CMHA analysis reveals 2023 bilateral investments in mental health care are half of what the federal government claims 

Oct 21, 2024

Toronto, ON (October 21, 2024) — Last year the federal government committed $25 billion in new health funding for provinces and territories through bilaterally negotiated agreements. The government says that, on average, 30 percent of bilateral dollars are going to mental health, addictions, and substance use health care.  

New research from the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), however, reveals different figures showing that most provinces and territories are spending just a small fraction of this new investment funding on mental health services.   

In Overpromised, Underdelivered: Analysis of Federal Mental Health Care Investments in the 2023 Working Together Health Bilateral Agreements, the average percentage of new federal money going to mental health care is shown to be only 15 percent, or half of what the federal government has publicly stated. Yukon is a major outlier in this analysis, spending approximately 66 percent of new investment on mental health services, while Manitoba, PEI, and BC are not using any new bilateral dollars for these services.  

The bilateral deals also suffer from a lack of consistent, nationally comparable data to measure health outcomes and impacts of investments in health. The report concludes that, despite targeted reforms in healthcare service delivery, the use of bilateral agreements as an effective policy tool for meeting the mental healthcare needs of people across Canada is questionable.  

“While the findings in the report are disappointing, there is opportunity to address gaps in mental health care across Canada,” notes Margaret Eaton, CEO of CMHA National. “The best and most impactful step the federal government could take to ensure that mental health, addiction and substance use health services are available to everyone who needs them would be to amend the Canada Health Act to explicitly include community-delivered mental health services.” 

Read the report and recommendations.  

For media inquiries  

Emma Higgins  
National Manager, Communications  
Canadian Mental Health Association  
289-943-7710
[email protected]