I can't give you the exact number, but I know that counsellors and psychotherapists nationally—and it differs from province to province—aren't necessarily all on par with the insurance companies that are out there. We are working with the the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association to try to get them to include psychotherapists as much as they include psychologists and social workers.
Our membership, our indigenous folks.... There are creative arts therapists, there are those who work in social justice contexts and in schools. Not all of them will have access to counselling. That's a huge piece. That's a huge ask. We're not even asking for that today, but it's a big piece that needs to be looked at, in my humble opinion, as to how people can get access.
Yes, there is some availability. Not all counselling therapists and psychotherapists are admitted into all of the programs. At this point, we have been removed from the NIHB program. We were added during the pandemic. Presumably when and if the pandemic ends, we'll be taken out again.
That means that indigenous folks who work with us who have their Canadian certified counsellor permit will not be allowed to work in their communities, with their people, because they're CCCs.
I think it's really important that we look at what that is, so that we have not just early access to mental health, but also.... That gentleman in Laval...perhaps if he'd had help earlier on and had had access to services, he wouldn't have been doing what he was doing.