Province to develop two-pronged plan targeted at preventing youth suicides

Alberta says a new strategy is needed to stem suicide among young people, especially at-risk Indigenous youth.

The Children’s Services Ministry’s business plan released with the provincial budget last month commits the government to developing a youth suicide prevention plan.

The province says the plan will be two-pronged, with a broadbased strategy aimed at the wider population and a second stream aimed specifically at supporting Indigenous youth.

Alberta has one of the highest rates of suicide among Canadian jurisdictions across all demographics. Statistics provided by the government say that between 2000 and 2016, the average suicide rate for Indigenous youth aged 10 to 24 is 45.1 per 100,000 population, compared to 8.5 for non-Indigenous youth.

“Indigenous populations have some very specific cultural context and trauma that we need to address differently,” said Kesa Shikaze, a senior manager in Children’s Services’ Prevention and Early Intervention division.

The province says it recognizes the legacy of damage caused by First Nations residential schools and the Sixties scoop. Its development of a suicide prevention plan with a focus on Indigenous youth follows a recommendation from Alberta’s child and youth advocate, Del Graff.

In a report last year, Graff said that such a strategy “must be developed within the context, and in recognition of, the traditional values and cultural practices relevant to Aboriginal youth in the community.”

This year’s provincial budget puts $1 million toward developing the Indigenous component of

the suicide prevention plan in conjunction with Indigenous communities, Alberta Health Services and the provincial Health Department.

Shikaze said there is no firm timeline but the province hopes to roll out its plan later this year.

Among the areas being looked at in the broad-based plan are bolstering peer mentoring and support for at-risk youths. There is also the need for increased training for primary care network physicians in dealing with people in crisis and at risk of killing themselves.

“The intent is really to look at best and promising practices, both from the literature and from existing activities that are underway,” Shikaze said in an interview this week.

The strategy will also focus on subpopulations that have a relatively higher risk of dying by suicide, including LGBTQ youth and young people grappling with mental illness, she said.

One organization helping to develop the plan is the Calgary-based Centre for Suicide Prevention, a branch of the Canadian Mental Health Agency.

The centre’s executive director, Mara Grunau, said a strategy aimed at youth allows for early intervention.

“If a person is at risk from suicide from an early age and it goes undealt with, unaddressed, then it festers with time and it becomes more intense as you grow,” she said in an interview this week. “Early intervention is key.” For people experiencing a crisis, there is a national suicide prevention hotline at 1-833-456-4566 and text: 45645. There are also resources at