Your question is quite astute. In fact, people with lived experience of mental illness tell us that the time they feel most stigmatized or most discriminated is when they seek help, when they see their family physician, or when they go to the emergency department. Often, they do wait. Often, they are given cursory service and sent home without a longer-term plan.
Part of the reason for that is we hear from physicians that they feel ill-equipped to deal with the mental health problems that they face in their office or in the emergency department.
We have a document called “Making the Case for Investing in Mental Health in Canada” that I think will give you some significant detail on the economic impact. Rather than going into detail, I would be happy to provide that document to the committee.