Indigenous Services Canada says federal programs funded more than 282,000 hours of mental health counselling for indigenous people in a single year, with the department linking demand for services to what it calls “colonial sources of trauma.”A May 27 Access To Information note said the department’s Mental Wellness Program provides counselling and other supports to survivors, intergenerational survivors, family members and others.“The Mental Wellness Program provides access to mental health counseling (such as psychologists and social workers), emotional (such as community-based health workers and peer counseling), and cultural (such as elders and traditional healers) support services for survivors, intergenerational survivors, family members and others impacted by colonial sources of trauma,” said the note.Blacklock's Reporter says the program has an annual budget of $199 million.In 2024, community-based cultural and emotional supports were accessed more than 900,000 times while Ottawa funded 282,065 hours of mental health counselling, according to the note Meeting With The Archbishop Of Regina.The department also pays for three toll-free crisis lines.“The department funds three crisis lines: the Hope for Wellness Helpline, the Missing and Murdered indigenous Women and Girls Crisis Line and the National Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line,” said the note.“Together these crisis lines responded to more than 116,367 calls and online chats in 2025.”A 2024 Audit Of The Mental Wellness Program said the initiative was originally budgeted at $597.6 million over three years. Cabinet on March 27 expanded funding to $630 million over two years.Auditors said numerous factors affect mental wellness among indigenous people, including the legacy of residential schools and colonization.“For indigenous people especially, historical determinants such as the traumatic legacy of colonization, Residential Schools, confirmation of unmarked graves and the ongoing crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ people have shaped the mental health of indigenous peoples,” auditors wrote..Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty told the House of Commons on June 3 that mental health services may also be provided to people evacuated because of wildfires.Programs cover “eligible costs related to wildfire response and recovery,” Gull-Masty said.“This includes evaluation support and culturally sensitive services offered with wraparounds on site, taking into consideration mental health.” The department has also linked climate change to mental health concerns, including what it described as “ecological grief” among First Nations.A 2025 follow-up Evaluation of the Mental Wellness Program said climate change has affected activities and resources the department considers important to well-being.“Climate change has disrupted many of the determinants of well-being for indigenous people including engaging in land and culture-based activities, access to traditional medicine, sharing knowledge across generations and food security,” said the report.The evaluation said climate change was “disrupting important and distinct pathways for good health and well-being among First Nations and Inuit in complex ways.”It cited a reduced ability to “hunt, fish, trap, forage and spend time on the land” as one potential impact on mental health.The report also pointed to damage caused by extreme weather and wildfires, saying such events “can create perpetual experiences of stress and ecological grief.”
