Message from the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health – WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY

Today is World Mental Health Day, an opportunity to work with our international partners to promote positive mental health worldwide.

October 10, 2022 || Ottawa, ON || Health Canada

Today is World Mental Health Day, an opportunity to work with our international partners to promote positive mental health worldwide. As the COVID-19 pandemic and other global challenges like climate change continue to take their toll on our collective well-being, World Mental Health Day marks an opportunity for us to re-mobilize our efforts to reduce the stigma and talk openly about our mental health.

The 2022 theme is to make mental health and well-being for all a global priority. This week, I will be at the Global Mental Health Summit in Italy, where I will have the opportunity to discuss the future of mental health care with internationally recognised mental health leaders and highlight Canada's wise and promising practices in evidence-based, culturally safe and trauma-informed community-based and on-line approaches to support mental health.

Supporting positive mental health and wellbeing is a priority for our government, and as Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, I am working on ensuring that mental health care is treated as a full and equal part of our universal health care system. Work is already underway to develop national standards for mental health and substance use services, and to provide tools for promoting high quality and equitable care across Canada.

At the start of the pandemic, we launched the Wellness Together Canada Portal (WTC), an online platform that gives access to a virtual network of mental health and substance use supports. As of this year, anyone in Canada can also download the WTC companion app, PocketWell, for free 24/7 educational content, self-guided and moderated peer-to-peer support, and one-to-one counselling with qualified health professionals.

Last month, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that it will adopt 9-8-8 as the number to call or text for Canadians who are in need of immediate mental health crisis and suicide prevention intervention. As we work collectively to implement this number by the end of next year, our government is bolstering support to distress Centres everywhere. People across Canada in need of crisis support can still access Talk Suicide Canada 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 1-833-456-4566.

We are also investing in new and innovative ways to improve mental health. Recently, we committed $100 million towards projects that promote mental health and prevent mental illness in populations disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. These projects include diverse interventions, training and capacity building for service providers to help them learn effective approaches to mental health promotion and mental illness prevention.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges to our ability to meet the mental health needs of populations worldwide - it has also acted as a catalyst for change, innovation and the honest conversations that help to reduce stigma and remove barriers to care.

Last week, we marked Mental Illness Awareness Week, a national public awareness campaign that aims to break down the barriers that contribute to the stigma around mental illness, mental health, and substance use. Each day throughout the week, we elevated different themes - from suicide prevention and mental health literacy to youth mental health and stigma. As we look to the future, let's continue talking openly about mental health and mental illness and spreading the message that 'it's ok to not feel ok'.

Together with our domestic and international partners, we can build on the growing momentum driving global action on mental health and support the recognition within the international community that there can be no health without mental health.

The Honourable Carolyn Bennett, P.C., M.P.

Contacts

Maja Staka
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Carolyn Bennett
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health
343-552-5568

Media Relations
Health Canada
613-957-2983
media@hc-sc.gc.ca