Nature, Canada’s most overlooked mental health resource?

Woman breathing clean air in nature forest. — Photo: Maridav

Government and Policy

By Tatyana Feiner and Dr. Owen Wiseman | October 9, 2026

It’s not news that many Canadians face mental health challenges, and that public services are struggling to meet the demand. Yet one of the most overlooked supports has been right under our feet – literally.

Most of us have experienced its effects firsthand. A walk through a forest can quiet a racing mind. Sitting beside a lake can help us feel grounded after a difficult day. Spending time outdoors often leaves us feeling calmer, more focused, and better able to cope with life’s challenges.

More common than you think

In any given year,

1 in 5 Canadians experience mental illness
By age 40, 1 in 2 have — or have had — a mental illness

So why is nature being left out of the conversation as a resource for mental well-being?

Millions of Canadians are experiencing stress, anxiety, burnout, loneliness, and other mental health challenges. At the same time, governments, communities, and healthcare providers are working to improve access to services and better support people’s needs.

The proof is in the science, which shows that nature does more than make you feel good; it plays an important role in our well-being (see how). One analysis estimated the mental health benefits people receive from visiting protected areas are worth trillions of dollars annually, worldwide. When we invest in protecting nature, we’re investing in people’s health as well.

Yet despite these findings, nature is rarely discussed as part of a broader mental health strategy. We asked Dr. Owen Wiseman, a family physician with a longstanding interest in the connection between health, well-being, and the environment around us, to share his perspective.

Q: “Why are scientists and health professionals becoming increasingly interested in the relationship between nature and mental health?”

A: As clinicians, we spend plenty of time asking what is happening inside a person. Nature research is reminding us to also ask what is happening around them. The places people live and spend their days influence health over a lifetime.

What many people have experienced firsthand is increasingly being supported by scientific research. Studies continue to show that nature plays an important role in mental health and well-being.

Benefits of nature

Nature’s influence begins even before birth. Studies show that green surroundings during pregnancy were associated with healthier fetal growth and as much as a 21% reduction in the odds of low birth weight.
A nationwide study involving more than 108,000 Swedish adults found that people with greater access to greenery near their homes were less likely to begin using antidepressants.
Research involving one million people in Denmark found that children raised in the most nature-deficient neighbourhoods had a 55% higher risk of developing certain psychiatric disorders later in life.

More Than Just Green Space

Back view of joyful mother and daughter walking on nature trail — Photo: Seventyfour

Not all experiences in nature provide the same benefits.

Research suggests that the quality of natural environments matters. Healthy, biodiverse, and ecologically intact landscapes often provide stronger restorative benefits than highly modified or heavily built environments. These benefits can include reduced stress, improved mood, greater relaxation, and increased mental clarity.

The reasons are remarkably simple. Unlike many built environments that constantly compete for our attention, natural environments can engage us in gentler ways that allow the mind to slow down, recover, and enjoy the present moment.

Environmental psychologists Rachel and Stephen Kaplan described this phenomenon as “soft fascination” – a state in which our attention is gently and effortlessly drawn toward the natural world. Unlike the constant demands of emails, notifications, traffic, and deadlines, nature gives our minds an opportunity to rest and recharge.

Protected areas often provide these exact opportunities.

By safeguarding large, relatively intact landscapes, protected areas create places where people can escape noise, light pollution, overcrowding, and the pressures of daily life. They offer space for reflection, solitude, recreation, and connection with something larger than ourselves.

But what is it about protected areas specifically that makes them different from other types of green space?

A neighbourhood park offers incredible access to those around. However, a protected area offers something entirely different. Immersion. There is a profound difference between seeing nature and feeling, even briefly, that you are one with it. The Japanese word for this is yūgen (幽玄). When a landscape is so vast and ancient that words feel… inadequate.

Dr. Owen Wiseman

What If We Thought About Protected Areas Differently?

View from the water's edge at sunset — Photo: Dr. Owen Wiseman

For decades, protected areas have been recognized for the critical role they play in conserving wildlife, protecting biodiversity, and maintaining ecological integrity. These benefits remain vitally important, but what if we also viewed protected areas as investments in human health?

Protected areas are unique because they generate multiple benefits at once. The same investment that protects habitat for wildlife can also improve opportunities for recreation, strengthen community well-being, support cultural connections, help communities adapt to climate change, and create healthier environments for people. Few public investments deliver such a broad range of environmental, social, and economic benefits through a single action.

Of course, protected areas are not a replacement for hospitals, therapists, medications, or other essential mental health services, but they can help create conditions that support and improve mental and physical health, before intervention might be needed.

In other words, they can be part of a preventative approach to health and well-being.

This idea of prevention is central to how Dr. Owen Wiseman thinks about the relationship between nature and health.

Q: “You often talk about nature as part of a preventative approach to health. What does that mean in practice?”

A: I always say that sick cities make sick people. We will always need hospitals, medications, therapists, and clinicians. But the healthiest society isn’t necessarily the one with the best healthcare system. I’d argue that it is the one that creates fewer reasons for people to need that system in the first place. If we are serious about prevention, we must look beyond the healthcare system itself. Healthier communities begin with healthier places.

As Canada continues to explore ways to support healthier and more resilient communities, nature deserves a place in the conversation.

Protecting Nature Is Investing in People

Kayak travelling along a river surrounded by trees — Photo: Dr. Owen Wiseman

Mental health is shaped by far more than what happens in clinics, hospitals, and counselling offices.

It is also shaped by the places where we live, work, gather, and recharge.

Protected areas help conserve wildlife, safeguard biodiversity, and strengthen resilience in the face of climate change. They also provide something deeply human: opportunities to slow down, reflect, find perspective, and reconnect with the natural world.

Protecting nature is good for ecosystems, it’s good for wildlife, And it’s good for people, too.

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY:

Dr. Owen Wiseman

Dr. Owen Wiseman is an award-winning primary care provider, medical advisor and a leading voice at the intersection of health, nature, and technology. He is the founder of Science & Nature, a Director with NatureQuant, and a dedicated advocate of PaRx, Canada’s National Nature Prescription program. Voted Best Health Educator four years running, he is known for translating complex concepts into practical, measurable outcomes.