SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction

Honourable senators, May 4 to 10, 2026, was Mental Health Week in Canada. I’m very honoured to celebrate the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction’s Small Cities Playbook for Action, which was released on May 26, 2026.

These are the first municipally led, integrated, evidence-based standards, featuring more than 50 practical strategies and policies for prevention and early intervention, harm reduction and outreach, treatment and recovery, community and cultural supports, housing and employment supports, and policing and public safety. These standards pave the way for a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. This is a first in Canada.

For over three decades, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, or CCSA, has been at the forefront of defining Canada’s approach to substance use through evidence, policy and national leadership. In April 2025, I had the opportunity to take part in the Municipal Leaders Table in Lethbridge, Alberta, where the municipal leaders advanced the next phase of CCSA’s Small Cities Initiative, which built on the summit in Timmins, Ontario, in 2024.

Colleagues, as you know, there can be no true physical health without mental health. I would like to highlight some of the other important initiatives that are being undertaken federally and provincially to move us toward a more healthy, productive and sustainable society, especially for children and youth. This focus on upstream, community-driven solutions aligns not only with the mental health, substance use and addiction round table report released by my office, but also with a recent evidence-based paper released by the University of Calgary and the Graham Boeckh Foundation, Building the Conditions for Child and Youth Thriving in Canada. This paper sets the stage for sustained policies and programs grounded in research that can inform sound and impactful legislation.

In this spirit, I would like to highlight the Government of Canada’s recent investment of $30.3 million in child and youth mental health through the Youth Mental Health Fund announced by the Minister of Health, the Honourable Marjorie Michel, in May 2026.

Colleagues, this statement is one of hope and action, for when we come together, share our stories and work collaboratively across sectors, we unleash the power and potential of solutions not yet imagined. Canadians and our children are depending on us.

Thank you. Meegwetch.