Unmet needs for mental health care

Proportion of the population reporting unmet mental health care needs.

This indicator is measured in the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), the Mental Health and Access to Care Survey (MHACS) and the Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events (SMHSE).

In the CCHS questions are asked about four main types of help (information about the problems, treatments or available services; medication; counselling, therapy or help for problems with personal relationships, and; "other" types of help). Responses to the perceived need for help questions are then classified according to one of four levels of perceived need: no need, need fully met, need partially met and need not met. The unmet mental health care needs indicator reports on the last category of "need not met" which includes people who were not receiving help, but felt that they needed it. In order to derive this estimate, the following 3 questions are asked on the CCHS:

During the past 12 months, did you receive the following kinds of help because of problems with your emotions, mental health or use of alcohol or drugs?

• Information about these problems, treatments or available services
• Medication
• Counselling, therapy, or help for problems with personal relationships
• Other type of help
• None

You mentioned that you did not receive: [Information about these problems, treatments or available services / medication / counselling, therapy, or help for problems with personal relationships / other help]. Do you think you needed [this kind / any of these kinds] of help (during the past 12 months)?

• Yes
• No

Which kind of help did you need (during the past 12 months)?

• Information about these problems, treatments or available services
• Medication
• Counselling, therapy, or help for problems with personal relationships

In the MHACS and the SMHSE, survey respondents were asked:

During the past 12 months, was there ever a time when you felt that you needed help for your emotions, mental health or use of alcohol or drugs, but you didn't receive it?

• Yes
• No

This indicator is measured through multiple Statistics Canada surveys. Estimates can vary between data sources due to differences in reference periods, targeted or sampled populations, data collection and other methodology.

• Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)
  • Table 13-10-0619-01 – Mental health characteristics: Perceived need for mental health care
• Mental Health and Access to Care Survey (MHACS)
• Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events (SMHSE)

• Mental disorders in Canada, 2022 (Statistics Canada - Infographics, September 22, 2023)

• Mental disorders and access to mental health care (Insights on Canadian Society, September 22, 2023)
• Mental health care needs, 2018 (Health Fact Sheets, October 7, 2019)