Goal is to deliver faster, more efficient assistance when crises occur:

• Developing a robust safety strategy for First Nations students attending school in Thunder Bay.
• Sending 20 mental health counsellors to Pikangikum First Nation to help the community meet its immediate health crisis at a cost of approximately $1.6M.
• Sending four additional mental health counsellors for Wapekeka First Nation of $200,000
• Providing more than $200,000 in funding to Wapekeka and Nibinamik for emergency supplies and youth supports.
• Provided additional crisis funding of $1.2 million for a total of $5 million to support crisis in the north through the Aboriginal Healing and Wellness strategy. A total of $25.7 million is invested by MCSS annually to support mental health and other wellness services in northern communities.
• Provided more than $480,000 in funding to increase the capacity of Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services Unit to improve its ability to provide high quality and timely access to mental health supports for northern First Nations youth.

Will work closely with Indigenous partners, including Nishnawbe Aski Nation, and the federal government to ensure efficient and effective coordination of efforts and resources to address this crisis. We will also establish an Indigenous Youth and Community Wellness Secretariat.