Tiawna LaMontagne

About

Tiawna LaMontagne's career path in both the public and private sectors has always had a safety and training focus. In 2013, while working for SaskPower, I earned my certificate in Adult Education from Saint Francis Xavier University. This certification helped enhance my ability to effectively facilitate workplace safety training services for my department. In 2016, my personal life took a life-altering turn — my 29-year-old partner, Joel, died unexpectedly in a work accident. The outcome of Joel’s accident was devastating and affected so many peoples’ lives. My battle through grief, anxiety, and depression led me down a path of self-help. The next step in my journey led to a career change in 2018 where I became the Director of Community Programming at Harbour Landing Village. This role provided me with so many new experiences. It was during this time that I was on the frontline with residents who are facing challenging mental disorders and barriers each day and I was also seeing the impact those hurdles had on those individuals, and their loved ones. These experiences lead me to my next path: I wanted to help people, to teach them about the importance of first aid and how to confidently assist in emergency situations. While I loved my role at Harbour Landing Village, I never lost my passion for safety training and Joel’s tragedy continued to serve as motivation for me to pursue both my First Aid & CPR instructor certification –as well as– my Mental Health First Aid instructor certification. In 2020, I obtained my certification from St. John Ambulance as an Emergency Medical Responder, as well as my certification to instruct Occupational Health and Safety First Aid & CPR Training Courses throughout Saskatchewan. The tools in that course equipped me with new confidence and techniques to reach out to others in need and to offer support. I became certified in Mental Health First Aid in 2021 through the Mental Health Commission of Canada. The empowerment and facilitator certification lead me to my next big adventure: my own training business. Today I continue to grow my business by becoming certified in new and updated Mental Health courses, as well as sessions focused on suicide prevention.