Thank you, Bryan and members of the committee, for your work on poverty reduction strategies and for giving me the opportunity to appear before you today.
As you mentioned, I'm the physician-in-chief for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.
CAMH is Canada's largest academic mental health and addictions science centre. We combine clinical care, education, and research to transform the lives of those affected by mental illness or addiction. We have over 500 beds, more than 3,000 staff, over 300 physicians, and 100 scientists. We work together to support over 30,000 patients each year.
For our patients and for Canadians with mental illness, poverty is a major concern. People with mental illness have lower incomes, are less likely to participate in the labour force, and are less likely to have adequate housing when compared to people with other disabilities and to people with no disabilities. Poverty can further exacerbate their physical and mental health conditions.
While evidence-based clinical care is essential for mental health recovery, CAMH also recognizes the importance of the social determinants of health and their impact on improving the conditions of living for people with mental illness across their lifespan. Therefore, we offer the following three recommendations to reduce poverty among people with mental illness.
First, we need federal investments in affordable, supported, and supportive housing. In Canada there are over 520,000 people with mental illness who are inadequately housed. Among them, almost 120,000 are absolutely homeless. Many of these individuals are able to live independently in the community, and improved access to affordable housing would assist them to move out of poverty.
Other Canadians with mental illness require support to find and keep housing. For them, access to affordable housing and evidence-based clinical support will provide the opportunity to maintain housing stability and to exit poverty.
There are some patients we see at CAMH and elsewhere in Canada who have more severe psychiatric disabilities. For them, access to high-support housing, housing with around-the-clock supports, is what is needed to maintain successful community tenure. Research has shown that access to housing can improve personal health and social outcomes for people with serious mental illness. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of these types of housing in Canada.
In 2012 it was estimated that 100,000 new units of housing would be needed across the country over the next 10 years just to begin to address the housing needs of people with mental illness. In Ontario, people with mental illness can wait up to six years for housing.
In our submission to the national housing strategy, CAMH recommended that a portion of all federal funding for affordable housing be reserved for the development of new supportive housing units. We also recommended an increase in funding for Housing First, which is an evidence-based supported housing model for people with mental illness who are homeless. We believe that these investments in supported and supportive housing will help reduce poverty among Canadians with mental illness.
Our second recommendation is that the federal government support initiatives that assist people with mental illness to find and keep employment. Most people with mental illness can and want to work, but up to 90% of those with a serious mental illness are unemployed due to stigma and discrimination, inadequate job supports, and problematic income security policies. People with mental illness who work are heathier and have higher self-esteem and a better standard of living. They're also less likely to use high-cost health and social services.
With federal government support for evidence-based employment supports and alternative employment options, in addition to the work the Mental Health Commission of Canada is doing to address stigma and discrimination in the workplace, poverty among people with mental illness can be reduced.
Finally, we recommend that the federal government work with other levels of government to implement a basic income guarantee to support Canadians with mental illness who cannot work and those who cycle in and out of work because of the nature of their illness. Current income support systems are inadequate and create disincentives to work. A basic income guarantee, along with housing and employment supports, could dramatically improve the health and standards of living for people with mental illness.
Poverty is a challenging and multi-faceted problem, and CAMH commends the government for making it a priority. We are also glad to see that you are recognizing the unique needs of people with mental illness and addictions as you shape the strategy.
We hope that our recommendations can be helpful to you.
Thank you. I'd be happy to answer any questions.