Madam Chair, I am pleased to rise virtually from my home this evening to speak about the actions taken by the government to address the broader consequences of COVID-19.
This pandemic is the biggest public health crisis that we have experienced in our lifetime, and that is something with which most everybody in the House agrees. It has had profound and unprecedented impacts on the health, social and economic well-being of people in Canada. Our top priority continues to be to protect the health and safety of all Canadians.
COVID-19 has underscored that our health, our economy and our society are closely intertwined. The health of Canadians is strongly influenced by the social and economic conditions in which we are born, live, learn, work and play. The pandemic has also shown us that threats to public health can have broad societal impacts both directly and through unintended consequences of public health countermeasures. These broader consequences include interruptions to education among our children and youth and widespread unemployment and economic instability among working-aged and older Canadians. We have seen increases across a range of health outcomes and risk factors.
For example, more people are indicating that they are experiencing poor mental health problems, problems with substance use, intimate partner and family violence, sedentary behaviour, food insecurity and housing instability.
We are also reminded that while COVID-19 is affecting us all, it is not affecting all of us equally. Some Canadians are shouldering a far heavier burden than others in terms of the health, social and economic consequences of the pandemic. These groups include: seniors; children and youth; women; workers providing essential services, such as those in hospitals, residential care settings and the food supply chain; migrant workers; low-income and precariously employed workers; racialized populations; indigenous peoples; and people living with disabilities. In many cases, these disproportionate impacts are linked to pre-existing vulnerability inequities in society, which have only been further heightened due to the pandemic.
For example, long-term care residents have been hit the hardest, accounting for approximately 75% of COVID-19-related deaths as of November 19. We are also seeing evidence that communities with a higher proportion of visible minorities are experiencing higher infection mortality rates from COVID-19.
In Toronto, for example, people who identify as members of a racialized group make up 52% of the total population, yet, as of the end of the September, have accounted for nearly 80% of confirmed COVID-19 cases where race data was reported.
The social and economic tolls of the pandemic and the necessary public health countermeasures are also unevenly felt.
For example, women, racialized Canadians, lower-income earners and young people bore the brunt of losses at the beginning of the pandemic and have experienced a slower pace of economic recovery. School closures and the shift to online learning have created particular challenges for families with fewer financial resources or less access to high-speed Internet and computing devices, which may compromise their children's educational performance and social development.
Increased economic instability has widened and deepened food insecurity in Canada, especially for lower-income households that may already face higher levels of financial, material, physical and mental stress. Public health measures put in place to mitigate COVID-19, such as physical distancing and quarantine, have created additional challenges for survivors of family violence and the organizations that serve them. These unequal social and economic impacts may, over time, lead to widening health and social inequities.
The unprecedented nature of this public health threat has called for an unprecedented government response, and this is precisely what we have sought to deliver. Since the start of the pandemic, the Government of Canada has taken extraordinary steps to address the broader health, social and economic impacts of COVID-19.
Recognizing the importance on the mental health of Canadians, the Public Health Agency of Canada has provided additional funds to address the increased demand for crisis support services. These include $7.5 million to support Kids Help Phone in providing mental health support services to young people during the COVID-19 pandemic; and $21 million for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and its partners to implement a pan-Canadian suicide prevention service that provides access to 24/7 bilingual crisis support from trained responders. This service is currently providing crisis support via voice 27/7 and via text in the evening hours.
The Government of Canada has also invested $46 million to date to support a new mental health and substance use support portal that the minister spoke of earlier, Wellness Together Canada. The portal provides Canadians with free access to credible information and supports to help address their mental health and substance use issues. Canadians can access different levels of support, depending on their needs, ranging from information to self-assessment tools to connecting to peer support, social workers, psychologists and other professionals for confidential texts or phone sessions.
