Mental-health funding for students gets a boost
Provincial support will rise to $15M from $9M a year for on-campus resources
The government of Ontario has announced a “substantial” $6-million increase to annual funding for college and university mental-health services.
Provincial support of on-campus mental-health care resources will rise to $15 million from $9 million a year, said Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development Deb Matthews on Wednesday. “We know that many students don’t complete (post-secondary) because of mental health concerns, so this is also part of our determination to support students through to graduation,” Matthews told the Star.
Matthews said she has heard the call for enhanced on-campus mental-health care from students, faculty and administrators alike, “in every single meeting I’ve had with (them).”
Mental health professionals in Ontario say that the number of students seeking help, and the severity of issues they need help with, are growing.
The majority of mental-health is- sues surface during a person’s teens and early 20s. But, because of age restrictions on many mental-health care programs, young people are often forced to leave services they have accessed for years, right around the time they start post-secondary education.
“It’s evident that universities are overwhelmed. There’s a huge increase in students wanting and needing to access mental-health services,” Fred Wagner of the Canadian Mental Health Association told the Star in February.
Many students, meanwhile, have complained of wait times, poorly advertised services and unsatisfactory relationships with care providers when seeking mental-health care on campus.
Matthews said the money for campus mental health will be split among Ontario’s 45 colleges and universities, though the method of deciding how those funds are allocated has yet to be determined.