Expanded English mental health services keep Connexions running in the Outaouais

Tashi Farmilo

Aylmer's Connexions Resource Centre will receive $70,000 a year for the next three years to continue its English language mental health services across the Outaouais, part of a $4.5 million provincial investment minister Christopher Skeete announced July 10 to expand such services across Quebec.

The funding will support 22 non-profit projects across the province, at a cost of $1.5 million a year, aimed at building up existing mental health services and creating new ones for English speaking communities. Skeete said his government is committed to ensuring mental health care remains available and continuous for all Quebecers, calling it an important step toward better access to services, and described the projects as long-term solutions for these communities in several regions of the province.

In the Outaouais, the sole recipient is Connexions, headquartered at 67 rue du Couvent in Aylmer. According to the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie, Connexions serves Gatineau and the rest of the Outaouais through satellite offices in Shawville, in the Pontiac MRC, and Wakefield, in the Collines-de-l'Outaouais MRC. The organization has received continuing support under the program since the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

The funding falls under the Renforcer la vitalité des communautés d'expression anglaise du Québec program and is partly financed through the Canada-Quebec agreement supporting the federal action plan on official languages.

Lionel Carmant, the minister responsible for social services, said access to mental health services close to home makes a real difference in getting help at the right moment. Supporting organizations rooted in their communities brings services closer to the people who need them, he said, while reinforcing the public network.