Question Period Note: SUICIDE PREVENTION – CANADIAN ARMED FORCES/VETERANS AFFAIRS CANADA JOINT SUICIDE PREVENTION STRATEGY

• Our Government is committed to suicide prevention. On October 5, 2017, our government proudly released a Joint Suicide Prevention Strategy with VAC and CAF based on the latest scientific evidence in the area of suicide prevention.

• The strategy is holistic, building on the strong foundation of Government of Canada programs, services and supports currently available to those who serve or who have served.

• It provides the way forward to continue to improve assistance to Veterans and their families, including during the transition from military to civilian life.

BACKGROUND – SUICIDE PREVENTION

On October 5, 2017, the Minister of National Defence, the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Chief of the Defence Staff announced a Joint Suicide Prevention Strategy that seeks to address suicide prevention in the military and Veteran community.

The strategy represents a holistic approach to suicide prevention and combines efforts in education, communications, mental and physical health care. While it may be impossible to prevent every suicide, meaningful action can be taken to reduce risk factors and augment protective factors in the area of Veteran suicides.

To this end, the Joint Suicide Prevention Strategy identifies seven Lines of Effort and more than 158 action items between the two departments, including a jointly managed Seamless Transition Task Force to ensure a coordinated approach during the transition from military to civilian life. The Veterans Affairs Canada Suicide Prevention Strategy Action Plan identifies 63 Action items, 81% of which have been completed or are ongoing.

The Strategy addresses the different domains of well-being (life skills, social integration, purpose, finances, health and housing and physical environment, culture and social environment). This approach is important given the following 2017 Report of Suicide Mortality in the Canadian Armed Forces (1995 to 2016) finding: 85% of Regular Force males who died by suicide during the study timeframe, had at least one work or family-life stressor. These stressors included failing relationships, a friend or family member’s suicide or death, a family member’s or personal illness, debt, professional or legal problems.

The Strategy is aligned with the Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention, builds on the recent Canadian Armed Forces Expert Panel Report on Suicide Prevention, and draws from the latest research on this topic.

Meanwhile the Veteran Suicide Mortality Study, which reports on suicides in Canadian Veterans over a 37-year period (1976 to 2012), reveals that male Veterans had an overall 1.4 times higher risk of dying by suicide compared to males in the Canadian general population, with the youngest males being at highest risk. Female Veterans had an overall 1.8 times higher risk of dying by suicide compared to females in the Canadian general population. These rates have remained unchanged since 1976.

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