THUNDER BAY — A federal funding program that recently announced money for programming to help with mental health and addictions in the Thunder Bay area has seen 37 applications from across the entire region, health officials say.
Announced in 2024, the Emergency Treatment Fund sets aside $150 million over three years where municipalities and Indigenous communities can apply for federal aid for “rapid responses to emergent, critical needs related to the substance use and overdose crisis,” according to Health Canada’s website.
So far, as of March 10, in the Northwest, four applications had been approved:
- Nearly $240,000 to the City of Thunder Bay for its partnership with NorWest Community Health Centres to provide a range of supports for people in encampments;
- Nearly $142,000 to Beendigen Inc. for a community harm reduction mobile unit;
- Over $1.9 million to Marten Falls First Nation for a mobile response unit offering a wide variety of services;
- Over $210,000 to Sustainable Indigenous Solutions in Naotkamegwanning for a wheelchair-accessible vehicle so clients with mobility issues can access substance use resources.
The initial call for applications is closed.
Ya'ara Saks, the federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, was in Thunder Bay, along with the city’s two MPs, on Feb. 28, to publicly announce the funding for the City of Thunder Bay and Beendigen-backed proposals. They also highlighted money for the Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario, however that was from a different federal funding stream.
“Families upon families, Indigenous communities in the area, truly have been struggling,” Saks said at that announcement.
“We here in Thunder Bay know that more than many other places that I've been in, because Thunder Bay is really a place where so many come seeking help from other parts of northern Ontario.”
Saks didn’t immediately know the exact number of project proposals from Northwestern Ontario Ottawa received when asked about it at the news conference, but Canada-wide, she said that in four weeks, they received over 350 applications with over 70 per cent of them coming from Indigenous communities.
“There's no doubt in my mind that the demand for these services is high,” she said. “And this need for the support is real.”
A Health Canada spokesperson later confirmed to Newswatch that they received 37 proposals from across Northwestern Ontario.
When asked about the status of the others that haven’t been announced, or whether any have been rejected, the department said that “additional (Emergency Treatment Fund) projects will be announced in the near future, which may include projects in Northwestern Ontario.”
The statement also referred people to the Health Canada project site.
The site says that additional recipients will be selected over the 2025 to 2026 fiscal year “from the first call for proposals in October 2024.”
