The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food has released its findings after a seven-month study of the unique mental health challenges that Canadian producers face.
Released in May, the Committee’s report, Mental Health: A Priority for our Farmers, concludes that the current state of support for farmer mental health is not adequate.
“Access to mental health care is still limited in rural areas, health professionals are still not familiar with the unique nature of agriculture, and current efforts to help farmers are not consistent across the country,” it reads.
The report delivers ten recommendations to the Government of Canada, including points urging the Government to improve consultation with producers before enacting regulatory changes, and fund accredited programs that specifically support mental health in agriculture. The Committee requested an official Government response.
The study ran from June 2018 to January 2019, and gathered testimonies or briefs from more than 45 witnesses.
Dr. Andria Jones-Bitton, Associate Professor at the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph, testified about her research on farmer mental health. Her 2015 survey of Canadian farmers found that 45% of respondents experience high stress, 58% qualify as having anxiety, and 35% meet the definition of depression.
She thinks the Committee’s report is a positive step towards addressing these figures.
“I believe the recommendations are sound, grounded in evidence from our research and from the witness testimonies, and that acting on them will help to reduce several of the occupational stressors our farmers experience that are negatively impacting mental health,” she says.
Adelle Stewart, Executive Director of the Do More Agriculture Foundation—a non-profit organization founded in 2018 to support the mental wellbeing of Canadian producers—feels that the report lays a strong foundation for future work.
“Improving our mental health literacy, support, and resilience in ag is a long-term, collaborative initiative, and the [report’s] recommendations provide a structure for moving forward as well as goals that have the ability to be measurable over time,” she says.
But whether the Committee’s request for an official Government response will be answered is unclear. A government has 120 calendar days to table a response, but there is no mechanism to sanction one that fails to do so. Furthermore, the dissolution of Parliament removes the requirement to respond, though a re-assembled committee may choose to request response to a previously-tabled report.
Bob Guest, who testified before the Committee in his role as Chair of the volunteer-run Canadian Farmers with Disabilities Registry, hopes this isn’t the last he hears from the Government about farmer mental health.
“I think the recommendations [in the report] are fine, it’s whether we go through with them or not,” he says.
“I hope it doesn’t just get shelved. We’ve been working on mental health for agriculture, and for years it’s been ignored what’s happening out in the country. People seem to want to close their eyes to it.”
But Guest notes that he has seen increased interest in farmer mental health and the Canadian Farmers with Disabilities Registry recently, including by potential corporate sponsors.
At the Do More Agriculture Foundation, Stewart agrees that public awareness is shifting. “There has been a growing curiosity about why this sector is unique in our stressors, and the authenticity about seeking to understand our lives and industry has been really refreshing,” she says.
“At the same time, not every producer is ready to have this conversation with a stranger at the terminal . . . or in their day to day conversations.”
— Lily Jackson