Frequently Asked Questions
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About the Campaign | Why Canada Needs a National Strategy | Campaign Progress & Next Steps | Getting Involved | Resources and Contact
About the Campaign
What is Hope Can't Wait?
Hope Can't Wait is a national advocacy campaign calling for the creation and implementation of a comprehensive National Suicide Prevention Strategy for Canada.
The campaign brings together organizations, professionals, communities, advocates, and people with lived and living experience to advance a coordinated, evidence-informed, and accountable approach to suicide prevention.
Our goal is to help ensure suicide prevention is a sustained national priority, supported by meaningful action, long-term investment, and collaboration across governments and communities.
Why Hope can't Wait as the name?
Preventing suicide requires action before people reach a crisis point. It requires sustained investment in prevention, accessible supports, community programs, research, and coordinated systems of care.
Hope Can't Wait reflects the urgency of this work. Canadians deserve a coordinated approach that prioritizes prevention, responds to people's needs, and works toward measurable improvements in outcomes.
What is the campaign trying to achieve?
The campaign is advocating for the development and implementation of a comprehensive National Suicide Prevention Strategy that establishes clear priorities, responsibilities, resources, and measures of progress.
We believe a national strategy should:
- Establish measurable suicide prevention targets.
- Support sustainable, long-term investment in prevention and services.
- Improve coordination among federal, provincial, territorial, and community partners.
- Strengthen access to prevention, intervention, and postvention supports.
- Improve suicide prevention data, research, and public reporting.
- Address differences in access to support across communities.
- Establish clear accountability for delivering on commitments.
- Recognize the expertise of people with lived and living experience.
Our ultimate goal is to contribute to a Canada where suicide prevention is coordinated, adequately supported, and embedded in long-term public policy.
Who is behind Hope Can't Wait?
Hope Can't Wait is a campaign started by lived-experience Canadian mental health advocate Joshua Bell.
The campaign draws on professional expertise, lived and living experience, research, community perspectives, and the work of organizations committed to suicide prevention.
We aim to work collaboratively with national, provincial, territorial, and local organizations, as well as policymakers and communities across Canada.
You can learn more about the campaign's origins, leadership, and supporters through the About and Campaign History pages.
Is the campaign political?
No. Hope Can't Wait is a non-partisan advocacy and awareness campaign focused on suicide prevention and public policy.
We engage with elected officials and governments to advocate for a comprehensive national strategy. We welcome constructive engagement across political parties and jurisdictions because suicide prevention is a shared public responsibility.
Our focus is on evidence-informed policy, meaningful collaboration, and measurable progress—not partisan politics.
Why Does Canada Need a National Strategy
Doesn't Canada already have a suicide prevention strategy?
Canada has an established federal framework for suicide prevention and a federal Suicide Prevention Action Plan. Provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous communities, and organizations also undertake important prevention initiatives.
However, the existence of these initiatives does not necessarily mean Canada has a single, comprehensive national strategy with a coordinated approach to priorities, long-term investment, measurable outcomes, and accountability across jurisdictions.
Hope Can't Wait is calling for a more comprehensive national approach that builds on existing work, strengthens coordination, and establishes a clear framework for sustained progress.
The objective is not to dismiss what already exists. It is to build on existing efforts and address gaps that remain.
What is the difference between a national strategy and an action plan?
An action plan generally identifies specific activities, initiatives, or steps intended to address an issue.
A comprehensive national strategy provides a broader, longer-term framework that establishes a shared vision, priorities, responsibilities, resources, and measures of success.
A national suicide prevention strategy should help connect individual initiatives within a coordinated approach, clarify how progress will be measured, and support accountability over time.
Action plans can be valuable tools for implementing a strategy. The campaign's position is that Canada needs a comprehensive national framework to guide and sustain these efforts.
Why isn't the existing federal approach enough?
Existing federal initiatives contribute important work to suicide prevention. However, suicide prevention involves much more than the activities of a single department or the delivery of individual programs.
It requires collaboration across health care, education, social services, housing, justice, research, community organizations, and other sectors.
Hope Can't Wait is advocating for a comprehensive approach that brings these efforts together, establishes shared priorities, supports long-term investment, and makes progress more transparent.
A national strategy can provide a stronger foundation for coordinating existing initiatives, identifying gaps, and determining where additional action is needed.
Why does suicide prevention need national coordination?
People's access to services, community supports, and prevention programs can differ depending on where they live and the circumstances of their community.
National coordination can help governments and organizations share knowledge, identify gaps, strengthen connections between services, and establish common priorities while allowing local approaches to reflect local needs.
A coordinated national strategy can also support better data collection, more consistent measurement of progress, and stronger collaboration across jurisdictions.
The aim is to strengthen the collective response while recognizing the different responsibilities and expertise of Canada's governments and communities.
What would a National Suicide Prevention Strategy include?
Hope Can't Wait is advocating for a strategy that addresses prevention across the lifespan and across the many settings where people live, learn, work, and access support.
