Jacquoline Martin: A Journey of Resilience, Advocacy, and Hope on the Road to Miss Canada 2025

Mar 20, 2025

Content warning: The following article mentions sensitive topics including self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and eating disorders.

A 2025 Miss Canada finalist. A Sovereign’s Medal recipient. A Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient. A WXN Top 100 Women. An advocate. Jacquoline Martin is a driven, accomplished, and hard-working Kitchener-Waterloo-born Vancouverite with big dreams and an unwavering inclination to give back. It made perfect sense for all who know her when Jacquoline expressed interest in applying for Miss Canada. “Miss Canada is an incredible platform that offers countless opportunities for advocacy. It can be used to support a wide range of causes, not just during the competition year but for many years to come,” she explained. The Canadian Mental Health Association, Vancouver-Fraser Branch (CMHA-VF) is proud to be supported by Jacquoline on her campaign for Miss Canada 2025.

For Jacquoline, her successes were ultimately the result of her own hardships combined with her unwavering desire to create a better future for herself and others. She first experienced bullying at the early age of 3 or 4 years old due to her weight and she battled suicidal thoughts from early childhood into her twenties. Today, she continues to manage epilepsy (including absence/petit mal and tonic-clonic/grand mal seizures), depression, anxiety, CPTSD, and binge-eating disorder. The side effects of Jaqcuoline’s anti-convulsant medications, which included significant weight gain, worsened her preexisting depression and triggered eating disorders.

These struggles, combined with an unhealthy environment and violations of her personal boundaries, led Jacquoline to hit rock bottom as a teenager. She cut off all her hair, overate, spent all day in bed, lashed out at others, and in a moment of deep despair, committed self-harm. Reflecting on her experience with suicidal thoughts, Jacquoline shared: “Suicidal thoughts bring an overwhelming sense of darkness, a pervasive feeling of wanting to lash out in violence. Yet, there’s an internal confusion about where that anger should be directed—toward yourself or others. You become ensnared in a relentless cycle of self-talk, with no reprieve, leaving your mind in a constant state of turmoil and inner conflict”. After hurting herself, Jacquoline knew she needed help and had to make a change; she called the police and admitted herself to the hospital, setting herself on a long but rewarding road to recovery. Looking back, Jacquoline reflected on her healing journey: “Coming to terms with [my mental health] has been a complex, ongoing journey. The layers of pain, confusion, and trauma are deeply intertwined, shaping my present and future. Healing is not linear; it requires patience, self-compassion, and time—sometimes years—before I can truly begin to feel whole again”.

Flash forward to now, Jacquoline is in her thirties, she’s a Community Partners Coordinator at BC Epilepsy, with years of advocacy, volunteering, and non-profit work under her belt. She does her best to balance work, life, and philanthropy by setting healthy boundaries, scheduling her calendars, doing yoga, going to weekly in-person counselling, and finding hope through powerful books and moving quotes. She continues to dream big, hoping to continue her work fostering meaningful conversations around epilepsy and mental health, one day publishing a book, and winning Miss Canada 2025 while amplifying CMHA-VF during her campaign.

For Jacquoline, running for Miss Canada isn’t just about sharing her story – it’s an opportunity to shine light on CMHA-VF’s mission to supporting mental health in the communities we live and work in.

At CMHA-VF, two simple words guide our work: “People first”. From Vancouver to the Fraser Valley, from children to seniors, we provide a variety of mental health programs and services to meet the diverse needs of our communities. We aim to transform mental health and wellness practices through programs and services rooted in innovation, inclusion, and collaboration in order to improve the lives of the people we serve. Our programs are designed with you in mind; our work is informed by those with lived experience, like Jacquoline, and we create an inclusive space for everyone and their unique self-identity.

CMHA-VF and Jacquoline share a belief that all Canadians deserve to be mentally healthy, and we hope that our collaborative efforts can move us one step closer in the right direction. At CMHA-VF, we’re excited to continue supporting Jacquoline as she advocates for individuals with disabilities and mental health challenges. We are proud to be part of her journey to Miss Canada 2025! To learn more about Jacquoline’s inspiring journey and show your support for our champion of hope, visit the link below.