Ontario Election 2007: Funding for addiction programs

Ontario Election 2007: Focus on addiction and mental health

The evidence is clear about the effectiveness of addiction treatments: substance abuse treatment significantly reduces alcohol and other drug dependency, reduces criminal activity and improves the health of clients. A wide range of economic studies has also demonstrated that there are positive net economic benefits of substance abuse treatment.(6)

Yet the evidence is also clear that Ontario's addiction services are poorly funded. Despite the addition of $7 million for addictions in the 2007 budget, funding has failed to keep pace with inflation, population increases and increased service demand. A recent survey of Canadian addiction agencies found Ontario addiction executives extremely concerned about their ability to retain staff and offer competitive salaries. (This concern was far greater in Ontario than in other provinces.)(7) Another survey of Ontario addiction agencies identified serious concern that inadequate provincial funding is placing significant strain on key infrastructure such as information technology, human resources management and physical plant. For example, the survey reports that only six per cent of addiction agencies consider their staffing in information technology to be adequate.(8) Ultimately, compromised infrastructure affects the ability of addiction agencies to provide the best treatment to those in need. For those of us who see the human effort required to seek out addiction treatment and ask for help, this is simply unacceptable.

An Ontario government committed to recovery will:

• formally recognize addiction treatment as a critical health care service in Ontario, one that must be funded adequately, and must be provincially linked to other key ministries such as Community and Social Services and Community Safety and Correctional Services
• develop province-wide standards that define acceptable waiting times for addiction services.

Footnotes:

6. Steven Belenko et al., “Economic Benefits of Drug Treatment: A Critical Review of the Evidence for Policy Makers.” February 2005.

7. Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, “Optimizing Canada’s Addiction Treatment Workforce: Results of a National Survey of Service Providers.” 2005.

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