QUESTION PERIOD — Health
Mental Health
May 5, 2026
Senator Moreau, on April 24, the Minister of Health announced $8.6 million over two years to support 24 projects aimed at addressing anti-Black racism within the justice system. At the same time, we know that individuals living with mental illness remain overrepresented in that system.
Of this funding, how many of these projects specifically include mental health supports, particularly for young Black men?
Thank you for the question, Senator Ince.
The funding you are referring to was not directly intended for mental health support. I do not have time to list all the programs the funding did include, but I can give you some of them: the YMCA of Northern Alberta’s YMCA YOU-Turn: Youth Reintegration Pathways program; the BIPOC Youth Crime Prevention Project with the Calgary John Howard Society; the For Youth Initiative’s R.I.S.E: Re-Integrating the Socially Excluded 2.0 project; the Circle of Change Restorative Justice program under Friends in Toronto Community Services; the Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education; the Association of Black Social Workers’ Project VOICE (Victim Outreach, Intervention, Counselling, and Education); and the Black Creek Community Health Centre.
Thank you for that, senator.
There appears to be a significant concentration of these projects in Ontario. How is the government ensuring that Black communities outside of Ontario, especially in rural, remote and northern regions, are adequately supported, given the distinct challenges and the discrimination faced in areas with lower racial diversity?
That’s a highly justified question.
While nearly half of the total Black population in Canada lives in Ontario and 97.8% of the total Black population in Canada live in urban areas, as you raised, senator, it is important to ensure all Black communities receive the support they need. That is why the government is funding programs across the country, including in Western Canada, Central Canada and Atlantic Canada, as I mentioned.
