Knowledge Exchange – Suicide Pre & Postvention

Posted on Friday, October 2nd, 2020

The prepared remarks of President Claude Brulé.

February 28, 2020

Good morning, everyone. Bonjour à tous et à toutes. Kwe.

Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are gathering on the traditional lands of the Algonquin people.

I want to welcome you all to Algonquin College and our third Knowledge Exchange. Previous Exchanges have focused on the Umbrella Project and the Opioid Crisis. Today we are so pleased you could join us to explore a topic that is critically important to all of us, and that, statistically speaking, has probably touched many of us in some way.

Suicide is a word that is difficult to say because it carries so much pain for so many people. But we will discuss it here today so that we can learn about best practices around suicide prevention and postvention in post-secondary institutions — and so that we can bring this topic out of the shadows and into the open in order to work together to find solutions.

Every suicide is a shattering, life-changing event for the family and friends of those left behind. A suicide attempt leaves a different life-changing path, no less devastating in many instances. Statistics Canada has reported that approximately eleven Canadians die by suicide each day – that’s the 9th cause of death in Canada this past year.

The Centre for Suicide Prevention has reported the suicide rate for First Nations male youth (age 15 to 24) is 126 per 100,000 compared to 24 per 100,000 for non-Indigenous male youth – that’s 5 times higher. For First Nations females, the suicide rate is 35 per 100,000 compared to 5 per 100,000 for non-Indigenous females – that’s 7 times higher. Suicide rates for Inuit youth are among the highest in the world, at 11 times the national average.

At Algonquin College, we are not immune from the impact of suicide. In the spring of 2019, Algonquin College students completed the National College Health Assessment.

We learned that, in the twelve months prior to the survey, over 11% of our students reported considering suicide and 2.5% of our students reported attempting suicide. But what is promising, and what you are building on today, is that 63% of students expressed a wish to receive information about suicide prevention.

Over the past couple of years, we have unfortunately seen a number of suicides by students on post-secondary campuses across the province. Post-secondary student populations are a reflection of society at large, and are not immune to suicide in spite of our best efforts.

Today’s Knowledge Exchange was designed with this reality in mind. Each post-secondary institution in Ontario, and a number in other provinces, has been invited to learn more about this vitally important topic, so our employees are better prepared to work with students who are suicidal. We also want to educate post-secondary employees about postvention best practices, so that, in the tragic instance when a student takes their own life, we can support students and employees in the aftermath of a suicide.

We are so happy you decided to join us today to learn from experts in the field of suicide prevention and postvention and look forward to learning together. Today’s Exchange has the potential to change the way we think and, I hope, it may also have the potential to save lives.

I wish you all an enriching day of sharing, learning and compassion.


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