Conservative Party

Mental Health & Health Care

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If elected, the Conservatives plan to: 

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• Propose a partnership with provinces and territories so that a portion of the Canada Health Transfer goes directly towards improving access to mental health services for an additional one million Canadians to receive mental health treatment every year  (Conservative Platform, CTV, Courier Press)
   

• Create a nationwide, three-digit suicide prevention hotline (Conservative Platform)
   

• Offer employers a tax credit of 25% of the cost of additional mental health coverage for the first three years after adding it to employee benefit plans (Conservative Platform)
   

• Create a pilot program to provide $150 million over three years in grants to nonprofits and charities that deliver mental health and wellness programs (Conservative Platform)
   

• Provide $1 billion over five years to boost funding for Indigenous mental health and drug treatment programs, including providing culturally appropriate supports (Courier Press, CTV)

 

They have also promised to:

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• Negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry to reduce drug prices (CTV)
   

• Meet with the premiers within the first 100 days of government to strike a new health-care agreement that would raise the Canada Health Transfer amount to at least six per cent, or nearly $60 billion over ten years (CTV)

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Intersections

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The state of our mental health is connected to what’s going on in the world around us. We can be hugely affected by things like our working conditions, our ability to make rent, intergenerational trauma, or the security of our planet. 

 

Here’s an idea of where the Conservatives stand on: 

 

>> Climate

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• Implement carbon border tariffs on China and other major polluters (CTV)
   

• Increasing the adoption of zero-emissions vehicles (CTV)
   

• Introducing a retail loyalty card-like 'carbon savings account' for Canadians who purchase fuel (CTV)
   

• Replace the Liberal carbon pricing system with one that includes a price on carbon for consumers that will rise to a maximum of $50 per tonne (CBC)
   

• Meet Canada's emissions-reduction target under the Paris Agreement of 30% below 2005 levels by 2030 (CTV, CBC)
   

• Invest in carbon capture and tax products imported from countries with low climate standards (CBC)

 

>> Housing

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• Build one million homes over the next 3 years (CTV)
   

• Implement the Northern Housing Strategy (CTV)
   

• Provide high-speed internet for all Canadians by 2025 (CTV)
   

• Convert 15% of federal government property into housing (CBC)
   

• Ban foreign investors not living in or moving to Canada from buying homes in Canada for a two-year period (CBC)
   

• “Encourage a new market” in seven-to-10-year mortgages and tweak the stress test and insurance requirements to help more Canadians qualify for financing (CBC)

 

>> Labour

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• Create the Canada Job Surge Plan which would pay up to 50% of the salary of new employees for six months following the phasing out of the emergency wage subsidy (CTV, CBC)
   

• Restore one million jobs lost due to the pandemic (CTV)
   

• Provide loans of up to $200,000 for small and medium businesses in the hospitality, retail and tourism sectors (CBC)
   

• Provide a 25% tax credit on amounts of up to $100,000 that Canadians personally invest in a small business over the next two years, to get money flowing into main street businesses and create jobs (Conservative Platform)
   

• Double the Canada Workers Benefit (CBC)

 

>> Indigenous Rights

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• Implementing Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations 71 through 76 (CTV, CBC)
   

• Fund the search for unmarked graves on the lands of former residential schools (CTV)
   

• Erect a monument in Ottawa to commemorate the children who died in residential schools (CTV)
   

• Recognize clean drinking water as a human right and put an end to water advisories in Indigenous communities (CTV) 
   

• Increase economic partnerships with First Nations communities (CBC) 
   

• Provide $1 billion over five years to boost funding for Indigenous mental health and drug treatment programs (CBC)
   

• Support innovative approaches to address the crises of mental health and addiction, such as land-based treatment programs and culturally appropriate programs delivered in Indigenous languages (Conservative Platform)

 

>> Students

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• Give new graduates up to $100,000 in tax breaks over their first three years out of school, or $200,000 over five years for students who graduate as engineers, coders or in the skilled trades (CTV) 
   

• Create a post-secondary jobs program to help international students stay in Canada (CTV) 

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Read the full Conservative platform here.