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- Feb 10 - Teaching people to access therapy
Feb 10 - Teaching people to access therapy
BC teachers reach tentative deal with public school employers.
Capital Daily Team
February 10, 2026
Good morning !
If you’ve ever tried to access therapy, but found the number of options overwhelming or the process difficult to navigate, you’re not alone. Check out our first story to see how local counsellors are working to make mental-health care access easier.
— Robyn
Today’s approx. read time: 6 minutes
🌡️ Weather Forecast
NEWS
Victoria podcast helping people access therapy to return for 2nd season
Let's Talk Access staff (left to right) Amanda Naseri, Christa Martel, Katrina Goldsworthy. Photo courtesy of Christa Martel
Victoria mental-health experts want more people to be able to access therapy—and they’re beginning with the biggest hurdle: getting started with therapy.
Let’s Talk Access is a Victoria-founded podcast project that is now expanding across the country, with a goal of teaching people how therapy works.
In 2022, Christa Martel launched Let’s Talk Access after a conversation with a friend, who was seeking therapy and didn’t know where to begin. It got Martel thinking about how common this problem is.
“She didn't know where to start, so we spent about three hours on the phone going through different types of modalities, the things that were coming up from her, where her family was from, what her early childhood was like,” Martel said.
“It hit me that I found that hard, and I didn't think that there was anything service-wise that taught people how to sort out for themselves what might be a good fit.”
Martel came up with an idea for a short podcast series that helped people navigate the mental-health support system.
She got funding from Storyhive—a community-powered funding program from Telus—found three people in Victoria who were seeking therapy for the first time, and made three episodes chronicling their journeys. From overwhelming Google responses to high-cost counselling and insurance barriers, the podcast captures the many reasons people give up on therapy before they even start.
The first season is available now to listen to on Spotify and YouTube. Spoiler alert: by the end of the season, every participant was in therapy.
Four years on from that first season, Martel says Season 2 is underway and soon to be released (Martel expects episodes to be rolled out May through August). This time, though, Martel and her team are helping more than just Victoria locals.
Over the span of 24 episodes—expected to be released in three parts—a group of eight people will set out to find therapy in Victoria, other areas of BC, Central and Eastern Canada, and the US.
Listeners will follow as the group learns in real time how to access therapy in their location. Group members will also create a guide for each episode, based on their experiences.
⚠️ Capital Bulletin
Victoria Construction-related traffic disruptions:
Cook, from Bay to Maplewood, through Feb. 23
Pembroke to Caledonia, both directions, through Feb. 23
Saanich road closure: Palmer at Quadra, through Friday, 9am-3:30pm
Saanich single-lane alternating traffic: Cedar Hill between Garnet and Cedar Hill Cross, today, 9am-3:30pm
Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.
NEWS
BC teachers reach tentative agreement with public school employers
Photo: Shutterstock
The BC Teachers Federation (BCTF) has sent emails to its 52K teachers, confirming a conditional settlement to their contract dispute, although no formal announcement was made.
“The tentative agreement now goes to the BCTF Executive Committee for a decision on whether or not to send it to the membership for a ratification vote,” a BCTF spokesperson told Capital Daily.
The spokesperson said the union would have nothing further to say until later this week.
The teachers have been without a contract since their last three-year term expired more than seven months ago, on June 30.
Their union has been negotiating with the BC Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA), which represents the province’s 60 public school boards, since mid-March.
Last month, the union declared an impasse, essentially signalling both parties had exhausted all reasonable efforts on a settlement and that it was time to start thinking about bringing in a third party to mediate or to consider job action—a strike or lockout.
“While the employer has offered general wage increases in line with other public sector unions, it has refused to provide additional funding to address priorities like working conditions that other public sector workers have received,” the BCTF declared in a release on Jan. 14.
This decision directly affects students’ learning environments and access to the attention and support they need, it said.
The union is concerned with the student-teacher ratio, arguing that lower class sizes (generally speaking, currently capped at 30 students for grades 4-12) are essential to properly support students’ learning needs and potential mental-health concerns.
In its Jan. 14 release, the union said it had come to the bargaining table in good faith 35 times since contract negotiations began in March, consistently raising concerns about classroom conditions and proposed solutions.
However, it said, “the employer has rejected those proposals and has not put forward meaningful alternatives.”
