VICTORIA, BC – (February 22, 2024): Mental health and substance use (MHSU) funding announced today in the Province of BC’s (‘the Province’) 2024 Budget will see $215M more allocated into MHSU care over the next three years.
After a historic investment of $1 billion into MHSU care in Budget 2023, CMHA BC is grateful to see new investments in important areas like Peer Assisted Care Teams (PACT), harm reduction, and treatment and recovery in Budget 2024.
Since the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions (MMHA) was created in 2017, total new allocations for MHSU equal $2.65 billion. As overall health spending rises, it is imperative to ensure mental health and addictions care doesn’t lag behind overall health spending. We will continue to closely monitor provincial MHSU expenditures.
In 2020, CMHA BC called for the Province to allocate at least $2 billion in new resources to the MHSU care system over 4 years. We are pleased to see a pattern of sustained investment by this Government, surpassing our recommended $2 billion target, but over 6 years.
CMHA BC is pleased the Province has transitioned program funding for Peer Assisted Care Teams (PACT) from one-time funding to support existing community-led crisis response services, to ongoing three-year funding built into Budget 2024. The Province is taking an important step to sustain the transformation of crisis care in these communities.
“With almost 4,000 calls received across North/West Vancouver, New Westminster, and Victoria in 2023, we are thrilled to see Government signal their confidence in the ongoing delivery of community-led crisis response services in these communities, as well as Comox Valley, Kamloops, and Prince George, which will launch in Late Spring 2024. Peer Assisted Care Teams are changing and saving lives, diverting the overwhelming majority of the calls they receive from emergency services and transforming how we respond to crisis in BC,” says Jonny Morris, Chief Executive Officer, CMHA BC.
Today the Province announced $39M for PACT and Mobile Integrated Crisis Response (MICR) teams. CMHA BC hopes to see greater sustainability funding for PACT in the coming years and further opportunities to expand this new community-led crisis response service across BC.
BC continues to lose community members to the toxic drug crisis at an alarming rate, with 2,511 suspected unregulated drug deaths in 2023 – the highest number of deaths recorded in any year in BC. We are pleased to see funding of $49M to sustain existing harm reduction initiatives; however, Budget 2024 was a missed opportunity to significantly increase the availability of prescribed alternatives to the toxic drug supply, as well as expanding overdose prevention sites across BC, especially in light of the potential impacts of the recently implemented Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act.
CMHA BC continues to support the Province’s push to fund high-quality and evidence-informed treatment and recovery services, including the hundreds of publicly funded beds administered through our organization. We are encouraged to see an investment of $117 million to sustain funding for 2,200 mental health and substance use treatment beds, which helps to protect valuable services in the community.
As with last year’s budget, CMHA BC is eager to see government invest further in the mental health care system in BC – particularly for prevention, early intervention, and treatment supports, like expanding access to free and low-cost counselling services and building greater access to effective and integrated supports for children and youth.
The extra funding for autism services and other supports for children and youth living with complex needs are important. However, yesterday’s release of the results of the 2023 McCreary Adolescent Health Survey show increases in young people experiencing distress and represents another urgent call to action. CMHA BC calls on the Province to increase spending on child and youth mental health in the Ministry of Children and Family Development beyond the $128.2 million allocated in 2024.
“We wanted Budget 2024 to have a stronger focus on improving access to effective community-based services and supports for people living with eating disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, concurrent disorders, and other complex conditions,” says Morris. “Budget 2024 was also an opportunity to improve the quality of care that patients and families receive in emergency rooms and hospitals. All of these continue to be priority areas of investment that are critically needed for people living in BC.”
The Province has taken some important steps to address the housing crisis, which strongly intersects with mental health and well-being. We are pleased to see significant capital investments in shelter space and supportive housing in Budget 2024. CMHA BC will keep advocating for enhanced funding for non-profit housing operators, including CMHA branches across BC, to be able to operate supportive, transitional and affordable housing safely and with adequate supports in place for people to thrive. We will also keep advocating for income and disability assistance rate increases indexed to inflation and aligned with the cost of living.
Finally, it is no surprise to see investments in responding to climate emergencies given a record wildfire season in 2023, including a boost to year-round delivery of response and recovery programs for evacuees. Given the mental health impacts of climate emergencies, CMHA BC hopes to see some of these investments go to mental health and psychosocial supports related to climate emergencies.
CMHA BC is committed to supporting better mental health and substance use outcomes for all people living in BC, working closely with the Province of BC and community partners.
Contact:
CMHA BC Media Contact
604.353.8159
media@cmha.bc.ca