Introduced in 1994, the Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy is a unique partnership between the Ontario government and 15 First Nations and Aboriginal organizations. The Ministry of Community and Social Services, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the Ontario Secretariat for Aboriginal Affairs, and the Ontario Women’s Directorate provide core funding for the Strategy. The Ministry of Children and Youth Services funds the Aboriginal Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program which has been part of the Strategy since 2000.
The Strategy combines traditional and mainstream health and family healing services to meet the specific needs of Aboriginal peoples living on-reserve and in urban and rural communities. The Strategy ensures that Aboriginal peoples in Ontario design, provide direction, deliver and manage priority services for their communities.
Some of the programs and services provided through the Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy include the following:
- shelters that provide crisis intervention and supports for abused women and their children;
- counselling to address mental and emotional issues that contribute to violence and dysfunction;
- crisis intervention workers to respond to high rates of suicide;
- Aboriginal Health Access Centres and out-patient medical hostels which provide culturally-appropriate primary health care, health promotion and education;
- community wellness programs that promote individual and family health and healing, and work to reduce health as well as other risks to family and community well-being;
- healing lodges for Aboriginal people looking for traditional healing approaches to treatment for sexual assault, addictions and family violence;
- substance/solvent abuse treatment centres
- Aboriginal-specific information, community awareness and education programs;
- Training to increase the capacity to deliver health and social services for Aboriginal communities; and
- Aboriginal health planning authorities for local and regional health services.
In 2004, the government announced an investment of an additional $25 million to strengthen Ontario's Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy, thereby increasing its five-year investment to $191.5 million. This will be used to enhance existing services and well as create new projects.
For more information, please refer to the Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy website or contact: