NationTalk: The Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC) provides this report to inform the province of Ontario about the gaps in mental health and addiction supports for Friendship Centres and the barriers to access healthcare that impact urban Indigenous communities across the province.

Friendship Centres are improving health outcomes by offering critical community-based, culturally grounded health and social programs, strengthening community connection to Indigenous traditional health and healing, and supporting local partnerships and networks. The OFIFC builds upon this foundational work and advocates for improved access to, and determination over, health, mental health, and traditional health practices for urban Indigenous communities.

OFIFC’s Report on the Mental Health and Addictions Environmental Scan 2022

Based on the results, the OFIFC findings show that:

• Majority of Friendship Centres cited that widespread substance use and addictions including opioids (fentanyl), alcohol, and methamphetamines are a concern (72%)
• Majority of Friendship Centres expressed a need for affordable housing (55%) due to increasing homelessness
• Friendship Centres experienced extensive waitlists for mental health and addictions referrals, programs, and services (24%) due to COVID-19
• Friendship Centres cited food security as a concern for urban Indigenouscommunities (28%) due to increases in the costs of living; and
• Most Friendship Centres stated that position vacancies within Friendship Centres negatively impacted service delivery for urban Indigenous communities

Priority Areas Identified by Friendship Centres:

• The OFIFC achieved a participation rate of 96% (28 of 29 total Friendship Centres).
• In 2021, telephone conversations were scheduled with Friendship Centre Executive Directors and frontline mental health and addictions staff. The staff were asked a series of questions about current MHA programs and services that are being offered, what specific challenges communities are experiencing and to identify specific community needs; and
• The Friendship Centres that the OFIFC did not reach:
  • Ininew Friendship Centre (Cochrane)

Recommendations:

It is recommended that the province of Ontario:

• Ensure that adequate investments into the Indigenous health workforce are on par with the mainstream healthcare sector.
• Support improved access to, and determination over, health, mental health, and traditional health practices for urban Indigenous communities.
• Establish equitable healthcare frameworks that tackle systemic and engrained anti-Indigenous racism within healthcare to ensure that vital healthcare services are not viewed as unsafe options to Indigenous communities.
• Prioritize mental health and addictions programming for underserved segments of Indigenous communities including older youth (ages 18-29) and Indigenous men.
• Work with Friendship Centres and urban Indigenous communities to adapt the current intake processes for accessing treatment while at the same time supporting the development of an Indigenous-led mental health assessment tool.
• Prioritize the support and development of mental health and addictions staff that are going through the certification process.
• Support a multi-sectoral mental health strategy recognizing that the rising costs of housing, food, and transportation and the rising rates of homelessness and intimate partner violence contribute directly to the mental health and addictions crisis that is happening in Indigenous communities.
• Address the heightened risk of human trafficking in communities due to increasing homelessness, mental health and addictions issues, and the overall lack of access to healthcare; and
• Address the serious gaps in accessing mental health and addictions supports for individuals involved in the justice system including increased connections to Indigenous community justice programs, healing plans, and meaningful community reintegration supports