychology Section;

Clinical Practice Ansloos is a Registered Psychologist with the College of Psychologists of Ontario (2018–present). The book was published in 2021 by Annick Press and has received numerous accolades, including being named a Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice 2022 (joint winner), TD Summer Reading Club 2023 (joint winner), a nominee for the Blue Spruce Award 2021, and selected for the CBC Reads children’s book category in 2022.

Advocacy Ansloos has contributed to public policy discussions on healthcare and economic justice in Canadian politics. He was previously a board member and fellow of the Broadbent Institute, where he co-authored reports on universal mental healthcare, public healthcare expansion, and economic disparities in Canada's COVID-19 pandemic response.

Selected publications