Canadian suicide rates greatly increased in the 1960s and 1970s and, while they have levelled out in the 1980s, they are still at the highest level in Canadian history. Between 1960 and 1978, the overall suicide rate rose from 7.6 per 100,000 population to 14.8, according to Statistics Canada figures. During the last decade, the suicide rate, though relatively stable, has been about double the rate throughout most of the period from1921 to 1961 and well above previous highs recorded during the Depression of the 1930s. It is important to remember that the actual number of suicides in Canada may be under-reported. A death is only certified as a suicide by medical and legal authorities when the victim’s intent is clearly proven.
The federal government moved to address the suicide problem by appointing a National Task Force on Suicide in Canada in 1980. Its report was made public in 1987. Though the statistics used are from 1985 at the latest, and more often earlier, the study is the most comprehensive examination of the phenomenon ever done in Canada. Seven population groups were identified by the Task Force as being at high risk; one of these was young people. While males aged 20-24 constitute the age group with the most significant rise in suicide deaths in the past 20 years, marked increases have been noted in the 15-19 age group, again most significantly among males. The report describes and evaluates a range of prevention, intervention and follow-up programs, and makes a number of recommendations having to do not only with the determinants of suicide but with the means of preventing it. No major federal policy initiatives have resulted from the report. It is not the aim of this paper to review the findings of the Task Force report but rather to comment on changes in dealing with certain aspects of the teenage suicide phenomenon that have taken place since the Task Force research and have been discussed in the literature since 1987.
http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp236-e.htm
The federal government moved to address the suicide problem by appointing a National Task Force on Suicide in Canada in 1980. Its report was made public in 1987. Though the statistics used are from 1985 at the latest, and more often earlier, the study is the most comprehensive examination of the phenomenon ever done in Canada. Seven population groups were identified by the Task Force as being at high risk; one of these was young people. While males aged 20-24 constitute the age group with the most significant rise in suicide deaths in the past 20 years, marked increases have been noted in the 15-19 age group, again most significantly among males. The report describes and evaluates a range of prevention, intervention and follow-up programs, and makes a number of recommendations having to do not only with the determinants of suicide but with the means of preventing it. No major federal policy initiatives have resulted from the report. It is not the aim of this paper to review the findings of the Task Force report but rather to comment on changes in dealing with certain aspects of the teenage suicide phenomenon that have taken place since the Task Force research and have been discussed in the literature since 1987.
http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp236-e.htm
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