Concerns over Canada’s mental healthcare system for Indigenous people living in Canada sparked a two-year investigation conducted by the Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB), TVO and the Toronto Star. Mind Games examines alleged failings of mental health services provided to Indigenous and Inuit communities, including red tape, long wait times, and cultural insensitivity
Through personal stories and expert interviews the IJB, TVO and Toronto Star journalists reveal gaps in Canada’s Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Program for Indigenous and Inuit people. The journalists interviewed over 60 current and former clients, therapists, physicians, and Indigenous mental health advocates, many of whom described a “broken” system that, they claimed, sometimes does more harm than good. The investigation uncovered how barriers in the system impact those dealing with trauma and colonial history.
The investigation revealed that fewer than a third of NIHB-approved mental health providers had experience working with First Nations and Inuit communities. Some providers were found to have troubling histories, including allegations of cultural insensitivity and sexual misconduct.
The IJB, TVO and the Toronto Star reached out to Canadian federal officials overseeing the NIHB program. They denied that the system suffers from serious flaws.
Watch the full Mind Games mini-documentary here:
Explore more Indigenous voices from Mind Games
Read more from this series:
A murder conviction. Sex with an ex-client. Defending residential schools. Critics are alarmed at background of therapists approved for Indigenous mental health program
A program meant to fund care for Indigenous patients is instead failing them by endorsing therapists with spotted histories, critics charge.
Canada’s Indigenous mental health program is meant to be a lifeline. Instead, it’s so mired in red tape it seems ‘set up to deter people from accessing’ care
The federal government says it is working to make care more accessible and aims to reimburse patients on time, while also offering a crisis helpline.
‘Deeply troubling’: Ontario chiefs call for reforms to federal health program after Star/IJB investigation
The Chiefs of Ontario is demanding the federal government immediately review the professional backgrounds of therapists approved to treat First Nations and Inuit patients and remove those with questionable histories.
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