Ontario Expanding Access to Mental Health and Addictions Services in Northwestern Ontario

Funding Will Help Enhance Supports and Reduce Wait Times for Children and Youth

The Ontario government is providing over $1.5 million in annual funding to expand access to specialized mental health and addictions services in Northwestern Ontario. This funding will be used to hire up to six psychiatrists and help to develop a systemwide response to mental health and addictions challenges in the region through local community-based services, including culturally appropriate services for Indigenous children and youth.

Details were provided today by Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, and Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines and Minister of Indigenous Affairs.

“Now more than ever, it is critical that we expand access to mental health and addictions services across the province to ensure every Ontarian can receive the safe and effective supports they deserve, no matter their age or where they live,” said Minister Elliott. “With today’s investment, we will be working with communities and Indigenous health partners to build a treatment network that will support children and youth, families, and communities across Northwestern Ontario on their journey to wellness.”

When children and youth experience mental health and addictions challenges, it can often have a significant impact on their family, and in smaller regions across the province, this can affect entire communities. This investment will:

  • Recruit physicians for the Child and Adolescent Multidisciplinary Psychiatry Services (CHAMPS) Program, operated by the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, in partnership with the St. Joseph’s Care Group;
  • Further expand services in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services (CAPS) program in the Northwestern Ontario region; and
  • Build a centralized service hub in the city of Thunder Bay from which additional satellite services can grow to cover all jurisdictions in the region as a treatment network for specialized mental health and addictions services for children and youth aged 19 years and younger.

Once fully implemented, these resources are expected to support approximately 1,800 unique patients each year and significantly reduce the wait times for these services in the region.

This new funding complements over $900,000 that was previously provided by the government to support the operations of the CHAMPS program and to partner with Indigenous mental health and addictions service providers across Northwestern Ontario to co-develop culturally appropriate services.

“Our government will continue taking real and meaningful action, so that we can build a modern, comprehensive and connected mental health and addictions system for all Ontarians,” said Associate Minister Tibollo. “This investment will help improve the mental health and addictions care provided to children and youth in the North and will address the extensive wait times for critical services that have existed for far too long. This investment will increase mental health and addictions supports for youth in Northwestern Ontario at a time when they are needed more urgently than ever,” said Minister Rickford. “The pandemic has exacerbated the challenges already facing many young people in the region – particularly Indigenous children and youth – and these additional supports are critical to ensuring not only their well-being, but that of their families and communities.”

Quick Facts

  • Healthy people are essential for a healthy economy. On March 24, 2021, the government will release the 2021 Ontario Budget. It will focus on protecting people’s health, with a plan to defeat COVID-19, and support for people and jobs.
  • Child and adolescent psychiatrists help support children and youth live in their communities in a positive and healthy manner. They work in multidisciplinary teams, which typically include the patient’s family, primary care provider, and other specialists. Their services allow many children and youth to be able to thrive in their communities through the referrals and supports these specialists provide, avoiding escalating crisis situations.
  • This funding complements the $1 million that was provided to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services (CAPS) program this year as part of Ontario’s Roadmap to Wellness mental health and addictions strategy.
  • In addition to the funding announced today, Ontario is investing $3.8 billion over 10 years to create new services and expand programs as part of Roadmap to Wellness, Ontario’s plan to develop a modern, connected and comprehensive mental health and addictions system over 10 years. Under Roadmap to Wellness, Ontario has invested $350 million in new annualized funding for mental health and addictions services since 2019-20. In October 2020, the government invested $176 million to help expand access to critical mental health and addictions services, create new supports and expand programs, building on the $174 million invested last year for mental health and addictions programs.
  • In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the province invested up to $194 million in emergency funding for mental health and addictions services, enabling more than 62,000 Ontarians to access the services they need during these difficult times, including virtual supports.
  • The data from the modelling indicates that opioid-related overdose deaths have continued to climb since the pandemic began. In addition, the rate of opioid-related deaths in Thunder Bay is double the provincial rate. Over the past three years, ten youth have died of an opioid-related death in Northwestern Ontario.
  • Visit COVID-19: Support for People to find information about the many available, confidential and free mental health and addictions services and supports for Ontarians of all ages.