What to know
- The federal government has committed more than $6 million to projects supporting Black Canadians’ mental health, substance use treatment and access to culturally appropriate care.
- The funding includes initiatives to expand harm reduction services, provide mental health crisis support and reduce reliance on police-led responses.
- Advocate Christopher Evelyn says community organizations need predictable, long-term funding rather than one- or two-year funding cycles.
- The Canadian Labour Congress says sustained federal investment is essential to addressing systemic inequities and improving access to culturally appropriate services.
- Advocates are looking to the federal budget, scheduled for Nov. 5, for a commitment to five years of funding for Canada’s Black Justice Strategy.
The federal government has committed $6 million to improving the health of Black Canadians, and advocates say that while it’s a welcome investment, Black communities need more.
This week, the Canadian government committed over $6 million in funding for projects that address substance use and addiction, support mental health, and improve access to care for Black communities as part of Canada’s Black Justice Strategy.
The Black Justice Strategy is a federal initiative aimed at addressing systemic anti-Black racism and discrimination in the criminal justice system. Released in 2025 and developed following consultations with Black communities, the 10-year strategy includes recommendations to address the overrepresentation of Black people in the justice system, improve policing and accountability, and strengthen support for people navigating courts, corrections and reintegration.
The strategy also recognizes that the factors contributing to these disparities extend beyond the justice system, including barriers to housing, employment, education and health care. Officials say the latest funding commitment will go towards supporting community organizations in providing culturally appropriate support, such as mental health programs for young Black people and families, alternatives to police intervention for those experiencing a mental health crisis, and substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
As part of the Substance Use and Addictions Program, funding will go to nine organizations in regions including Toronto, Winnipeg, Windsor-Essex, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories working to expand prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery supports. This includes organizations like the Black Health Education Collaborative, Canadian Women of Colour Leadership Network, and the East African Community Resource Centre.
National initiatives will help people navigate and access culturally responsive services; meanwhile, other programming will utilize peer mentorship, community education and creative approaches such as hip-hop therapy to reduce substance-related harms among Black youth and young adults.
The funding will also go toward four projects under the Supporting Community Mental Health Crisis Response Initiative, focused on improving culturally safe mental health crisis care and reducing reliance on police-led responses. Under this initiative, the University of Toronto will work with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to develop tools and training to help mental health professionals and community organizations provide culturally sensitive, anti-racist support to Black people experiencing crises.
Some municipalities have also made commitments with the funding. The City of Toronto committed to strengthening its non-police-led Toronto Community Crisis Service through specialized training developed with Black communities, while the City of Ottawa has promised to expand its Alternate Neighbourhood Crisis Response program into additional priority neighbourhoods, including four of the city’s five neighbourhoods with the largest Black populations.
Advocates call the $6 million a welcome investment, but say more is still needed
Advocate and former Liberal Party staffer Christopher Evelyn tells Now Toronto that the $6-million commitment is a welcome investment. Still, he hopes the federal government will provide more funding to support the Black Justice Strategy over the long term.
“Every cent counts, especially to some of the community organizations who are on the ground doing the work,” Evelyn says, adding that additional funding could let smaller organizations hire more staff and reach more people. However, he says he would like to see a larger investment that extends beyond the current one- or two-year funding cycles.
Evelyn has been working with Black community organizations advocating for greater federal investment in the strategy, including through the Black Opportunity Fund, the Foundation for Black Communities, Tropicana Community Services and the African Nova Scotian Justice Institute. Earlier this month, the groups called for the federal government to invest $500 million over five years ($100 million per year) into Canada’s Black Justice Strategy.
“One or two-year funding cycles don’t work,” he says. “If an organization gets one-year funding, by the time they hire staff, train them up, do an intake, they already have to start winding down their programming.”
Evelyn says the latest announcement is also significant because it recognizes that improving public safety requires more than investing in policing. He points to the importance of addressing mental health and addictions while supporting community organizations working to prevent crime and help people reintegrate into society.
“We know that programs like diversion programs and reintegration programs work, especially for Black folk,” he says, arguing that investing in community-based services can help address the root causes of crime while costing less than incarceration.
Meanwhile, Marc-Édouard Joubert, executive vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, called the funding commitment a “positive step” toward addressing barriers faced by Black communities working in and seeking mental health, substance use, and addiction supports and services.
However, while it is welcomed, Joubert explained the investment represents only partial funding needed within the Black Justice Strategy’s 10-year framework, explaining that sustained federal investment will be essential to ensuring Black communities can access the services and supports they need over the long term.
“Achieving the intended outcomes of the Black Justice Strategy in its entirety requires adequate, sustained investment to address longstanding systemic inequities and injustices, support the mental health and well-being of Black communities, create equitable employment opportunities for Black workers, and ensure Black communities have access to culturally appropriate, accessible, and predictable and reliable services,” he told Now Toronto.
For Evelyn, the upcoming federal budget represents an opportunity for the government to turn its commitments into lasting support for the organizations working on the ground. He hopes the budget, set to be tabled on Nov. 5, will include a five-year investment in the strategy, arguing that short-term funding cycles leave organizations with little time to deliver programs.
“We are eagerly looking towards the budget in November as when we’ll be able to see if the federal government listens to the calls of Black Canadians for an investment into the strategy,” Evelyn says.
