Suicide

Highlights

This report contributes to characterizing the potential impact of COVID-19 on suicidal behaviours in Quebec and on emergency department (ED) visits due to suicide attempts and suicidal ideation for the pre-pandemic (2014–2019) and the pandemic (2020–2021) periods. This is initiative was undertaken by the INSPQ as part of its monitoring activities.

• In the years leading up to the pandemic, a gradual decrease in the annual rate of ED visits for suicide attempts in Quebec was observed, from 65/100,000 people in 2014 to 50/100,000 people in 2019.
• Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the annual rate of ED visits due to suicide attempts appears to have decreased slightly more than the trend observed since 2016.
• The upward trend in the annual rate of ED visits for suicidal ideation observed in the five years preceding the pandemic was interrupted during the pandemic. This rate decreased from 415/100,000 people in 2019 to 348/100,0…

The NCCHPP produced a Scan of Mental Health Strategies1 to show what is being developed in the field of population mental health across Canada. This Scan provides an overview of mental health and wellness and related strategies through comparative tables and summaries, with a particular emphasis on work related to the promotion of mental health and the prevention of mental illnesses.

This document presents the information contained in the online comparative table that lists the most recent strategies related to suicide prevention in Canada. In developing this section of the Scan, a search of the grey literature was carried out, and completed by reaching out to key informants in certain provinces/territories. Briefly, we searched for suicide prevention strategies in each province and territory, as well as pan-Canadian strategies. The same procedure was used for identifying Indigenous-specific strategies. Despite this, the content is not necessarily a comprehensive review of a…