Everyone living in Canada should have access to quality mental health support across the country. While many Canadians continue to face challenges, we have seen some improvements in the mental health and well-being of Canadians since the lows of the COVID-19 pandemic. While this is good news, we remain committed to ensuring Canadians have access to the mental health and wellness supports and services they need, when and where they need them.
In 2020, we launched Wellness Together Canada to fill an urgent and acute need for mental health supports during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the context of this extraordinary global public health crisis, the Government of Canada deployed Wellness Together Canada as a free, online platform to connect Canadians with credible resources and services to support their mental health and wellbeing.
Now that we have moved past the emergency phase of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada will be transitioning away from Wellness Together Canada beginning on April 3, 2024. After this time, Canadians will be able to access information on mental health resources, supports and services, including those available in their home province or territory, at Canada.ca/mental-health.
Each and every community across Canada has unique needs. We want to ensure Canadians receive the best possible care. Provinces and territories are best placed to support the needs of their communities by integrating these services into their whole system of care.
Health Canada has engaged provinces and territories about this transition and will continue to work alongside them to make mental health and substance use care a full and equal part of our universal health care system. The federal government has made significant investments in healthcare and mental health, including an historic investment of over $200 billion over 10 years to support the Working Together to Improve Health Care for Canadians plan. This plan provides $25 billion through tailored bilateral agreements which provide provincial and territorial governments the flexibility to address their health and mental health priorities. This builds on the ongoing $5 billion dedicated to mental health and substance use care bilateral agreements announced in 2017.
Also, in collaboration with health partners, the federal government launched the 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline to provide urgent suicide prevention support. This service is saving lives. 9-8-8 is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in both official languages.
Wellness Together Canada is informing users of the transition ahead of April 3, 2024, as well as providing information on how people who have used the service can access other informational resources and supports through Canada.ca/mental-health.
There is much more work to be done in supporting the mental health and well-being of people in Canada and we are committed to doing just that. To anyone struggling across the country, it is important to know that help will continue to be available, where and when you need it.
