Mental Health and Addictions

Engagement Summary

In 2017, the British Columbia government created the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions to find a way to better support people living with mental health and addictions issues. The Ministry and its partners are committed to working collaboratively to improve our mental health and addictions system of care. It’s important to the Ministry to provide a way to capture public feedback and give people in B.C. the opportunity to help shape our mental health and addictions strategy.
 
Between March 28 to August 21, 2018 Minister Judy Darcy hosted face-to-face roundtable dialogues with direct services providers, people with lived experience, people living and working in rural communities, Indigenous people, people who use drugs, representatives from LGBTQ2S+ communities, and people from diverse cultural backgrounds to listen and learn about the strengths and challenges in the mental health and addictions system and their priorities for action. Read the individual What We Heard Reports from the roundtable sessions at the bottom of this page.
 
In addition, children and youth focus groups were conducted across the province between May 14 and June 1, 2018. Stakeholder groups included: Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth, LGBTQ2S+ youth, service providers working with young people with developmental disabilities, mental health and/or substance use issues and families of young people with developmental disabilities, mental and/or substance use issues.
 
Although we embedded engagement with Indigenous partners throughout the process, we also supported targeted consultations with First Nations, Métis, and urban and away from home Indigenous groups.
 
We also invited feedback from all British Columbians through an online feedback survey, as well as email and mail.
 

Engagement Timeframe

March 28, 2018 to August 21, 2018
 

Input Received

• 5,480 visits to the engagement site
• 215 people attended 10 roundtable face-to-face sessions
• 700 online feedback forms
• 24 handwritten feedback forms
• 28 emails from individuals and organizations

Input leads to action:

Input generated through face-to-face meetings and broad public feedback helped inform a new vision for mental health and addiction care called: A Pathway to Hope: A roadmap for making mental health and addictions care better for people in British Columbia.
 
Read the individual What We Heard Reports from the roundtable sessions:
 

• March 28: Recovery Community, New Westminster, 21 participants | Read the summary report | Read the full report
• April 03: Families, Victoria, 21 participants | Read the summary report | Read the full report
• May 14: Direct Service Providers, Victoria, 20 participants| Read the summary report | Read the full report
• May 22: Rural & Remote, Terrace, 28 participants | Read the summary report| Read the full report
• June 01: LGBTQ2S+ Communities, Vancouver, 25 participants | Read the summary report | Read the full report
• June 04: People with Lived Experience, Abbotsford, 30 participants | Read the summary report | Read the full report
• June 07: Youth, North Vancouver, 19 participants | Read the summary report | Read the full report
• July 17: South Asian Canadians, Surrey, 16 participants | Read the summary report | Read the full report
• July 19: Chinese Canadians, Richmond, 17 participants | Read the summary report | Read the full report
• September 19: Refugees, Newcomers, and Immigrants, Vancouver, 18 participants | Read the full report