Residents living in Canterbury's red zone having a low mental well-being comes as no surprise to a local MP.

A Human Rights Commission report, released yesterday, surveyed around 100 red zoners about what life has been like the past six years.

Labour's spokesperson for Canterbury issues, Megan Woods, said the report shows people who did stay in the red zone have a much lower mental well-being, and more funding must be put into Canterbury's mental health sector.

"I don't think that comes as a surprise to any of us in Canterbury who are living their lives, and seeing these things on a day-to-day basis.

"As we all know it's anything but unusual in terms of how people are feeling in Canterbury. The reality is that Canterbury is $23 million short this year between what they get, and what they need to spend on mental health."

Ms Woods said demographic "mix ups" post quake has affected the lack of funding.

She said we cannot call the recovery a success while there are still so many people struggling with their mental wellbeing.

"People that used to be in low decile areas may no longer live in low decile areas. They're spread through far more affluent suburbs so therefore there's far less funding attached to them."