As the pandemic has unfolded in Canada, it has become clear that we need to improve our understanding of and our ability to prevent and respond to the impacts of COVID-19 among vulnerable populations in Canada. Accordingly, we are working with our partners to gather more detailed and complete data, including by race, ethnicity and indigenous identity. Federal, provincial and territorial public health partners have agreed to a new national data set for COVID-19, which includes new variables to help understand the impact of racialized groups in Canada.
In addition, we are also funding research activities to generate urgent evidence to support decision-making during the pandemic through a range of research grants. Studies are under way to analyze changes in mental health, self-harm, suicide attempts and substance-related harms during the COVID-19 period.
Studies are also under way to identify other impacts of the pandemic, such as attitudes and practices related to COVID-19 and containment measures, daily mobility and changes in social activities, social isolation and stigma, and food security.
Tragically, in many communities, COVID-19 is worsening the parallel public health crisis of opioid overdoses. In response, we have taken action to ensure communities have the tools and support they need to keep people at risk of overdose safe during the outbreak, including additional funding for safer supply of products and overdose prevention sites.
We are continuing to deliver our regular public health programs for Canadians under these unprecedented circumstances and working closely with funding recipients to find innovative solutions to adapt their community-based initiatives to the pandemic context.
We have all seen the promising early results of several global vaccine candidates in the news. The Government of Canada continues to actively work to secure access to these and other vaccines and treatments to protect Canadians from the virus and support our recovery from the pandemic. Particular attention is being paid to ensuring that the rollout of any future vaccines prioritize high-risk populations and those who help keep our pandemic response, economy and society running.
The immunization partnership fund supports Canadian initiatives to improve vaccination confidence and uptake. Our government has continued to invest in the health of Canadians by extending this program for two additional years to ensure that Canadians, including those who are most marginalized, have the information and supports they need to confidently receive COVID-19 and other life-saving vaccines.
Beyond the health portfolio, the government has marshalled a whole-of-federal government response to protecting Canadians from the broader consequences of COVID-19. Key measures include direct financial supports for Canadians impacted by the pandemic, including through the Canada emergency response benefit, the Canada recovery sickness benefit and the Canada recovery caregiving benefit.
We have also invested millions of dollars to provide help for Canadians experiencing food insecurity and homelessness; for seniors facing barriers to accessing essential services; for victims of stigma, racism and discrimination; and for women and children fleeing violence.
Through the safe return to class fund, the federal government provided $2 billion to support the reopening of schools and to keep kids and staff safe in the classroom.
Through the safe restart agreement with provinces and territories, we have invested over $19 billion to support the safe restart of Canada's economy. Recently we also announced $1.5 billion to help Canadians in under-represented groups and those in sectors that have been hardest hit by the pandemic, such as construction, transportation and hospitality, to quickly access supports to re-enter the workforce.
These initiatives have been necessary to protect Canadians from this pandemic, while attending to the broader impacts experienced throughout our communities.
We recognize that the pandemic is not over, and that more needs to be done. COVID-19 has revealed the best of our systems, structures and behaviours, while also exposing the gaps that need to be addressed. It has revealed long-standing social and economic weaknesses that have placed our most vulnerable members of society at risk.
However, it has also shown us what our country is capable of when we unite under the common goal of protecting and supporting one another. We have an opportunity now, as we continue to care for each other through these uncertain times, to build back as a stronger and more resilient Canada.
I have a couple of questions for the minister.
Before I start, members have probably noticed this caterpillar on top of my lip, this crazy moustache. Of course, the minister knows why I am growing this mo. It is because it is Movember and Movember focuses on men's mental health and suicide prevention.
Timely access to health services is of critical importance when one is faced with mental health and addiction issues. As such, the Government of Canada has committed to work with the provinces and territories to increase the availability of high-quality mental health and addiction services for Canadians.
As we focus on keeping ourselves, our families and our loved ones physically safe and healthy, we are seeing that the pandemic is also having substantial mental health impacts that require attention and support. Could the minister please tell us what the government is doing to deliver on its commitment to improve access to mental health services for Canadians?
More specifically, what is Canada's health research investment agency, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, doing to support the mental health of Canadians, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic?