Health Committee on Oct. 2nd, 2025

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

I think you called them a mandate. Where does the mandate come from to pursue these parameters?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

We have employment equity obligations under statute.

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

It's under statute. Okay. If you could table those statutes later, I would be interested to review them.

Is there a way to know if what you called the racial equity parameters are being met, and are they being met right now?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

I'm sorry, can you ask the question again?

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

With respect to the parameters that you have to follow under statute, are they being met right now? Are the necessary requirements being met at this moment?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

I last looked at our employment equity gaps last week. This is particularly important for us as we recalibrate as part of the reductions that I was speaking to earlier. We are not meeting our targets in terms of persons with disabilities nor with indigenous populations. Those are two areas that we are continuing to work on in terms of making sure that we close those gaps.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

We now move on to the Liberals.

Ms. Chi, you have five minutes.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you to all the officials for attending the meeting today. Thank you for letting us pick your brains on various topics.

As we know, Canadians understand that mental health is health and that supporting mental wellness is just as critical as treating physical illnesses.

From an economic perspective, poor mental health can drive absenteeism, lower productivity and lead to premature workforce exits. Conversely, when people have access to mental health supports and resources, whether through their family doctor, community groups or organizations right in the workplace, they are more resilient and more engaged in the labour force. It's especially important as Canada faces demographic and workforce pressures in the years ahead.

Could you outline how Health Canada's broader mental health initiatives are helping Canadians stay engaged in the workforce and support economic participation? How do you work with the provinces, territories and partners to ensure that Canadians can access the supports they need in a timely way?

[Greg Orencsak]

You're right that mental health issues are highly prevalent. I think that the statistic showed that about one in three Canadians will experience mental illness in their lifetime.

The work that we're doing through Health Canada is one of a collaborative nature with provinces, territories and stakeholders to support a multidisciplinary system that helps integrate mental health as part of the patient-centred approach to health care, so it's supported and integrated as part of the continuum of care. That includes going from promotion to prevention and supports to services for treatment.

One of the areas of priority through the working together agreements to improve health care for Canadians was on mental health, including the $25 billion that was set aside for shared priorities with provinces and territories. There are bilateral agreements with each province and territory that include that mental health pillar. It's one of those priorities.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you.

What are the most common barriers that Canadians face when trying to access mental health care and support? How are you and Health Canada working with partners to reduce those barriers?

[Greg Orencsak]

One of the barriers is stigma. Obviously that's a significant concern. It comes to promotion and prevention. That's an important part of the work we do.

We also look closely at mental health challenges faced by young people that might prevent them from participating fully in society or in educational pursuits that are critical in helping youth to thrive.

In 2024, we launched the new youth mental health fund. That is an investment that's helping to improve access to care that's close to youth, directly in communities, to help youth thrive and help enable the wraparound services that are important from a continuum of care approach.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you.

In terms of technology, my colleague Ms. Sidhu mentioned the adoption of AI, which can help streamline services.

Have you seen virtual care or digital platforms being used to expand access? In remote and rural communities, how are those supporting or expanding services that are tough for them to access?

[Greg Orencsak]

That is part of the tool kit. We've seen that used in a number of different ways in the context of supporting mental health, and youth mental health in particular. There are organizations like Kids Help Phone that are looking to make inroads with that, consistent with the more technologically savvy nature of younger people these days.

We've also seen the adoption of digital tools in post-secondary institutions in relation to mental health and wellness. These help to provide resources 24-7 and also help in remote and rural communities.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

I will now go to Mr. Thériault for two and a half minutes.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

My question is actually more of a request to you, Mr. Orencsak.

On December 12, 2024, I asked Health Canada to table the Sun Life contract before the committee. Health Canada agreed to do so. There was obviously the prorogation and so on. However, I'd like to know when you're going to table that contract.

[Greg Orencsak]

Thank you for your question.

We would be happy to make available any details that are pertinent with respect to the contract. We'd be working with our colleagues at Public Services and Procurement Canada to do so if the committee continues to want us to proceed.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

What we want is the contract. You had agreed to share it with us, so we're waiting for the contract.

You chose Sun Life to manage the program. However, according to the president of the Canadian Dental Association, care providers have to be patient when dealing with this insurer. In some cases, he and his colleagues can wait weeks, sometimes months, for a pre-authorization response only to find out that the insurer needs additional documentation.

That doesn't fly. The same dentists pre-authorize in the private sector with the same insurer and it goes quickly. It's as if there's a double standard, two measures. Are you going to follow up on that?

[Greg Orencsak]

We are aware of the concerns that existed with pre-authorization when it was introduced at the end of last year.

You're right that there was a backlog associated with those approvals. The backlog has now been cleared, and pre-authorization requests are being processed within service levels, well within a week's time, so those have now been resolved.

The Canadian dental care plan is somewhat different from private sector plans in terms of how pre-authorization is used, because what it looks for is whether services are medically necessary. It requires a slightly different approach from what exists for private sector plans.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

I now go to Mr. Doherty of the Conservatives for five minutes, please.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Thank you to our guests for being here.

Mrs. Hamzawi, you rattled off some pretty incredible numbers regarding our COVID response. Can you state those again for us?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

Sure, not a problem.

This is actually from a publication called “Counterfactuals of effects of vaccination and public health measures on COVID-19 cases in Canada: What could have happened?” We are happy to provide that publication to you.

In terms of the numbers in table 1 of this publication, without public health measures or vaccines, there would have been up to 800,000 deaths, but what was observed as of April 24, 2022, with public health measures and vaccines, was 38,783. Without public health measures and vaccines, there would have been up to two million hospitalizations, but what was observed was 150,602. Without public health measures, there would have been up to 34 million cases, and with public health measures, there were actually 3.3 million cases.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Is this your modelling? Is this Public Health's...?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

This is modelling, yes.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Can you table that with the...?