DND struggled to fill mental health jobs: Ottawa

New documents demonstrate that the Canadian military found employing new psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers a difficult task because the government’s top pay scale was not high enough in some parts of the country.

An informative note, prepared for former defence minister Rob Nicholson at the height of last year’s suicide trouble, shows National Defence rushed to fill dozens of vacant mental health designations.

In 2014, there were 19 suicides among military personnel, according to data released earlier this year by the Forces.

In 2002, as the country entered the Afghan war, later the military set a goal of having 454 uniformed, civilian and contract staff to treat soldiers with addictions, depression and other problems.

The briefing note says the enrolling search was hindered in large part by the issue of salaries and a lack of mental health staff in general.