Ontario government is investing over $12.8 million to immediately expand and enhance culturally appropriate mental health and addictions services for Indigenous peoples, families and communities across the province (part of the $176 million being invested in the government’s mental health and addictions plan, Roadmap to Wellness). The government is making investments to expand and enhance community-based mental health supports and services in collaboration with Indigenous partners and through targeted programs focused on Indigenous children and youth, including:

• $6.875 million to increase the capacity of community-based and Indigenous-led supports, including the Family Well-Being Program, which provides needs-based services for young Indigenous people in the youth justice system who have complex mental health and substance use needs. The funding will also be used to recruit two community-based mental health and addiction liaisons to help Indigenous-led organizations better address the complex needs of Indigenous survivors of human trafficking;
• $1.4 million in enhanced community mental health and addictions services and programs in Indigenous-governed primary care teams;
• $1.412 million to help address gaps and barriers that Indigenous students and their families experience in the school system and support educational retention and success by:
  • increasing funding to Indigenous Graduation Coaches to increase outreach and support during the summer months;
  • funding the development of culturally appropriate cannabis training and resources for Indigenous students;
  • funding the development of a new strength-based initiative to support young Indigenous women and girls who have lived experience of violence, and/or who have witnessed violence in their families and communities; and
  • funding the implementation of the model for Trauma-Informed Schools as a system-wide model.
• $1.375 million annually over ten years to support the creation and implementation of 11 new Social Emergency Manager positions in Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) and Grand Council Treaty #3 (GCT#3) First Nation communities, which will build capacity around social emergency prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery efforts;
• $1 million to expand the child and adolescent psychiatry program based in Thunder Bay, with satellite service locations across Northwestern Ontario; and
• $900,000 to support additional Indigenous focused mental health and addictions services and programs related to community safety and education