Welcome to OPA
The Ontario Psychiatric Association is the provincial voice of Ontario’s psychiatrists.
The OPA serves to
- engage in systems advocacy relating to mental health
- represent the interests of psychiatrists and individuals living with mental illness or substance use disorders
- raise awareness and promote understanding of mental illness and substance use disorders
- support psychiatrists in their professional development, practice, and advocacy
Recent OPA Advocacy Work
- Call to delay Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)
- Mental Health Act Reform: lobbying to reduce legislative barriers to care for the severely ill e.g. Form 3 criteria; Treatment Pending Appeal
- OPA Letter-Writing Campaign - advocate legislative change to allow earlier access to care for your loved ones with severe mental illness
- Protecting delivery of OHIP-covered psychotherapy
- Fighting stigma against psychiatric illness in the Ministry of Transportation’s 2018 updates to Medical Condition Reporting requirements
- Supporting Keira’s Law to expand education for judges about domestic violence
- Integration of mental health and addictions care
Who are OPA members?
- psychiatrists practicing in Ontario, Canada
- associates in related disciplines e.g. GP psychotherapy, family medicine, nursing, registered psychotherapy, social work, psychology, occupational therapy
- trainees in the above fields
Join us – Keep Psychiatric Advocacy Thriving!
As a not-for-profit, the OPA relies on membership dues to do the work that only the OPA can do – serving the needs of psychiatrists and patients across the province.
Member Benefits
| Advocacy & Leadership | Education Partners & Affiliates |
Partner Discounts and Affiliates |
Practice Support |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Working groups Resident Advisory Council |
UToronto Psych Refresh 20%
|
Curated clinical resources for psychiatrists Curated service and education resources for patients |
How else can you support the OPA?
- Apply to represent the patient and family voice on working groups and/or the OPA Patient Advisory Council
- Contribute financially
- Sponsor the OPA
- Follow us on social media
The Ontario Psychiatric Association cannot comment or advise on matters relating to clinical care (e.g. referrals, patient care, diagnosis, treatment, hospitalization). The OPA is not involved in individual cases of clinical care or legal advocacy. The OPA is not a disciplinary or regulatory body in the medical field, and does not investigate complaints about physicians.
News & Updates
Award Nominations Are Open
March 2025
The OPA Board is excited to announce the opening of nominations for two awards, continuing our tradition of recognizing and celebrating the outstanding contributions of individuals in mental health. The OPA Mental Health Advocate of the Year Award is presented annually to a non-physician member of the public who has made a major contribution to the understanding of mental illness and its impact on individuals in society. The OPA Breakout Community Psychiatry Advocacy Award recognizes contributions to the profession of psychiatry and to the public by a community psychiatrist engaging in grassroots advocacy in their local area. Nominations, including self-nominations, are welcome for both awards and are due by end of day on April 28, 2025.
OPA Advocacy
September 2024
Mental Health Law Reform Updates
The OPA Mental Health and Law Reform Task Force has had a busy summer with presentations to the Ontario Family Caregivers Advisory Network and at the International Academy of Law and Mental Health Congress in Barcelona. See the Scientific Program here. The OPA is advocating to change Ontario's laws so that treatment pending court appeal can be provided for patients found incapable after a Consent Capacity Board hearing, and also for a change to involuntary hospitalization that allows for more people to access hospital care when they are incapable and at risk for mental or physical deterioration. The OPA planned the Congress sessions to focus on Ontario's mental health laws and included presentations by the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Minister Michael Tibollo.
January 2024
Canada not ready to expand MAID for mental disorders
In a brief to the Special Joint Committee on MAID, the OPA identified Canada's medical system as being unprepared to safely expand MAID for mental disorders as sole underlying medical condition (MD-SUMC), under the current Federal legislative framework.
The OPA's recent study on perspectives of Canadian psychiatrists and psychiatry residents found that 61% of participants disagreed that MAID should be permitted for MD-SUMC, while 80% disagreed that the Canadian medical system is prepared to safely support the expansion of MAID for MD-SUMC by March 17, 2024.
Read the OPA's preliminary study findings.
January 2024
Current mental health laws impede early access to psychiatric treatment, leading to worse health outcomes for incapable persons with severe mental illness who are denied rights to health. The OPA calls for legislative change to better meet the needs of Ontarians with severe mental illness and the families supporting them.
The Ontario Psychiatric Association proposes 3 reforms to Ontario mental health law:
- Permit Treatment Pending Appeal under the Health Care Consent Act
- Remove past response to treatment from Form 3 Box B Involuntary Admission Criteria, under the Mental Health Act
- Extend a first involuntary admission to up to 30 days, under a Form 3
Read the OPA's detailed Mental Health Law Reform Proposals and engage on social media
May 2023
Earlier this year, the OPA followed former Toronto Mayor John Tory's call for a mental health summit. Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier of Ontario and Minister of Health, responded to the OPA. Read the response letter here.
Psychotherapy Advocacy
April 2023
Dr Renata Villela, OPA Past President, published a Letter to the Editor in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry this month, with several current and past OPA Councillors as co-authors. Read more.
OPA Statement on Uninsured Program Cuts
March 2023
The Ontario Psychiatric Association is disappointed by the Ontario government's decision to stop health care coverage for all by ending the Physician and Hospital Services for Uninsured Persons Program, effective March 31, 2023. Read more.
