Question Period Note: Mental Health Challenges in the Agriculture Sector

What is being done to help address the mental health challenges faced by farmers, ranchers and producers?

FIRST RESPONSE:

1. The uncertainties caused by the COVID pandemic have led to increased stress for Canadians across the country - and the hard working people in the agriculture and food processing sectors are no exception.
2. The Government will continue to work with provincial and territorial partners to ensure all Canadians have access to the mental health support needed.
3. Public Health Agency of Canada has developed a website specifically for the COVID pandemic that provides solutions to manage mental health and contact information for distress lines.
4. On May 3, 2020, the Government announced an investment of $240.5 million to develop, expand, and launch virtual care and mental health tools to support Canadians.
5. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada supports action through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Provinces and territories can use federal cost-shared funding to address regional-specific pressures that can pose mental health challenges.
6. Farm Credit Canada is actively working to raise awareness of mental health warning signs and available resources through its Rooted in Strength initiative.

RESPONSIVE REGARDING THE STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT, “MENTAL HEALTH: A PRIORITY FOR OUR FARMERS”:

1. The Government has reviewed the Standing Committee report and is taking the recommendations under consideration.
   RESPONSIVE REGARDING THE FARM MANAGEMENT CANADA REPORT, “HEALTHY MINDS, HEALTHY FARMS: EXPLORING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN MENTAL HEALTH AND FARM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT”:

2. The Government welcomes the Farm Management Canada report, which offers useful insights and advances knowledge in this important issue, particularly around the benefits of business planning to mental health.

In the agriculture sector, producers face challenges and uncertainties related to financial pressure, animal disease, weather, commodity prices, trade, and labour, which can result in unique mental health needs. According to research from the University of Guelph, farmers are more vulnerable than other groups in the population when it comes to mental health challenges, with higher rates of stress, anxiety, depression, emotional exhaustion and burnout.

The recent COVID-19 crisis has increased uncertainties for farmers and food processing operations in areas such as labour availability, financial stability and supply chain reliability, ensuring self-isolation protocols are followed for temporary foreign workers entering the country, and proper sanitation and physical distancing measures are implemented on farms and in food processing facilities to reduce the spread of the virus – all of which can contribute to increased levels of stress.

Health is a provincial jurisdiction and provinces are well-placed and active in addressing the regional-specific pressures that can pose mental health challenges. All provinces and territories have resources in place such as help lines to assist in coping with mental health challenges, and some have established services specific to the agriculture sector. Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Agriculture identified mental health challenges in the sector as a priority at their December 2019 meeting.

National resources are also available to Canadian farmers, ranchers and producers.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has developed a “Taking care of your mental health (COVID-19)” website that identifies stressors, suggests solutions to manage mental health and provides contact information for distress lines.

The federal government’s May 3, 2020 announcement of an investment of $240.5 million in virtual care and mental health tools for Canadians will be used to create digital platforms and applications, improve access to virtual mental health supports, and expand capacity to deliver health care virtually, including projects to reach vulnerable Canadians. This investment will support the previously launched “Taking care of your mental health (COVID-19)” website and will also support a growing family of digital products that includes the Canada COVID-19 app, which helps people track their symptoms, receive the latest updates, and access trusted resources.

The federal government is committed to working with the provinces, as well as industry partners, to support the mental health of farmers, ranchers, and producers. Budget 2017 confirmed $5 billion over 10 years directly to provinces and territories to improve mental health and addiction services. Additionally, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) can provide federal funding under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) that supports provincial efforts to address mental health challenges in the sector.

On May 19, 2020, the Farm Management Centre (FMC) released its final report “Healthy Minds, Healthy Farms: Exploring the Connection between Mental Health and Farm Business Management”, which was funded in part by AAFC. The report outlined four major recommendations (with a total of 24 actions):

1. Continue raising awareness around the importance of farmer mental health;
2. Support the improvement of mental health literacy for farmers and those supporting farmers;;
3. Deliver business management advice, tools and training that focuses on risk management and preparedness as a means of facing uncertainty;
4. Advocate for farmer-specific mental health support services.

FMC’s report advances knowledge in the area of mental health of farmers, in particular the positive correlation between business planning and reducing the impact of stress on farmers. The report also provides several unique strategic action items that build on the recommendations of the AGRI report and support FMC’s conclusion surrounding the benefits of business planning to mental health.

On-going research at the University of Guelph suggests that resources and supports for the general public are less successful in the agricultural realm. A mental health literacy training program, custom-tailored to Canadian agriculture, has been developed by a professor at the University of Guelph to address the gap in mental health literacy in the agricultural community.

The national, non-profit Do More Agriculture Foundation launched in January 2018 with funding from organizations such as the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and Bayer. The organization focuses on educating the agriculture industry on mental health, breaking the stigma that currently exists, creating a community of belonging, and provides resources and research.

Farm Credit Canada (FCC) has done some work in the area of mental health. Activities include:
• A mental health awareness campaign, “Rooted in Strength”, which included a brochure mail out to 200,000 rural households in November 2018 and a series of videos on their website that identify strategies to identify and manage stress and mental health challenges;
• A co-partnership to sponsor 4-H Healthy Living Program for two years to increase awareness of mental health;
• A renewed partnership with the Do More Agriculture Foundation to deliver a series of mental health first aid workshops in rural communities across Canada, and create a network of mental health first aiders who can identify and support producers coping with difficult or unfortunate circumstances;
• Supporting farmers in difficult times through the FCC ag crisis fund, which can provide support to farm families through disasters like floods, tornadoes, house fires, death of a family members, farm accidents, or critical illnesses; and
• Providing mental health first aid for all management who deal directly with producers.

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