Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
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Multicenter Study
Suicide reduction in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons informing national prevention strategies for suicide reduction.
The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of federal, public health and social support programs on national suicide rates in Canada. ⋯ Our results indicate that for the first post-pandemic interval evaluated (i.e., March 2020 - February 2021), suicide rates in Canada decreased against a background of extraordinary public health measures intended to mitigate community spread of COVID-19. An externality of public health measures was a significant rise in national unemployment rates in population measures of distress. Our results suggest that government interventions that broadly aim to reduce measures of insecurity (i.e., economic, housing, health), and timely psychiatric services, should be prioritised as part of a national suicide reduction strategy, not only during but after termination of the COVID-19 pandemic.