CAMH breaks ground on two new buildings that will help connect more people to support
The Ontario government is investing more than $1.6 billion to support the design and construction of two new buildings at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s (CAMH) Queen Street West campus in Toronto. This investment is part of the province’s plan to connect more Ontario families with convenient health care and will help provide enhanced mental health and addictions services to patients from across the province.
“Today’s ground-breaking represents a significant milestone in our government’s plan to connect more people to high-quality mental health supports that meet their needs,” said Premier Doug Ford. “CAMH provides critical mental health and addictions services and research that helps people from across Ontario and our government is glad to support this important work.”
This final phase of CAMH’s redevelopment plan will see two new buildings constructed at the hospital - the Secure Care and Recovery Building and the Discovery Centre.
The Secure Care and Recovery Building will support CAMH’s forensic mental health services program which addresses the needs of patients with mental illness who have encountered the legal system.
Once completed, the Secure Care and Recovery Building will include:
- Increased number of beds to connect more people to the forensic mental health program;
- Dedicated family visitation areas in the inpatient units;
- Enclosed outdoor areas to support recovery;
- Outpatient services; and
- Enhanced security and building support services to help patients stay safe.
Currently under construction, the new state-of-the-art Discovery Centre building will consolidate CAMH’s research services at its Queen Street site, allowing for it to become a modern academic campus that integrates care with research, education, and policy development.
“Under the leadership of Premier Ford our government is making record investments in hospital infrastructure, expanding hospital capacity across the province with shovels in the ground for over 50 new projects to connect people to the care they need, when they need it,” said Sylvia Jones, Minister of Health. “The new and modernized facility at CAMH will continue to support mental health and addictions care for patients across Ontario.”
Ontario continues to make major investments to build a world-class mental health and addictions system. In 2020, the government released Roadmap to Wellness: A Plan to Build Ontario’s Mental Health and Addictions System. Supported by a commitment to invest $3.8 billion over 10 years, the Roadmap is adding capacity to meet demand, filling gaps in the care continuum and creating a provincial infrastructure for a mental health and addictions continuum of care that connects primary, community, and acute care to better wrap around the needs of people with mental health and addictions issues.
Through Your Health: A Plan For Connected and Convenient Care, Ontario is making it easier and faster for people of all ages to connect to the care they need, where and when they need it. This includes building new and redeveloped hospitals with more space to care for patients, leading to shorter wait times and less hallway health care.
Quick Facts
- Forensic mental health services are provided when a court determines a patient’s mental illness caused them to commit the offence or prevents them from participating fully in their court proceedings. In these cases, the individual is typically ordered to a hospital with a forensic mental health program like CAMH to receive mental health care.
- In Budget 2023, Ontario is building on its historic $3.8 billion investment by providing an additional $425 million over three years. This investment will provide community-based mental health and addictions service providers funded by the Ministry of Health with a five per cent increase in base funding.
- Since 2019-20, the government has flowed $525 million in new base funding for mental health and addictions services and supports. This funding is supporting a range of services, including child and youth mental health, community-based addictions services, supportive housing, mental health and justice, and Indigenous mental health and addictions.
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