CMHA Ontario launches resource to support municipal candidateson mental health, addictions issues this election

(Across Ontario, Sept. 14, 2026) – Six weeks out from municipal election day, a new educational resource is now available for candidates, offering practical information to help them better understand the mental health, addictions and homelessness challenges facing their communities, while supporting their own mental health along the way.

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Ontario is launching the CMHA Briefing Room, available at cmhabriefingroom.ca. The resource includes wellness tips to help candidates navigate the demands of a campaign, along with practical information about mental health, addictions and homelessness, and how community-based supports like CMHAs can help address these challenges.

“Municipalities are dealing with the impacts of mental health and addiction every day, whether through homelessness and encampments, community safety concerns, supportive housing or pressure on local services,” said Camille Quenneville, CEO of CMHA Ontario. “With municipal elections approaching, the CMHA Briefing Room gives candidates access to credible, evidence-informed information as they develop their priorities and connect with residents across their communities.”

Mental health and addiction are health care issues, but municipalities have been pressed to play a key role in their communities. Across Ontario, municipal leaders are doing their best to respond to these challenges, often working with limited resources and within complex systems.

The Briefing Room is intended to be a practical resource for candidates, municipal leaders, media and the public. It provides accessible information about:

• Mental health and addictions: What communities are experiencing and what the evidence tells us about effective responses
• Homelessness and housing: The relationship between housing, homelessness, mental health and addictions
• Community safety: How mental health and addictions intersect with community safety and what approaches are supported by evidence
• Solutions and policy: The role of community mental health and evidence-informed approaches on key policy issues

The resource will help municipal candidates understand how they can take action and where broader provincial and federal support is needed, recognizing that municipalities can’t address these challenges alone. Municipalities, the province and the federal government – along with the mental health and addictions sector – bear responsibility, and effective responses require co-ordination, sustained investment and strong community-based services.

Visit cmhabriefingroom.ca to learn more.

Fast facts:

• According to the Association of Municipalities in Ontario, 85,000 people were estimated to be experiencing homelessness in Ontario in 2025.

• Municipalities contributed approximately 67 per cent of housing funding and nearly one quarter of homelessness funding last year, while total spending on homelessness programs across governments reached $2.3 billion.

• Municipal elections across Ontario will be held Monday, Oct. 26.

About Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario

Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Ontario is a not-for-profit, charitable organization funded by the provincial government. We work to improve the lives of all Ontarians through leadership, collaboration and continual pursuit of excellence in community-based mental health and addictions services. Our vision is a society that embraces and invests in the mental health of all people. We are a trusted advisor to government, contributing to health systems development through policy formulation and recommendations that promote positive mental health.

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For more information, contact:

Justin Dickie
CMHA Ontario
jdickie.ic@ontario.cmha.ca