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Mental health advocates are urging holdout provinces to end their funding standoff with Ottawa in order to ensure struggling patients have access to critical front-line services.

The president of the Mental Health Commission of Canada says she is very pleased some provinces, including Saskatchewan, have signed bilateral deals with the federal government where mental health was identified as a funding priority.

Louise Bradley says she understands why provinces including the big three — Ontario, B.C. and Quebec — are still trying to negotiate, but she says people are dying in the meantime.

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa says the federal government has been acting unilaterally, when the provinces simply want the chance to negotiate.

On Tuesday, Saskatchewan signed an agreement including a health transfer increase of either three per cent or the three-year moving average of nominal GDP growth.

It includes an additional $348.8 million over 10 years for investments in home and mental-health care.