Key elements should include:
Leadership and coordination: Clear responsibilities and collaboration across governments and sectors.
Prevention and early intervention: Investment in initiatives that support well-being and help people access assistance early.
Accessible services: Stronger connections between prevention, intervention, treatment, recovery, and ongoing support.
Postvention: Appropriate supports for people and communities affected by suicide loss.
Sustainable funding: Long-term investment in effective programs, services, research, and community initiatives.
Data and research: Better information to guide decisions, identify gaps, and evaluate progress.
Measurable targets: Clear indicators and regular public reporting.
Equity and cultural safety: Approaches developed with communities and responsive to their distinct needs.
Public education: Efforts to improve understanding, reduce stigma, and encourage help-seeking.
Accountability: Clear expectations for implementation and ongoing evaluation.
The detailed priorities and recommendations will need to be developed with relevant partners, experts, communities, and people with lived and living experience.
Would a national strategy replace provincial and territorial strategies?
No. A national strategy should complement and strengthen existing provincial, territorial, municipal, and community efforts.
Health care and social services involve different responsibilities across Canada's jurisdictions. A national strategy can establish shared priorities, encourage collaboration, support information-sharing, and help identify gaps without assuming that every community needs the same programs or approach.
The goal is to improve coordination while respecting jurisdictional responsibilities and community leadership.
Why is long-term funding important?
Effective suicide prevention requires sustained effort. Programs need the resources, trained personnel, partnerships, and infrastructure necessary to operate consistently and respond to changing community needs.
Short-term funding can make it difficult for organizations to retain staff, plan services, evaluate outcomes, and build lasting relationships with the communities they serve.
Hope Can't Wait is calling for dedicated, sustained investment that supports effective prevention initiatives, services, research, education, and community-based programs.
Funding decisions should be informed by evidence, community priorities, and transparent evaluation.
How would we know whether a national strategy is working?
A strategy should establish measurable objectives and a clear process for reporting progress.
Depending on the final framework, indicators could include:
- Progress toward agreed-upon suicide prevention targets.
- Access to appropriate prevention and support services.
- Availability and use of evidence-informed programs.
- Improvements in the timeliness and quality of relevant data.
- Progress in addressing gaps between communities.
- Sustainable funding and implementation of commitments.
- Feedback from people with lived and living experience.
- Public reporting on outcomes and areas requiring further action.
No single indicator can capture the full picture. Evaluation should consider both population-level outcomes and the implementation of measures intended to improve prevention and access to support.
Hope Can't Wait believes that a national strategy must include transparent accountability so Canadians can understand what is being done, what progress is being made, and where further work is needed.
The Campaign's History and Next Steps
What has Hope Can't Wait accomplished so far?
Hope Can't Wait has worked to raise awareness of the need for a comprehensive national suicide prevention strategy and mobilize public and organizational support for action.
In March 2026, a petition calling for the creation and implementation of a national suicide prevention strategy was submitted to the House of Commons. It received more than 460 signatures before closing in July 2026.
The campaign has also brought together supporting organizations and made resources available to inform public discussion and policy development.
This work provides a foundation for the next phase: expanding national collaboration, gathering recommendations, strengthening the coalition, and advocating for meaningful policy action.
Is the Hope Can't Wait petition still open?
No. The parliamentary petition associated with Hope Can't Wait closed on July 17, 2026.
Although the petition is closed, the campaign continues. The next phase focuses on building support for a comprehensive national strategy, engaging organizations and communities, developing policy recommendations, and encouraging federal action.
You can still participate by supporting the campaign, joining the coalition, sharing campaign resources, or contacting your elected representatives.
What happens next?
The campaign is working toward a broader, sustained national effort to advance suicide prevention in Canada.
The next phase includes:
- Expanding participation from organizations and communities across Canada.
- Gathering input on national priorities and policy recommendations.
- Engaging people with lived and living experience.
- Supporting collaboration among sectors and jurisdictions.
- Sharing evidence and resources to inform policy development.
- Advocating for a comprehensive national strategy with clear implementation and accountability mechanisms.
Progress will depend on collaboration among the campaign, coalition members, communities, policymakers, and other partners.
We encourage Canadians and organizations to participate in shaping the discussion and advocating for meaningful action.
Has the Government of Canada committed to creating the strategy being proposed?
Hope Can't Wait is advocating for a comprehensive national strategy and its implementation.
The existence of federal suicide prevention initiatives should not be confused with a commitment to adopt every recommendation advanced by the campaign.
For the latest information about government commitments, parliamentary developments, and the campaign's advocacy activities, please consult our campaign updates and policy resources.
We will continue to encourage decision-makers to work toward a coordinated, measurable, and sustained national approach.
Getting Involved
How can I support Hope Can't Wait?
There are several ways to get involved, whether you are an individual, a professional, or part of an organization.
You can:
- Join the national coalition.
- Contact your Member of Parliament and ask them to support a comprehensive national strategy.
