The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) is funding 14 community-based research projects that will explore how cannabis use affects underserved populations across the country. Each project will receive funding of up to $100,000 over two years, for a total research investment of $1.4 million.

Following the community-based research model, each community under study will lead its own project, participate in every phase of the research, and benefit from positive social change that occurs as a result of the findings.

The projects will address significant gaps in research on cannabis and mental health among Indigenous, Métis, 2SLGBTQ+, senior, immigrant, refugee, ethnocultural, and racialized (IRER) populations, as well as other communities who experience layers of oppression.

Six of the projects will include initial examinations of cannabis use and mental health in Métis and First Nations communities – some of the first Indigenous-led research of its kind.