Overview

• Chief coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan convened an expert panel in March to review 435 suicides among people aged 9 to 25 from 2019 to 2023.
• The panel calls for a youth-focused provincial suicide risk-reduction framework, clinician training on early identification, assessment and follow-up, better data collection, and a review of student supports.
• The death review reports suicide as the second leading cause of death for children and youth in B.C. and the third for young adults aged 19 to 29.
• The report finds suicide rates for status First Nations youth and young adults are four times the provincial rate and ties this disparity to colonialization and multi-generational trauma.
• The panel notes youth suicide numbers have remained relatively unchanged in recent years and cites strained, inequitable access to care that especially affects racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+ youth and those in rural and remote communities.