Human Resources committee  Certainly the Opportunities Fund is the program that funds our program, which I'm familiar with. The Routes to Work program has been running since 2000. It operates in seven communities and helps hundreds of people get into the workforce and stay there. But a lot of energy is s

Human Resources committee  Yes, and certainly increase funding. If there was a Routes to Work program in every municipality, we would have a lot more people with mental illness more gainfully employed. Certainly there is always the issue of funding.

Human Resources committee  I want to follow up on a comment that Kirk made, and it relates to the whole issue of the sustainability of funding—whatever the specific program is. I am familiar with our Routes to Work program that CMHA is involved with. But nowadays, we have a lot of non-profit organization

Human Resources committee  I'd like to make a comment about the disability act in relation to people with mental illness. There are challenges in terms of mental illness being an episodic issue. People may have periods of health and then periods of illness. It's not a permanent, ongoing disability, and I t

Human Resources committee  One comment that I'd like to make is about the issue of affordable housing. Whether you're talking about people with mental illness, people with disabilities of any kind, or people living in poverty, affordable housing is an absolutely critical issue, particularly in Calgary. I'

Human Resources committee  Yes. I'm not an expert on housing issues. I know there have been some initiatives. There have been pieces here and pieces there, but there needs to be a more comprehensive strategy. There's opportunity for the federal government in dealing with a number of different issues, but

Human Resources committee  Lots of people would benefit from that. I was listening to CBC this morning. There was an item about a study in Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon, that determined that income affects health, and I kind of went, “Yeah, like, this is not rocket science”. In social determinants of health,

Human Resources committee  Thank you. Good morning. On behalf of the Canadian Mental Health Association, thank you for this opportunity to speak to you. My name is Jodi Cohen, and I'm the president of CMHA, Alberta division. Secure income is one of the most critical social determinants of health. Access