Quebec psychiatrists push for dedicated mental health minister

The Association of Psychiatrists of Quebec (AMPQ) and its president, Dr. Claire Gamache, are urging the province’s next government to create a dedicated minister of mental health. They argue that a cabinet position would coordinate actions across municipal, provincial and federal levels and keep mental‑health issues on the political agenda beyond a single election cycle.

In a platform titled “Mental Health 2026,” the group presented six measures, including expanding alternatives to hospitalization, improving tele‑medicine access, and better support for health‑care workers. They highlighted that roughly one in five Quebecers experiences a mental‑health disorder each year, yet only 5.6 % of the health‑social services budget is allocated to mental‑health services. Hospitalizations for suicide attempts among girls aged 10‑14 have tripled since 2010, and visible homelessness disproportionately involves people with mental‑health conditions. The sector also reports about 25 million work‑hours lost due to staff mental‑health problems. The AMPQ is calling for all provincial parties to adopt concrete, evidence‑based commitments on mental health in the upcoming October election.