Anti-suicide Framework a failure: Senate committee

Press Release

June 8, 2023

Ottawa – The Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention has had no effect on the suicide rate in Canada since it was put in place in 2016, the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology said in a report released Thursday, June 8, 2023.

The framework’s mission is to “prevent suicide in Canada.” However, the committee found that the framework is centred around ideas of what feels good instead of seeking out what works.

The federal Minister for Mental Health and Addictions acknowledged the framework’s weaknesses at the outset of the committee’s hearings and committed to publishing an updated version in the fall. The committee has made 11 recommendations to help it perform better in the future.

For example, the seemingly stable rate of suicide in Canada obscures the fact that some populations — Indigenous peoples, especially Inuit, and men and boys — are overrepresented. Men and boys account for more than 75% of suicides, while the rate among Inuit is six to 25 times higher than the overall Canadian population. The government should establish specific priorities in the updated framework, including targeting populations that are overrepresented.

In general, the committee recommends identifying and promoting evidence-based public health and clinical interventions that are known to have a meaningful effect on suicide, and improving data collection.

Quick Facts

The suicide rate in Canada has been either 11/100,000 or 12/100,000 in every year since 2000. There was a slight decrease to a rate 10/100,000 in 2020, which witnesses attributed to pandemic-related social supports. The Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention was published in 2016.
The number of adults who have seriously contemplated suicide has risen significantly since the pandemic. According to Statistics Canada, the prevalence of suicidal ideation among adults rose to 4.2% after the pandemic began in 2019, up from 2.7%.
Making the most common and lethal methods of suicide more difficult to access is the only public health intervention that has an evidence-based impact on suicide, the committee heard. This is known as means restriction.

Quotes

“Many witnesses opened their hearts to us about some of the most difficult and painful times of their lives. We are indebted to them for their candour and for their courage in speaking to us so we can work toward establishing effective methods of suicide prevention.”

– Senator Ratna Omidvar, Chair of the committee

“It is distressing to consider how many lives could have been saved had an evidence-based suicide prevention framework been in place. This report shows the urgency of the situation; the government must keep its promise to strengthen the framework without delay.”

– Senator Jane Cordy, Deputy Chair of the committee

“Data on suicide and suicide attempts are inconsistent at best and unavailable at worst. This makes it difficult to determine the most effective methods of suicide prevention. The new framework should prioritize approaches that we know will work and build from there.”

– Senator Judith G. Seidman, member of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure

“We need to better understand how to reach groups most affected by suicide. We know that men, particularly Indigenous men, veterans and men with mental illnesses, are at significantly higher risk. The revised framework must acknowledge this reality and target support to these groups.”

– Senator F. Gigi Osler, member of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure

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