Canada falling short on mental health despite government efforts, advocates say

While Ottawa has boosted its spending on mental health services, Canada risks falling behind on the file unless the federal government opts for a better approach, mental health advocates say.

The Liberals made an election campaign promise in 2021 to launch a Canada Mental Health Transfer that would have sent a total of $4.5 billion to provinces and territories over five years.

But mental health organizations say they have seen little of that promised money — despite a rise in the number of reported mood disorders since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ottawa appears to have abandoned the pledge. The federal government is instead rolling a boost in mental health funding into health-care funding agreements it's making with the provinces and territories.

When asked about the promise, Carolyn Bennett, federal minister of mental health and addictions, pointed to $25 billion in new spending from Ottawa on the Canada Health Transfer.

Mental health is one of four "shared priorities" identified by the federal government in its health care funding deals with the provinces and territories — so not all of that $25 billion will go to mental health services and supports.

"That $25 billion now will ensure better mental health in primary care teams, and the attachment of Canadians to a primary care team with additional mental health supports," Bennett told a news conference last week.

Bennett said the money also will help governments get better data on wait times and which mental health needs aren't being addressed, among other things.

Bennett, who is the first federal minister of mental health in Canada's history, has been rolling out funding announcements lately for everything from increased mental health supports on university campuses to efforts to improve mental health among teachers and in Black communities.

But Mary Bartram, policy director at the Mental Health Commission of Canada, said it's not enough — especially given the negative mental health effects of the pandemic.

"There's no way that increased investment has caught up with the increased level of need," Bartram told CBC News.

"So there's still a very important role for additional investment in improving access to mental health care, particularly for those who've been hardest-hit by the mental health impacts of the pandemic."

Statistics Canada data shows that 11.7 per cent of Canadians over the age of 12 outside the territories reported fair or poor mental health in 2021 — a two per cent increase over 2020. Approximately 3.1 million respondents in 2021 reported having a mood disorder, up from 2.9 million in 2020.

The statistics agency is conducting a new survey to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on Canadians' mental health.