Thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable members. Thank you for inviting me to speak today.
I am Sara Rodrigues, senior policy analyst at the national office of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Founded in 1918, the Canadian Mental Health Association is a pioneer and leader in community-based programming and service delivery. With 86 locations, our programs and services are available in more than 330 communities. The national office of the Canadian Mental Health Association champions publicly funded mental health care, advocates to end stigma and enhances the knowledge and evidence base around how social status and economic status influence mental health.
The Canadian Mental Health Association applauds the federal government for firmly establishing mental health as a priority in the health minister's mandate letter and in its throne speech on December 5. The stated commitments to increase people's access to mental health and addictions care, and to ensure that first nations, Inuit and Métis peoples have access to culturally safe mental health care, are critical, as the opioid and suicide epidemics continue to have a devastating impact on individuals, families and communities.
The stated commitment to mental health sends a clear message to people in Canada, who increasingly see mental health as important and who are working together to break down stigma around mental illness. People from all walks of life are demonstrating an unprecedented level of honesty and engagement, and with it, a desire for change.
The time has come to match political will to public awareness and make the immediate, tangible investments that will transform our systems, protect the mental health of all people in Canada and ensure that people with mental health problems and illnesses can get the help they need when they need it. Our efforts must be effective in the short term and sustainable in the long term. To move forward with purpose, we must work collaboratively to treat and fund mental health and addictions the same way we do physical health. We can advance equity by elevating parity.
Parity is the notion that mental health should be funded equitably and proportionately with physical health care. For at least five years, the Canadian Mental Health Association and our allies have advocated for parity of esteem legislation in Canada, which is critical to ensuring accountability and compliance. But people in Canada need their leaders to deliver on the promise of parity and make an elusive notion a reality by bringing urgently needed and highly demanded relief.
Canada's “universal” health care system does not universally cover mental health care provided by addictions counsellors, psychologists, social workers and specialized peer support workers, but these services are the foundation of mental health responses in other G7 countries.
We know the numbers. This year, one in five people in Canada will experience a mental health problem or illness. This week, 500,000 people will miss work due to a mental health problem. Today, 11 people will die by suicide. Yet spending for mental health care represents just 7.2% of Canada's total health care spending, even though mental health problems and illnesses represent as much as 23% of the total disease burden. This leaves people in Canada to spend, for example, $950 million per year on counselling services alone, 30% of which is out of pocket. Funding must increase significantly, and it must be tracked by measures that ensure it is truly allocated to mental health.
Canada is well positioned to demonstrate true vision and leadership by addressing chronic inequity and underfunding in mental health. Sufficient and sustainable investment in community mental health services, like the Canadian Mental Health Association, is vital to maximizing our health care system. We intervene early, preventing problems before they start. We provide direct services to people with mental health problems and illnesses. And we provide supports and programs to people who are leaving hospital care or the justice system, to support them in recovery and in flourishing.
Many people still do not receive the full scope of care they need, and many others who could be well supported by community mental health care often cycle in and out of hospitals. The Canadian Mental Health Association sprang up from the grassroots and continues to exist because it fills critical gaps in our formal systems.
Each year, our 5,000 staff and 11,000 volunteers provide direct services and programs. These are offered in person and through e-mental health solutions. Peer supporters, mental health and addictions counsellors, therapists, nurse practitioners, mental health court workers, program coordinators and managers, and recovery coaches support this work from Yukon to Prince Edward Island. We deliver culturally safe programs for first nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We offer population-specific programs for LGBTQ+ youth, older adults, caregivers and new parents. We teach children and youth about resilience and social and emotional learning. And we provide interventions such as counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy. This is a snapshot of what we do to keep people in and connected to their communities.
But we can't keep doing it alone. The Canadian Mental Health Association does not have core funding and urgently needs an immediate influx of $50 million to more seamlessly coordinate and replicate evidence-based services and programs. Such funding can bring more programs to schools, communities and workplaces across Canada.
People in Canada see a future with continued investment and greater access to effective mental health services and programs. With core funding from the federal government, the Canadian Mental Health Association can pave the way, as it has for the past 100 years.
Thank you for inviting me today. I'm happy to answer your questions.