Not all communities are equally affected by the suicide crisisįor the First Nations population, the suicide rate was two times as high for those living on-reserve as those living off-reserve. This still leaves First Nations males with a suicide rate that is 1.5 times higher than that of First Nations females, while the estimated rates for both Inuit and Métis people are three times as high for males as for females, the same ratio as for non-Indigenous Canadians. Indigenous suicide rates are higher for males than for females, for each of the three groups, as is the case for the overall non-Indigenous population, which has a ratio of approximately three males dying by suicide for each female who does.Īnd yet, whereas First Nations males are 2.4 times more likely to die by suicide as non-Indigenous males, First Nations females are five times more likely than non-Indigenous females. (There wasn’t enough data to generate accurate rates for Métis by age range.) First Nations females have a disproportionate suicide rate For First Nations people, the rate for these ages is 6.2 times higher than for non-Indigenous population in the same age range for Inuit people, the rate is 23.9 times higher. The highest rates of Indigenous suicide are seen in youth and young adults, between the ages of 15 and 24, Kumar told National Observer. For those unfamiliar, it puts Inuit among the people with the highest rates of suicide anywhere in the world. The report’s central finding - that First Nations people die by suicide at three times the rate of non-Indigenous Canadians, Inuit at nine times the rate, and Métis at two times - illustrates a crisis but is not likely to surprise those familiar with previous statistics. Thus, the Statistics Canada report’s contributions in terms of new, fuller data analysis are important.
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The findings are estimations not full counts, as they’re based on only a sample portion of the full population, and there are some population groups not surveyed.īut as Indigenous researchers Roland Chrisjohn and Shaunessy McKay wrote in Dying To Please You: Indigenous Suicide in Contemporary Canada, their 2017 book on the suicide crisis, discourse about the problem and solutions is often unhelpful and not evidence-based: “It sounds like drumbeats of a PR bandwagon, like Native people are being recruited to a mainstream viewpoint rather than being convinced with real data with all parties repeating a mantra over and over again until they parrot it without any real understanding.” The lead researcher of the report, Mohan Kumar, said he wants readers to remember that for each of the numbers in the report “there is a person behind them, and their deaths meant an incredible loss to family, friends, community and the society at large.”Ĭanada doesn’t track suicides specifically by Indigenous identity, and the process that Kumar and co-researcher Michael Tjepkema used to overcome this is important to look at, as are the limitations inherent to these findings. The report’s analysis includes a number of socio-economic factors, as well as comparative differences based on age, sex and location - on or off reserve. While comprehensive, the report acknowledges there are limitations to the findings that likely result in underestimations of the actual rates. Released at the end of June, the Statistics Canada report titled “ Suicide among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit (2011-2016)” found that, overall, Indigenous people in Canada die by suicide at a rate three times as high as non-Indigenous Canadians. The Hope For Wellness help line is 1-85 or via online chat, Additional supports are available through We Matter.Ī new report on Indigenous suicide in Canada has generated the most comprehensive picture of the crisis to date, despite health authorities continuing not to collect data about the problem. Note: This content may be emotionally difficult.