The provincial legislature’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs released a report Monday featuring the results of its recent pre-budget consultation process and Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario Division’s recommendations were highlighted.
The report specifically notes CMHA Ontario’s call for:
- standardizing core services
- direct investments in supportive housing
- new investments in data infrastructure to enable better health quality improvement
- enhanced integration of primary care and mental health and addictions services
- expansion of mobile crisis intervention teams.
Read CMHA Ontario’s 2019 pre-budget submission, Addressing Hallway Medicine.
The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs conducted its pre-budget consultation in January with public hearings in Dryden, Timmins, Ottawa, Sarnia, Kitchener-Waterloo, Peterborough and Toronto. The committee heard from 214 witnesses and received 114 written submissions from agencies, associations, community groups, local administrative bodies, municipalities, transfer payment partners, unions and individuals.
The committee’s report has been tabled in the provincial legislature but it remains to be seen if any recommendations will make it into the budget, which pundits say could be released in April.
Read the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs’ 2019 pre-budget consultation report.