OPA Statements
OPA Statement on Government Proposals to Expand Health-Care Scopes of Practice
September 2025
On September 17, 2025, the Ontario Government proposed to grant prescribing privileges to psychologists and to extend prescribing privileges of pharmacists.
Improving access to timely mental health and substance use care and treatment is one of the priority initiatives of the Ontario Psychiatric Association (OPA). The government’s proposal to extend the responsibility of prescribing psychiatric medications and interpreting medical investigations to professionals without medical training comes as a surprise, and with disappointment, that the OPA—representing frontline Ontario psychiatrists—was not consulted by the government.
While the OPA fully supports new ideas in Ontario to improve care, we also want to ensure changes address the underlying barriers to access and meet the demands of patient complexities safely. The OPA is concerned about the government’s under-appreciation of the comprehensive training and knowledge of psychiatrists and other physicians. Training for independent psychiatric practice requires a minimum of 8-9 years to ensure expertise to differentiate between medical and psychiatric diagnoses, understand pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, manage medical comorbidity and medication-related syndromes, utilize physical examinations and multiple medical investigations, and consider the unique needs of patient populations across different life stages. Safe prescribing requires experience in these domains and requires the skills gained from rigorous training in the medical model.
The government’s proposals to expand the scope of practice for non-physicians in mental health and substance use care neglect the existing gaps in our fragmented health system. Shifting care to privately funded alternatives is not an investment by the government and ignores creating equitable solutions. The headline of providing faster access to care obscures and minimizes the potential risks to patients and the addition of unintended challenges to the system.
Ontarians deserve safe, high-quality care and this demands infrastructure and care coordination to support healthcare professionals. We urge the government to consult with psychiatrists and other physicians to better inform their decision-making in crafting sustainable, safe and viable alternative solutions to truly improve access to care across the province.
OPA Letter-Writing Campaign
Advocate legislative change to allow earlier access to care for your loved ones with severe mental illness
August 2025
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 OPA's Mental Health Law Reform Task Force continues to advance mental health law reform and has updated the OPA's Mental Health Law Proposals.
- Permit Treatment Pending Appeal under the Health Care Consent Act Sec 18.
- Remove past response to treatment from Form 3 Box B Involuntary Admission Criteria, under the Mental Health Act Sec 20 (1.1).
- Change involuntary admission criterion of "serious bodily harm" to "serious harm" and concomitantly, narrow Ontario's Mental Health Act definition of "mental disorder" to denote serious mental illness, under the Mental Health Act Sec 1; Sec 20 (1.1; 5).
- Extend a first involuntary admission to up to 30 days, under a Form 3 (MHA Sec 20 [4]).
Read the OPA's detailed Mental Health Law Reform Proposals and engage on social media
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.
This unilaterally-made decision will prevent uninsured and OHIP-ineligible patients from accessing health services, including hospital-based care. Physicians will not be remunerated by the ministry for providing medically and morally necessary care to the uninsured. Many populations including undocumented migrants and persons with low socioeconomic status or precarious housing will be further marginalized — especially those with mental illnesses that would worsen without care. The consequences will be devastating health outcomes and increased demands on our strained health and social services systems.
OPA requests that the ministry reconsider and extend the program temporarily until a better solution is found, or the program is made permanent.
OPA Condemns Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Hatred
June 14, 2021
Madiha and Salman Afzaal, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna, and her paternal grandmother, Talat, 74, were killed when a driver ran them over in a pick-up truck on Sunday, June 6, 2021 in London, Ontario. The couple’s nine-year-old son was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The family had been out for their nightly walk after dinner when a driver decided to murder them in a hate-fuelled Islamophobic attack.
Islamophobia is not new to Canada. It is embedded in this country’s colonial legacy, policies, media and political discourse. It is a lived experience for many in this nation, especially those who are visibly Muslim such as Muslim women who choose to wear hijab or those who are mistaken for being Muslim such as Sikh men who don a turban. The bullying, intimidation, harassment, threats to people and places of worship and outright banning of the hijab, niqab and other religious symbols for employees in the public sector in Quebec has resulted in deadly violence. There have been numerous incidents of hatred against Muslims with fatal consequences including the murder of a mosque volunteer in Ontario last year and the Quebec City mosque massacre during evening prayers which left 6 Muslim men dead on January 29, 2017.
Anti-Muslim hatred cannot be de-coupled from violence being perpetrated against Indigenous, Black, Asian and other racialized and marginalized populations. Islamophobia is yet another manifestation of systemic oppression and colonization.
The Ontario Psychiatric Association strongly condemns Islamophobia, anti-Muslim hatred and all forms of racial and religious discrimination. We also call for more work to dismantle the systems that perpetuate this level of violence against these populations and advocate for an expansion of culturally tailored resources, cultural safety and greater compassion in our profession.
OPA Denounces Anti-Asian Racism
Thursday, April 1, 2021
In the face of brazen acts of violence against North Americans of Asian descent including the horrific shootings in Atlanta, the OPA strongly denounces anti-Asian racism and discrimination in all of its forms.
While there has been a long history of anti-Asian racism and systemic inequities dating back to the founding of Canada as a nation, it has often been masked by the model minority myth. With the pandemic, Asian communities have been blamed and treated as foreigners. Anti-Asian discrimination and hate crimes have dramatically increased, including violent attacks against women and the elderly.
In 2020, a national survey found 50% of Chinese Canadians were insulted because of the pandemic, and 43% were personally threatened or intimidated. The Chinese Canadian National Council of Toronto documented 1150 cases of racist attacks from March 10, 2020 to February 28, 2021 reported through web portals, with about 40% of the cases being from Ontario. Alarmingly, about 11% of the attacks involved violent assault or unwanted physical contact and about 10% involved being coughed on or spat at.
We recognize the tremendous destructive impact that racism has on the safety, mental health, and wellbeing of Asian individuals and communities. This is especially concerning in the context of unmet mental health needs for Asian Canadian populations, including poor access, language barriers and insufficient services, leading to significant mental health disparities in Ontario.
As psychiatrists and mental health professionals, the OPA stands in solidarity with Asian communities. We call for anti-stigma advocacy and initiatives, individually and collectively; support for culturally competent mental health care for diverse communities; and an end to all forms of xenophobia, racism, and discrimination.
Ontario Psychiatric Association Anti-Racism Statement
Monday, June 8, 2020
The Ontario Psychiatric Association (OPA) unequivocally condemns all forms of anti-Black Racism and stands in solidarity with those standing up and speaking up about the injustices faced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour in Ontario, Canada, and the Global Community. Psychiatrists have an important role to play in addressing the disproportionate impact of violence and coercion on patients of colour. We must not only acknowledge and reckon with the impact of systemic racism on our most vulnerable and marginalized patients, but we must also rise up and do the work to dismantle oppressive structures and work towards a more just and equitable healthcare system. The OPA is committed to addressing the issue of equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging through words and deeds as we move forward as a profession and as a community.
On behalf of the OPA Council,
Javeed Sukhera
OPA President, March 2019 - June 2020