- Share campaign information and resources.
- Encourage your organization to support the campaign.
- Contribute your professional or community perspective to policy discussions.
- Participate in campaign activities and consultations.
- Help raise awareness of suicide prevention and available supports.
Every action can help strengthen public understanding and build support for sustained national action.
Can my organization support the campaign?
Yes. Hope Can't Wait welcomes engagement from organizations that support stronger, coordinated suicide prevention in Canada.
We encourage participation from national and regional organizations, health and social service providers, professional associations, researchers, educational institutions, Indigenous organizations and governments, youth-serving organizations, community groups, employers, and other interested partners.
Organizations can help by endorsing the campaign, sharing expertise, contributing to policy discussions, participating in collaborative activities, and encouraging decision-makers to prioritize suicide prevention.
Visit our Coalition page to learn more about organizational participation and how to express interest in joining.
What does joining the coalition involve?
The coalition is intended to bring together organizations, professionals, communities, advocates, and people with lived and living experience who share an interest in advancing suicide prevention in Canada.
Participation may include sharing expertise, contributing to policy discussions, supporting advocacy efforts, participating in working groups, and helping communicate the importance of a national strategy.
The precise membership structure, participation expectations, and governance arrangements will be communicated as the coalition develops.
Joining should provide opportunities to contribute in ways that reflect your organization's capacity, expertise, and priorities.
Can individuals participate, or is the campaign only for organizations?
Individuals are welcome to support Hope Can't Wait.
Suicide prevention benefits from the participation of people with diverse perspectives and experiences, including community members, professionals, advocates, families, and people with lived and living experience.
You do not need to represent an organization or have a professional background in mental health to support the call for stronger national action.
You can help by sharing information, contacting elected representatives, participating in campaign activities, and encouraging constructive conversations about suicide prevention.
How can people with lived and living experience contribute?
People with lived and living experience have important knowledge that can help shape more responsive and effective suicide prevention policy.
Hope Can't Wait supports meaningful opportunities for these perspectives to inform the development of national priorities, recommendations, services, and accountability measures.
Participation should be voluntary, respectful, and accessible. People should be able to choose how they contribute and should never feel pressured to disclose personal experiences.
As the campaign develops its coalition and consultation activities, we aim to create opportunities for people with lived and living experience to contribute to the work in meaningful ways.
How can I contact my Member of Parliament?
You can contact your Member of Parliament to express your support for a comprehensive National Suicide Prevention Strategy.
You may wish to ask your MP to support:
- A coordinated national approach to suicide prevention.
- Sustainable investment in prevention and support services.
- Clear national objectives and measurable targets.
- Stronger collaboration across governments and sectors.
- Transparent reporting and accountability.
Visit our Take Action page for campaign advocacy resources and information about contacting your representative.
Can I share Hope Can't Wait's resources?
Yes. We encourage people and organizations to share campaign information to help raise awareness and build support for national action.
Please use the campaign's official materials where available, and ensure that statistics, policy claims, and references are presented accurately and in context.
If your organization would like to collaborate on an event, communication, or awareness initiative, please contact the campaign team.
Accountability, Resources, and Contact
Where can I find the campaign's policy recommendations?
Visit the National Strategy and Resources sections of our website for information about the campaign's objectives, policy priorities, supporting research, and relevant publications.
We aim to make resources available to inform public discussion, organizational engagement, and conversations with policymakers.
As recommendations are developed and refined, these sections can provide updates on the campaign's evolving policy positions.
Does Hope Can't Wait provide mental health care or crisis services?
No. Hope Can't Wait is an advocacy campaign focused on suicide prevention policy, public awareness, and collaboration. It is not a crisis response service, health care provider, or substitute for professional care.
If you or someone you know needs support, please visit our Get Support page for information about available services.
In Canada, you can call or text 988 for suicide crisis support. If there is immediate danger, call 911.
How can I ask a question or get in touch?
We welcome questions, feedback, and expressions of interest from individuals and organizations.
For general campaign inquiries, please contact info@hopecantwait.ca.
For questions about policy recommendations and input, please contact policy@hopecantwait.ca.
We appreciate your interest in advancing suicide prevention in Canada.
How can I stay informed about the campaign?
Visit the News & Updates section of our website for announcements, policy developments, campaign activities, and opportunities to participate.
You can also follow the campaign's official communication channels and share updates with your networks.
Staying informed helps strengthen public awareness and maintain momentum for sustained action on suicide prevention.
Hope Can't Wait:
Email Your MP Now
Take 30 seconds and email your MP requesting the creation and implementation of a comprehensive national suicide prevention strategy.
HOPE CAN'T WAIT
A national movement for a comprehensive Canadian Suicide Prevention Strategy.
Need Support?
If you or someone you know is in crisis in Canada, call or text 988. If there is immediate danger, call 911.
Hope Can't Wait is a project of the Office of Joshua Bell, a federally registered non-profit.
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