Province pledges support for mental health first aid in schools

The Government of Saskatchewan is announcing its intention to ensure every school in the province is able to provide mental health first aid to students.

The province announced Wednesday a $400,000 commitment to ensure at least one staff member in all Saskatchewan schools receives training for mental health first aid. The government aims to have this widespread training take place throughout the 29 school divisions by the end of 2021.

“We are excited to support schools in ensuring students have access to mental health resources,” said Education Minister Dustin Duncan in a media release. “I encourage all provincial school divisions to take part to help remove the stigma around mental health.”

This marks a drastic increase in provincial funding for in-school mental health services. The release notes the government has “offered up to $9,000 in grants to school divisions for training to build capacity in their schools related to mental health and student safety” since the 2017/18 school year.

Mental health first aid training was initially recommended by a Youth Council created by the education minister.

“The mental well-being of students is a crucial part of positive and effective learning environments,” Sandra LeBlanc, who sat on the council in 2019 and 2020, said in the release. “The new Mental Health First Aid initiative will be a good first step in ensuring that all Saskatchewan students have access to the support they need, one of the priorities of the 2019-20 Youth Council.”

Staff will be trained in a mental health first aid program developed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. It will be delivered online to ensure safety for staff and minimal disruptions to the school day.