Action needed as youth suicide deaths reach all-time high: Manitoba advocate

More youth deaths from suicide were reported to Manitoba's children's advocate last year than ever before, a new report says — a growing problem the agency says governments and mental health organizations need to take action on.

The latest annual report from the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth, released Friday, says there were 37 youth deaths by suicide between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023 — 42 per cent more than during the 2021-22 year.

It's the highest annual number of deaths by suicide ever reported to the organization.

"The sad part about this whole thing is that these deaths are preventable," said Sherry Gott, Manitoba's children and youth advocate.

"Children are waiting for a mental health response."

Manitoba's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner notifies the youth advocate's office each time a person under 21 dies in the province.

Of the 265 death notifications it received this year, 14 per cent were from suicide. 

The report adds that Indigenous children and youth, especially those living in First Nations communities, make up the majority of those suicide deaths. More children and youth are dying at younger ages, the report says.

"There's nowhere for children in Manitoba, especially in the First Nation communities, to go," said Gott.

Since 2018, Indigenous children, youth  and young adults have consistently represented the majority of deaths by suicide in Manitoba — about 70 per cent, the youth advocate said in a Friday news release. 

Gott said a lack of mental health services in First Nations communities — many of which have declared a state of emergency over youth suicides — continues to put youth at risk.

Youth overdose deaths rising

More young people in the province are also dying from overdoses, Gott said.

In 2022-23, 18 young people died from overdoses in the province, according to the report.

To prevent the deaths, the youth advocate's office is calling for short- and long-term action plans.

It also repeated a call for the provincial government to develop a youth mental health strategy aimed at creating accessible mental health and addiction prevention and intervention services.

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee said his organization, which advocates for northern First Nations in Manitoba, stands by the youth advocate's calls for action.

The province "must engage with First Nations leadership and communities to address the youth suicide crisis in Manitoba," a long-standing problem that "requires immediate action through a collaborative and First Nations-led process," he said in a Friday news release.

The annual report also calls attention to other grim statistics, Gott noted, including an increase in sleep-related infant deaths.

There were 17 deaths in children up to the age of 24 months while sleeping or in a sleeping environment this past year, according to preliminary data, the report says. 

The youth advocate made recommendations on how to lower those deaths in a 2020 report, but Gott said the province still has yet to address those.

"It's very simple. They need to provide solutions to help … mothers to provide safe sleep surfaces," she said.'

That 2020 report found Indigenous infants were overrepresented in those deaths, making up 57 per cent of all sleep-related infant deaths but just 30 per cent of the province's live births.

The youth advocate asked the province to work with First Nations and Métis governments to make sure any expectant parents and caregivers have a safe place for their child to sleep, such as a crib.

If you or someone you know is struggling, here's where to get help:

• Call or text 988. Calls and texts are directed to a network of partners in communities across the country offering suicide prevention services such as counselling.The 988 service is available in English and French to all.
• Talk Suicide Canada: 1-833-456-4566 (phone) | 45645 (text between 4 p.m. and midnight ET).
• Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 (phone), live chat counselling on the website.
• Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention: Find a 24-hour crisis centre.

This guide from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health outlines how to talk about suicide with someone you're worried about.