Students at Carleton University can vote on a $25 per term mental health fee proposed by Health and Counselling Services (HCS) on March 14 and 15. Voting will be held online via ballots sent to students’ emails.
The $25 fee would be used to hire new counsellors and staff to help with the increased demand for services, including a mental health nurse to help manage complex mental health clients. According to the referendum website, HCS also plans to implement a single-session option for group therapy sessions and psychoeducational workshops.
For the referendum to pass, at least 15 per cent of eligible Carleton students must participate in the vote.
“Since the pandemic, HCS has seen increased demand for on-campus mental health support,” said Louise Shearman, HCS director of health services. “There has been a 12-per-cent increase in visits for on-campus counselling since 2022, reaching a record high of 58,112 visits this year.”
According to Shearman, 84 per cent of those visits are for mental health.
“The minimal health fee students currently pay is not enough to cover all the support we have in place and would not allow us to increase support based on the demands we continue to see,” she said.
Undergraduate and graduate students at Carleton currently pay $38.87 per semester in health and counselling fees. Even if the $25 increase per semester is implemented, Carleton will continue to have the lowest mental health fee among all post-secondary institutions in Ontario.
The mental health fee at Carleton is already “embarrassingly low,” said Emilia De Jesus Peixoto, the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) vice-president of student issues.
CUSA executives voted unanimously in favour of a motion to support the ancillary fee at a January council meeting.
“We see here at CUSA every single day within our service centres the need for the support [and] the need for more counsellors that represent diverse backgrounds and identities,” she said. “In order to do that, we have to compensate those professionals who are working and putting in the extra hours for our students here at Carleton.”
In Ottawa, the average counselling fee per session is more than $120, according to Shearman.
“Community wait lists are long and continue to grow, [and] there’s an increase of students without primary care,” she said.
Taylor Meisner, a disability co-ordinator and learning strategist at the Paul Menton Centre, echoed that mental health is one of the most prevalent disabilities impacting students right now.
“Having an investment in these services will have a significant difference,” Meisner said.
Lili Hawco, a second-year public affairs and policy management student at Carleton, said the mental fee will ultimately improve the Carleton community.
“I’ve heard about the inefficiencies that Carleton HCS has,” Hawco said. “Everyone right now is struggling to find mental health care providers.”
She added she sees the potential for a positive impact on the student community should the referendum pass.
“Maybe it won’t directly impact me, but at least I know I’ll have sufficient options coming out,” she said.
“Besides,” Hawco added, “It’s only 25 bucks.”
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
