Canada launches call for proposals in support of Black mental health

Ottawa – Black communities in Canada continue to face significant barriers to accessing mental health services and supports, including the cost of care, a history of negative experiences related to bias, and overall lack of culturally representative and responsive mental health professionals.

Ya’ara Saks, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, is launching an open call for proposals to allocate $1M under the Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund. Community-based organizations can apply for up to $100,000 to support projects that seek to build organizations’ capacity to develop and deliver programs that promote the mental health of Black people in Canada. The deadline to submit a proposal is November 15, 2024.

To be eligible to receive funding, projects must be Black-led, benefit and be delivered to Black communities in Canada. The following activities are eligible for funding:

• Building and strengthening community-based engagement, networks, collaborations and partnerships;
• Gathering and analyzing data and information from diverse sources;
• Consolidating knowledge of what works through knowledge synthesis, mobilization of evidence and/or community resources and assets, and analysis of relevant data;
• Assessing past and present mental health promotion programs for lessons learned and promising practices; and
• Developing the design and/or methodology for novel, culturally focused mental health programs.

This open call for proposals is part of the $4M committed in Budget 2024 for the Promoting Health Equity: Mental Health of Black of Canadians Fund. This funding is designed to support community-based, culturally focused projects that aim to increase health equity and address the underlying determinants of mental health, including anti-Black racism.