Integration across sectors: Canada's national action plan on criminal justice and mental health

Canada's mental health and criminal justice systems have long operated in parallel, creating gaps in care for people whose mental health needs intersect with justice involvement. In 2026, the Mental Health Commission of Canada released Finding New Pathways: An Action Plan for Criminal Justice and Mental Health in Canada, the country's first national action plan on this intersection. This policy brief uses the action plan to examine four cross-jurisdictional integration challenges for health system leaders: correctional healthcare governance, mental healthcare continuity inside correctional institutions, information sharing across sectors, and discharge planning at release. Progress requires coordinated action across health, justice, and housing sectors, shaped by people with lived and living experience.