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Louis Busch fondly recalls a moment he had with his mother not long after turning 20.

At the time, Busch, the 2024 winner of the Talent Award from, had been rejected by every Ontario postsecondary school he applied to, including the University of Toronto. Disheartened by the rejections, he had almost given up on the idea of further education. Instead, he was ready to embrace a future of odd jobs and trying to make it with his rock band.

One day, his mother, originally from the South Indian Lake (O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation) in Northern Manitoba, invited him to help her at a laundromat. He soon realized she had more important things on her mind then the linen.

“She sat me down and said, ‘You know, a lot of your relatives and ancestors had to struggle and sacrifice so that you would have a chance to do something different, to get an education, so you could give back” recalled Busch, a Bear Clan Member of Nisichawayashk Cree Nation and a doctoral candidate in Adult Education and Community Development (AECD) at OISE.

In that moment, he felt a deep appreciation for the sacrifices that his family and ancestors had made — and continue to make.  “I think about all of the things that have happened so that I could be here, in a position to go to school, become a mental health clinician, and a research scientist,” he said. “Both of my parents are lifelong helpers who have dedicated themselves to community safety and healing; I don’t take the example they’ve set for granted.”

Busch went on to pursue—and excel in—his college and university studies, eventually becoming a registered psychotherapist, behavioural scientist, and community support specialist. But it is his time at OISE that is allowing him to deepen his practical experience with a solid research foundation, all while remaining focused on his goal: to centre the vibrant systems of helping and healing that already exist within Indigenous communities.

The phone call congratulating him for the Talent Award came as a surprise, but he is grateful for the honour and remains focused on the outcomes.

“It’s an incredible moment,” said Busch. “My journey of learning what it means to be a helper has been mostly on the frontlines, on locked psychiatric inpatient units, in jails, shelters and group homes. But I've always been really interested in systemic change, in the kinds of change that impact communities.”

Louis Busch’s SSHRC honours

recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual who holds a SSHRC doctoral scholarship or fellowship or postdoctoral fellowship. The award honours those who have maintained academic excellence, demonstrated talent in research and knowledge mobilization, and shown a clear potential to become a future leader within and outside the academic sector. The $50,000 prize will support Busch’s ongoing research activities.

This honour adds to the growing list of accolades for the therapist turned researcher. In 2023, he was named a Vanier Scholar and received the U of T President’s Award for Outstanding Indigenous Student of the Year. He has also achieved awards and honours from OISE and CAMH, including the Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement, which enabled him to complete a visiting fellowship at Harvard University under the mentorship of Professor Joseph P. Gone, a globally renowned leader in Indigenous health research.

Associate Professor Jennifer Wemigwans, Busch’s doctoral advisor, says that this recognition highlights the importance of centring Indigenous knowledge in the academy.

To have a student recognized from the Adult Education and Community Development (AECD) program is a significant milestone as it demonstrates the phenomenal way that AECD supports intersectional research and diversity, says Wemigwans. It also shows how Indigenous doctoral supervisors play a key role in helping Indigenous students excel.

For Wemigwans, there is a symbiotic relationship that exists when working with community-based Indigenous students like Busch. There is a deep understanding of Indigenous Knowledge, and a profound respect for Indigenous communities, histories and legacy.

“We were able to have these academic conversations from the perspective of Indigenous paradigms which really allowed for a deeper exploration into Louis’ work and the true diversity that it represents,” Wemigwans shares. 

“I don't know any other program that would be so open to looking at so many different intersections.”

Busch has published peer-reviewed research on topics ranging from the treatment of severe behavioural challenges in neurodevelopmental disabilities to forensic mental health populations, interprofessional care, cross-cultural psychiatry, and Indigenous health. Yet, being  recognized with the SSHRC Talent Award remains a humbling experience.

“I think this award recognizes Indigenous research methodologies and Indigenous researchers at a level where I think it often overlooked” Busch says. “It really speaks to the changing perspectives on how and why research is done and maybe even challenges some of the paradigms that have tended to dominate knowledge production and knowledge gathering over the last several 100 years.”

“Receiving this, for me, is a signal of that there is value in this work and also an opportunity to kind of take this a step further and hopefully do something with it that will reach people in community and actually make some tangible difference.”

His focus on the helpers

Busch’s doctoral studies focus on articulating an Indigenous theory of helping work. He is seeking a fuller understanding of the practices for wellness that already exist within community, but have been suppressed by Western systems that disallow for Indigenous helping, theory or practices.

“For me, a central question of my research is exploring what it means to be a helper within Indigenous communities,” Busch says. “I’ve spoken with many people who are doing this work in unique ways, and I’m interested in understanding how their approaches to helping differ from conventional models—and why that matters”

The term “helpers” encompasses a broad range of individuals, from traditional practitioners and ceremonial helpers to mental health practitioners and community members who show up when needed. Busch is documenting not only how they provide support but how they use language and relationships for collective healing.”

“The way these helpers talk about their relatives, rather than their ‘patients’ or ‘clients’, about what it means to be well, about the nature of suffering—it’s an incredibly different and unique paradigm of wellness” he says. “We have a way of looking at things, embedded in our language. The language carries this blueprint for rich psychological flexibility, if you want to call it that, which was negated when our languages were actively suppressed by the church and the government.” Busch’s doctoral inquiry is actively decolonial, seeking to restore and amplify these Indigenous ways of knowing.

Both Busch and Professor Wemigwans share a community-based mindset—Wemigwans in community-based research, and Busch through his on-the-ground community work.

“With this symbiotic relationship, you have an Indigenous professor working with an Indigenous student, and Elders and Knowledge Keepers, where we all understand the cultural protocols and ethics involved,” says Wemigwans. “And of course, we're all very attuned with the political and social issues that impact Indigenous communities.”

Dr. Wemigwans adds, “I'm so proud of Louis because I think that this is what a great community collaboration can do when you have Indigenous professors in institutions like U of T who are able to advocate for their students and say, ‘Recognize this work, recognize this student.’

“This advocacy and support are very important for Indigenous students and for our communities.”

With his defense planned for early 2026, Busch is grateful that this award will help him advance his research goals. “I think this provides an opportunity to take things forward in a way that there'll be less obstacles or barriers to getting things done.”