The Public Health Agency of Canada is providing $21 million over five years to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) to implement and sustain a fully operational pan-Canadian suicide prevention service in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and Crisis Services Canada (CSC). This service will provide people across Canada with expanded access to 24/7/365 bilingual crisis support from trained responders, via voice, text and online chat.
The work to expand a pan-Canadian suicide prevention service will build upon existing community-based local suicide prevention services and a 2017 pilot of a national service. Key initiatives over the next five years include:
- Developing virtual training and education to support responders, promoting the delivery of high quality, evidence-based, equitable suicide prevention services to people living in Canada.
- Engaging additional Canadian distress centres in the existing Canada Suicide Prevention Service to expand the network.
- Developing the first Canadian standards for suicide prevention services.
- Establishing an advisory committee with diverse stakeholders, including people with lived experience in suicide prevention efforts.
