Our objective is to paint a more complete picture of mental health in Canada. This information will help answer important questions such as:
- How many Canadians experience positive mental health?
- How many suffer from common mental health conditions?
- What are the rates of suicide in Canada and how are these different for certain groups?
The answers to these questions are referred to as “indicators” because they indicate the mental health status of Canadians and how the system responds to mental illness.
This means that across Canada, health care professionals, planners and government workers will have better information to make informed decisions, and direct efforts to those areas where we need to make improvements, or there is a greater need.
The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) will report on 63 indicators that reflect mental health across the lifespan for children and youth, adults, and seniors, that look at mental health in different settings, and report on aspects of services and supports used by people with mental illness.
The Commission is pleased to present the results of 13 indicators at this time. The information has been gathered from a variety of sources (government services, research institutions, public health agencies). We hope these indicators will be used to focus attention on strategies designed to improve our nation’s mental health and to correct disparities in mental health experienced by distinct groups.
The completed and full report will be released in April 2015