Nova Scotia mental health office faces scrutiny over delayed reforms and $1B spending
Officials from Nova Scotia's Office of Mental Health and Addictions defended their progress before a legislative committee following an Auditor General report that criticized the office for lacking oversight, access standards, and public reporting five years after its creation. Opposition MLAs questioned timelines that stretch to 2028.
Nova Scotia’s Office of Mental Health and Addictions appeared before the legislature’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Wednesday to address findings from a June report by Auditor General Kim Adair. The report found that five years after its establishment in 2021, the office lacks effective oversight, access standards, and proper public reporting, despite having spent more than $1 billion without setting up standards for service access.
Officials told the committee they are developing a plan to adopt all 10 recommendations from the auditor general’s report. Two recommendations have already been completed, while the remaining eight will be addressed through a phased approach. However, the development of key performance indicators is not expected to be completed until June 2027, with a reporting structure established by December of that year. Some recommendations are not scheduled to be fully implemented until 2028.
Opposition members challenged the lengthy timelines. Interim Liberal Leader Iain Rankin questioned why key performance indicators were set for completion as late as June 2027 and asked for data showing improvements over the last two years. NDP MLA Lisa Lachance questioned why accountability structures were not put in place earlier and noted that published wait time reports no longer include historic data for all non-urgent clinics.
Deputy Minister Jennifer Glennie stated that the office shares data work with health authorities, including Nova Scotia Health and the IWK Health Centre, as well as the Department of Health and Wellness, to focus on service delivery. Glennie also said updated figures on mental health outcomes since a 2024 Canadian Mental Health Association report were not available for the meeting. That 2024 report found that Nova Scotia experienced higher rates of hospitalizations related to alcohol compared to the rest of Canada.
Defending the office's progress, officials cited efforts to improve access to services since 2021, including the creation of 12 recovery support centres throughout the province. They noted that the number of clients at these recovery support centres increased by 29 per cent in the last two fiscal years.