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As discussed in the introduction, we have outlined the various barriers to mental health services faced by certain communities in Canada. At the federal level, it is crucial to examine which population groups the government targets and develops policies for. This section will analyze the negative effects of COVID-19 on the mental health crisis across the country.
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In recent years, the federal government has developed mental health services and benefits for different groups within the population.
The Kirby report shows the current state of Canadians’ mental health and urges for action toward mental health issues across the country. This report allowed the Standing Senate Committee to realize the reality of the true state of mental health, mental illnesses, and addiction through the submissions of the two thousand cases of mental health crisis.
The report confirmed the recent statement that the mental health crisis is real as around 75% of children don’t have access to the treatment service in Canada. As over 4,000 Canadians commit suicide every year leading to tremendous life costs where people with mental health problems are more likely to develop substance addiction, longer medical conditions, and subsequently lose lives. This is useful when analyzing how crucial the introduction of policies on a federal level is across the country.
Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the urgent need to improve access to mental health services across Canada by looking at the way the parliament addressed the mental health crises that were severely affected by the global pandemic.
It is important to draw attention to how underprepared the Canadian government's response to mental health issues during the pandemic was.
When the global pandemic hit Canada, the country went into lockdown, which resulted in negative impacts on the mental health of both young and elderly Canadians.
The study conducted by scholars examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on family mental health in Canada.
The study showed that COVID-19 has specifically affected many parents who experienced increased pressures and erosions to social supports, with implications for their mental health.
The line graph above shows the increase in mental health issues during this time and we can see the parent stressors in the past 2 weeks increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a significantly higher proportion of parents reported deteriorated mental health (44.3%) compared with adults without children with 35.6% at home.
COVID-19 has posed a threat to mental health due to social isolation through physical distancing measures, school/child care closures, financial and employment insecurity, housing instability, and changes to health and social care access.
Unfortunately, these changes have affected systems that were put in place to support individuals with mental health issues.
The Kids Help Phone line documented a 48% increase in calls about anxiety, a 42% increase in calluses about social isolation, and a 28% increase in calls about social abuse.
55% believed that the federal government could have done more to support mental health during COVID-19, and 47% felt that British Columbia should have done more to support the mental health of Canadians. For those who were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, 71% of individuals felt that the provincial government should be doing more to support the mental health of Canadians.
Similarly, the postsecondary students were particularly vulnerable during the pandemic.