The BCTF also wants wage increases. It says BC’s teachers traditionally have been paid less than teachers in other provinces.
The BCPEA did not return inquiries from Capital Daily in time for this story.
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⭐️ Capital Picks
🎉 Victoria at Dusk: New winter arts festival happening this weekend at Ship Point. [City of Victoria]
✈️ Catch the next opportunity! Sharpen your skills with online professional development programs with Continuing Studies at UVic.*
🎫 Beatlemania 1964: See people in Victoria lining up at the original Memorial Arena to buy tickets to The Beatles’ PNE show. [Facebook photo]
🖤 Carnival Culture Connection on Valentine’s Day. [Braefoot Park]
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🗞️ In Other News
Downtown bus depot to close at the end of the month
It’s a small, street-level terminus in the Crystal Garden on Douglas, opposite the Victoria Conference Centre (VCC), used by area sightseers and people heading up-Island, to Vancouver and Mt. Washington. The Wilson’s Group of Companies, which owns it, says Capital City Station isn’t busy enough to keep open. Wilson’s plans to sell bus tickets online, through hotels, drivers, and partners such as Destination Greater Victoria. Wilson’s says it’s working with the city to continue having buses park there, with passengers free to wait at the transit stop or at the VCC. [Times Colonist]
BC Greens to cut agreement with NDP, citing ‘undelivered’ commitments
Leader Emily Lowan says the Greens won’t renew the Co-operation and Responsible Government Accord when it expires next month because about two-thirds of its goals weren’t accomplished. The deal was supposed to stabilize a slim NDP majority while the parties worked on shared goals, but Lowan says too many of those goals got stalled, including plans for electoral reform, more health care, and improving Island transit. Lowan accuses the NDP of siding with corporate interests. [CTV / CP]
Rental prices drop for 16th straight month, averaging $2,057 nationally, for all unit sizes
Rent for one-bedroom units in Victoria is down 6.7% year over year, and two-bedroom units are 5.1% cheaper, according to the monthly rent report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation. The average one-bedroom was listed at $2,224 in January, while the average two-bedroom was going for $2,605. That makes Victoria the 20th most expensive market. North Van and Vancouver are 1-2. Oakville, Toronto, and North York round out the top 5 most expensive. The report also said renters are paying more per square foot. [CHEK]
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🗓️ Things To Do
🏛️ Black Pioneers on the Saanich Peninsula: Learn the stories of important Black pioneers in Sidney, the Saanich Peninsula, and Salt Spring Island at the Sidney Museum. Daily through Feb 28. [Info]
🧱 20th Annual LEGO Brick Exhibit: Celebrate two decades of impressive LEGO builds and community creations at the Sidney Museum. Now through April 6. [Info]
🎺 The Don Leppard Jazz Orchestra: Victoria's 17-piece big band swings through classics from Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and more at Hermann's tomorrow. 7-9pm. [Info]
👽 Close Encounters from Western Civilization Tour 2026: Inter-dimensional alien Draemus brings epic alt/rock/pop to iconic alien sci-fi sagas at The Coda tomorrow. 6:30-8:30pm. [Info]
😆 Hecklers Presents: Heartless—an Anti-Valentine's Day Show: A comedy show about everything NOT Valentine's Day featuring dating disasters, scorned lovers, and fruitful revenge at Hecklers Bar & Grill. Thurs. 8pm. [Info]
🎸 April Wine: Canadian rock legends bring their extensive catalogue of hits to the McPherson Playhouse. Fri. 8pm. [Info]
👀 In Case You Missed It
Sunday’s headlines: BC pauses $162M Malahat expansion amid environmental concerns for Goldstream; Weekly roundup; Victoria council to push for wheelchairs in bike lanes. [Feb. 9]
Two convicted, fined $3K each after Texada Island grizzly shot and killed last summer. [CBC]
70-year-old paraglider who crashed into Duncan cliff expected to make full recovery. [CHEK]
An overdose advisory is in place for Greater Victoria for the second time in two weeks. [Island Health]
New downtown pizza place: Dough Eyes Pizza to open in the former Virtuous Pie location on Pandora.
Coldest Night of the Year fundraising walk. [Feb. 27]
Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival is back for year 27. [June 24-28]
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