Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Founded in 1988, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation (CAMH Foundation) raises money to support mental health research, care, and education at CAMH. Based in Toronto, CAMH is Canada’s largest mental health and addiction hospital network. The foundation states that while mental illness accounts for around 10% of diseases affecting Ontarians, it receives only 7% of healthcare funding. This represents an estimated funding deficit of $1.5 billion each year. Roughly one in two Canadians will experience mental illness by the time they reach 40 years of age.

In F2021, CAMH Foundation provided grants to CAMH in five main areas. These included Research, Capital and Redevelopment, Programs, Education, and Public Awareness.

Research represented 41% of grants in F2021. CAMH Foundation funds mental health research in three main areas: brain science, personalized care, and policy and prevention. These research areas cover projects seeking to understand mental illness, initiatives designed to improve patient care, and studies surrounding effective policy on addiction and mental health. As of F2021, CAMH researchers have published 869 articles in peer-reviewed journals. CAMH Foundation also funded 17 research chair positions in F2021.

Capital and Redevelopment made up 40% of grants. These funds go toward new hospitals, buildings, and renovations. In November 2020, CAMH Foundation opened two new hospital buildings: the Crisis & Critical Care Building and the McCain Complex Care & Recovery Building. The two buildings feature 600,000 square feet of space and 235 inpatient beds. During F2021, CAMH moved 225 patients into the new buildings. In late 2021, the charity aims to begin redeveloping CAMH’s centres for patients with complex mental illnesses who have encountered the legal system.

Programs represented 16% of grants in F2021. CAMH Foundation aims to provide high-quality patient care at each of its locations. In F2021, CAMH hospitals received 34,474 unique patients, including 32,187 outpatients and 3,040 inpatients. CAMH also received 11,767 emergency department visits during the year. In response to the covid-19 pandemic, CAMH Foundation helped to expand virtual care services and technology programs. In F2021, it helped to train around 400 clinicians in virtual care, serving more than 3,000 patients from 550 communities. The charity also provided 500 tablets for patients to stay connected with family members and care workers.

Education and Public Awareness programs each received around 1% of the remaining grants. In F2021, CAMH’s online covid-19 resources received around 668,000 unique views. Less than 1% of grants also went to organizations aside from CAMH. These included grants to support mental health programs at SickKids Foundation and community gardens at FoodShare Toronto.