A look at Canada’s mental health and substance use
The third annual ‘Federal-Provincial Mental Health & Substance Use Health Report Card’ is out and the results remain bleak. Showcasing little change in the past year it suggests that only three of the provinces (British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario) have scraped by with a low level passing grade of “D” in the provision of mental health services for Canadians. This leaves six provinces and the Federal government with failing grades. When it comes to substance use health services, the average overall score was “D” with only New Brunswick and Newfoundland receiving failing grades.
This draws attention to clear gaps in Canada’s health care system, with 90% of Canadians saying that timely access to mental health services is essential and 75% believe access to support for substance use is essential.
Key highlights of the report:
• Women are more critical of availability of substance use health services.
• Men feel more positive about the services provided for mental health care.
• Younger Canadians feel more positive about being able to access to mental health care services.
• Visible minorities feel more confident about substance use health services and mental health services availability.
• 2SLGBTQ+ scores were lower for both access to mental health and availability of substance use health services.
• Scores for access to mental health care services were more positive for those who are living with alcohol or cannabis dependencies.
Survey process
The study done at the end of 2024 was conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights in partnership with the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health, and Mental Health Research Canada. Researchers took into consideration whether respondents were more familiar with mental health—that is they have accessed a service in the past year or received a diagnosis—and those who were unfamiliar.
Interestingly, when results were compared to previous years, the rating gap between familiar and unfamiliar is less noticeable, with those familiar only rating slightly higher than those who are unfamiliar.
Little improvement
Also, in comparison to the previous 2023 study, the area with the most improvement was with those who reported a likely substance use disorder. There were higher scores across all subcategories, especially cannabis use disorder. Younger Canadians, men, visible minorities and those at a higher risk for substance use or gambling dependencies scored mental health care and substance were still shown to use services higher than others.
What’s clear….Most feel access services is key. Over eighty percent of respondents feel that their provincial governments should hire more mental health providers to increase accessibility of care for Canadians. And, seventy three per cent believe it’s important for government to support access to education for the health care workforce on substance use.
To read the full report card, you can find it on the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health’s ‘Briefs to Government Reports’ page: https://www.camimh.ca/briefs-to-government-reports which also houses some additional reading materials for those who are interested.
Anjolina Rankin-West is an editorial assistant with an interest in family caregiving.
Take the Money & Run
Produced by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) this 26-page report explores the accountability of the provinces and territories. It takes an in depth look at how responsible each group has been when it comes to its spending of Federal funds in the provision of Mental Health & Substance Use Health care. In early 2023, $25 billion was allocated to the provinces and territories, and on average they are allocated only 15.9% for mental health and substance use services. While recognizing the work being done by all levels of government, CAMIMH calls for an improved way forward with the following recommendations:
1) Institution of a comprehensive set of mental health and substance use performance indicators
2) Establishment of national targets and referents based on evidence for each of the mental health and substance use indicators.
3) Transparency and effective communication of performance indicators through a ‘National Mental Health and Substance Use Health Dashboard’.
4) Maintain the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s funding so they can fulfill their mandate in the long term.
Photo: CanStock
