STATEMENT
(Toronto, October 30, 2024) – The following is a statement from Camille Quenneville, CEO of Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Ontario Division, in reaction to the province’s 2024 fall economic statement:
“Today’s fall economic statement fails to acknowledge a critical part of Ontario’s infrastructure: the health and social services that are essential to the well-being of Ontarians. Community mental health and addictions agencies are seeing more clients and more complex cases in their communities. The drug toxicity crisis remains a persistent issue across the province, with more than seven people dying every day in Ontario from an overdose. While the community mental health and addictions sector consistently works with our partners on these challenges, we continue to be strained by the lack of adequate base funding for our agencies.
Increases to base budgets for community-based care are much needed to manage these capacity pressures and retain valued staff. Community health workers face a wage gap of more than $2 billion compared to their peers doing similar work. This gap is even larger among social workers and addictions counselors in community mental health, who earn 40 per cent less. For community mental health and addictions agencies to continue to deliver the quality care and support Ontarians deserve, the wage gap for our sector needs to be immediately addressed by the government. As more Ontarians seek our services, our sector needs to be able to attract and retain the workforce necessary to support them.
CMHA Ontario stands ready to work with the provincial government in delivering on our shared priorities in the Roadmap to Wellness. We are hopeful that the 2025 Budget will include funding and action to help us address the critical challenges we face.”
About Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario
Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Ontario is a not-for-profit, charitable organization funded by the provincial government. We work to improve the lives of all Ontarians through leadership, collaboration and continual pursuit of excellence in community-based mental health and addictions services. Our vision is a society that embraces and invests in the mental health of all people. We are a trusted advisor to government, contributing to health systems development through policy formulation and recommendations that promote positive mental health.
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For more information, contact:
Elham Bidgoli
Communications Director, Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario
E: ebidgoli@ontario.cmha.ca