AI is increasingly being used for healthcare triage, service navigation, service delivery, and communication, but service providers, developers and users have no guidelines specific to mental or substance use health to support its effective and safe use. The recently published E-Mental Health Strategy for Canada highlights the need for safety in this field.
The new National Guidance for Artificial Intelligence Use in Mental Health and Substance Use Health Care will provide guidance, tools, and resources to help practitioners, organizations, and health leaders in efficiently evaluating and implementing AI-enabled mental health and substance use health care services and solutions.
It will also support people with lived or living experience of mental health or substance use health concerns in making informed choices about these technologies, while helping technology companies design and improve such solutions to meet the needs of those who use them. The full guidance will launch in 2026/2027.
Early Findings
Through our literature review and environmental scan, we identified 10 key considerations for early guidance, along three main themes: equity, privacy and governance, human-centred care, and trust and explainability. We will refine these findings through engagement with expert advisory groups to ensure the final guidance reflects the unique considerations within the MHSUH sectors.
See our one-page summary for details.
By investing early in national guidance, Canada is positioning itself as a global leader in ensuring that technological innovation in healthcare translates into safer, more equitable outcomes.
Steering Committee
Heading
Dr. Allison Crawford, MD, PhD
Chief Medical Officer, 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline
Professor Departments of Psychiatry and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Psychiatrist, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Heading
Ben Rosen
Psychiatrist, (Physician Lead, Psychiatry Emergency Services), Sinai Health
Medical Head, Psychiatry Partnerships with Northern Communities, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
Heading
Carly Straker
Manager, System Quality and Integration, Mental Wellness and Addictions Recovery Division, Government of the Northwest Territories
Heading
Dr. Christopher DiCarlo
Principal/Founder, Critical Thinking Solutions
Heading
David Martell
Physician Lead, Addiction Medicine – Mental Health & Addictions Program, Nova Scotia Health
Heading
Gillian Strudwick
Scientific Director, Registered Nurse, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Heading
Jeannie Borg RN, MA Leadership
Director of Clinical Informatics and Digital Health, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care
Heading
Jonathan Morris
CEO, Canadian Mental Health Association BC Division
Heading
Rebecca Jesseman
Executive Director, Mental Health and Addictions, Health PEI
Heading
Russell Greiner
Professor, Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta
Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta
Canada CIFAR AI Chair and Fellow-in-Residence, Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii)
Heading
Valerie Pisano
President & CEO, MILA
