The BC Coroners Service is calling for a province-wide strategy to reduce suicides among young people after a new report found significant gaps in support systems—especially for Indigenous communities.
Content warning: mention of suicide statistics in young people.
Those experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including thoughts of suicide can go directly to the Squamish Hospital emergency or can call 9-8-8 for the Suicide Crisis Helpline 24/7 or 1-800-SUICIDE.
There is a consensus about the need to do better in supporting B.C.’s young people in terms of their mental health.
BC Coroners Service issued a report by the death-review panel about deaths by suicide in young people, published Oct. 14.
It includes recommendations about how to constructively and informatively reduce deaths by suicide by youth, including those who belong to Indigenous communities.
About the report
The report, Creating Connection, Supporting Strengths: A Review of Youth and Young Adult Deaths by Suicide In British Columbia, 2019-2023, was created in consultation with front-line service providers and experts, in fields such as youth mental health, education and child care, and Indigenous health.
The report reviewed the deaths of 435 young people in B.C. who died as a result of suicide between Jan. 1, 2019, and Dec. 31, 2023.
Findings showed that, on average, there were 22 deaths of 9-18-year-olds, and 65 deaths of 19 to 25 year olds annually.
Rates within Indigenous communities
The report insinuates that voices of Indigenous communities have not received adequate responses nor attention from provincial health care or social support systems.
Within its summary, it says that the rate of suicide among Indigenous youth and young adults was 17%, which, according to the report, is four times higher than the provincial rate.
23% of 9-18-year-old suicide deaths were Indigenous, and 15% of 19-25-year-old suicide deaths were also Indigenous.
Currently, the BC Coroners Service is unable to distinguish whether the Indigenous decedents are First Nations, Métis and/or Inuit.
Disproportionate representation, and continued discussion over Indigenous rights
According to the 2021 Canadian Census, 9.1% of the B.C. population under 25 identified as Indigenous. This percentage is likely underestimated, and therefore Indigenous youth and young adults are disproportionately over represented among those who die by suicide in B.C.
“National health data systems lack Indigenous identifiers, do not capture data from some regions, and do not routinely engage Indigenous communities in data governance,” the report reads.
The report also addresses the ongoing erasure of inherent Indigenous rights, and how Indigenous people may be supported amidst oppression.
“The erasure of inherent rights to self-determination, land, family, community and health through systematic colonization and continued racism and discrimination has resulted in lasting and ongoing impacts on the wellbeing of Indigenous communities.
“Indigenous approaches are shifting focus towards life promotion and conditions that support … strength and capacity in the face of oppressive policies.”
The report’s recommendations
The panel’s discussion culminated in striving for solutions.
The panel issued the following recommendations, intended to prevent future deaths and improve public health and public safety for youth and young adults in B.C.:
Create and implement a provincial suicide-risk-reduction framework specifically focused on youth and young adults.
Improve data collection, information sharing and reporting processes to better understand and support diverse communities throughout B.C.
Review existing social and emotional health-related resources to ensure they meet the needs of the diversity of school-age students in B.C.
Create an educational model to ensure doctors, nurses, paramedics and other emergency medical professionals are appropriately trained in early identification, assessment, management and followup of youth and young adults who are at higher risk of death by suicide.
Co-develop a “third spaces” strategy to create venues for young people to develop and maintain connections in their own communities.
Chair of the death-review panel Ryan Panton shared his sentiments about these recommendations.
“We know that losing a young life to suicide is devastating … These actions will help reduce the risk, while supporting better mental-health outcomes,” he said.
Furthermore, BC Coroner Services’ chief coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan said that young people should be assured of the support they need, and when they need it.
“I am confident this report will help ensure those supports are available and accessible to all,” she said.
READ MORE: B.C. releases guidance for doctors on youth mental health and substance-use care
Aligning with Indigenous approaches
Significantly, the content of the report appears to align with Indigenous approaches to treatment.
It explains that Indigenous approaches to suicide prevention embrace culture as treatment, and land as medicine, and that these approaches have been shown to reduce anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.
The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) website describes the significance of community as the “best way” of suicide prevention; traditional values such as family connectedness, and emotional safety.
This is part of the FNHA’s Hope, Help and Healing approach in relation to the provincial practice of Prevention, Intervention and Postvention (PIP),
The FNHA acknowledges that traditional knowledge and interconnection creates a balance to achieve wellness.
““We offer suicide-related supports [which] honour our cultures and traditional wellness methods, lead with First Nations ways of knowing and being, and utilize cultural practices and protocols,” The FNHA said in an emailed statement.
“It is a strengths-based approach rooted in First Nations knowledge systems and cultural teachings,” continues the statement.
“These strategies support the development of meaning and identity … and help our people develop healthy relationships with nature, spirit, family, community and culture.”
The Squamish Chief also reached out to Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) for comment, regarding culturally appropriate training and resources the Nation may wish to be prioritized in the Sea to Sky, but a reply was not received by press deadline.
The Squamish Chief also reached out to the provincial government for comment on the recommendations and will update this story when we hear back.
Ina Pace is The Squamish Chief’s Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) reporter.
This reporting was produced through the LJI, which supports original civic journalism across Canada.