---
title: "Sutcliffe promises community-wide strategy for mental health and drug crises"
description: "Incumbent mayor Mark Sutcliffe announced on October 7 a plan to bring health care, housing and public safety organizations together into a city-wide strategy for mental health and the toxic drug crisis."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/ottawa-2026/news/sutcliffe-mental-health-plan-2026-10-07"
last_updated: "2026-10-10T04:05:50.093Z"
---

Incumbent mayor Mark Sutcliffe announced on October 7, 2026 a plan to bring health care, housing and public safety organizations together into a city-wide strategy for mental health and the toxic drug crisis, CTV News reported.

Sutcliffe's news release says the plan would involve The Royal, along with community housing partners and public safety agencies. "We must find more solutions to support those who are struggling with mental health and addictions issues," Sutcliffe said in the release. "We must ensure that individuals in crisis are connected with care and appropriate housing, and that our streets and communities are safe places for all who call them home."

## What the plan includes

Sutcliffe says he would double the city's investment in its alternative crisis response teams. CTV News gave ANCHOR, the Alternative Neighbourhood Crisis Response, as an example. It provides mental health and substance use crisis support and sends crisis response workers. This pledge appeared in his September public safety plan; the October 7 release restates it alongside new details.

Sutcliffe says he would expand daytime programs in the city to "shift social challenges off the street", and would explore the use of mandatory care "in specific cases."

He says he would also work to change business licencing rules to revoke licences of what he calls "pill mills" in communities like Chinatown, Centretown and Lowertown. This is Sutcliffe's own characterization.

## What other candidates have said

CTV News reported that both Neil Saravanamuttoo and [Jeff Leiper](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/jeff-leiper) have promised to expand ANCHOR citywide. CTV News reported that Alex Lawson has publicly said he agrees with expanding the program.

In a statement, Lawson accused Sutcliffe of being "asleep at the wheel" for the past four years and said the problem has gotten worse, CTV News reported.

Voters can read more about [Mark Sutcliffe](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/mark-sutcliffe) on voche.me and compare all 14 mayoral candidates at the [Ottawa 2026 candidates page](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates#mayor). Voting day is October 26.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/on/ottawa-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.