Health Canada commits more than $6 million to Black community health projects

Health Canada has announced more than $6 million for community-led projects aimed at improving health outcomes for Black Canadians.

The funding is being provided through the Substance Use and Addictions Program and the Supporting Community Mental Health Crisis Response Initiative. The department’s backgrounder lists projects focused on culturally appropriate substance-use services, mental-health training, community crisis response and research.

Recipients include the Black Health Education Collaborative, the Health Association of African Canadians, the Canadian Women of Colour Leadership Network, Midaynta Community Services and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Separate contributions of $700,000 each are going to the City of Toronto and the City of Ottawa for community crisis-response work.

The announcement covers funding for specific organizations and public bodies; it is not a change to individual eligibility for provincial health services. Health Canada’s backgrounder provides the full recipient list and project amounts.

Although the listed projects are based outside Québec, the federal announcement is nationally relevant because it centres Black-led approaches to gaps in substance-use and mental-health systems.

Sources

Health Canada, news release and funding backgrounder, published October 20, 2026.

Illustrative stock image: Vitaly Gariev / Unsplash, under the Unsplash License. The people shown are not identified with a funded project.