Joint statement on growing threats to our mental health and addictions system.
PO Box 8601 RPO CSC
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3K 5M3
902-406-9422
coordinator@nshealthcoalition.ca
The Nova Scotia Health Coalition stands firmly in solidarity with Unifor, CUPE 8920, CUPE Nova Scotia, and NSGEU as they sound the alarm about the growing threats to our public Mental Health and Addictions system. Clinicians across this province provide life-saving care every single day, and their work is essential to the health and well-being of our communities.
A strong, accessible public mental health system cannot exist without the ability to recruit and retain skilled clinicians. Yet the introduction of the ISP has created a stark and unjust compensation gap between public-sector clinicians and private-sector providers funded with taxpayer dollars. This disparity is not a minor issue—it is undermining the stability of public care and driving trained professionals out of the very system that relies on them most
We join our union partners in calling on the provincial government to take immediate action. Closing this compensation gap is not optional; it is critical to safeguarding public, equitable, and sustainable mental health and addiction care for every Nova Scotian. Failing to act will only deepen the crisis and weaken the public services families depend on.
The time for government leadership is now. Nova Scotians deserve a mental health system that strengthens public care—not one that funds private alternatives at the expense of the frontline workers who keep our communities healthy
For More Information Contact:
The Nova Scotia Health Coalition
Jennifer Benoit,
Provincial Coordinator
902-406-9422
coordinator@nshealthcoalition.ca
Nova Scotia Government Employees Union
Holly Fraughton, Communications Officer
Tel no.: 902-424-4063
CUPE NS
Taylor Johnston
CUPE Atlantic Communications
902-536-4922
CUPE 8920
Dianne Frittenburg
CUPE 8920 President
902-521-7782
president@cupe8920.ca
Unifor
Shelley Amyotte
National Communications Representative - Atlantic Region
Shelley.Amyotte@unifor.org