Improving grief literacy: Highlights

We’ve been collaborating with hundreds of individuals and organizations to vision, design and deliver new grief literacy tools with investment from Health Canada.

Grief infographics

We’re pleased to share the following resources to help people understand their own, and others’ grief! Our newest infographic Grief - is it common to feel... illustrates the many different ways grief can look and feel. Grief is... shares key messages about grief, and Ideas to support someone sho is grieving helps people be a better support to each other. Thank you to the grief specialists and our Great Big Grief Focus Group for their time and insights in creating this resource.

Grief - is it common to feel... English infographic

Grief - is it common to feel... French infographic

Grief is... English infographic.

Grief is... French infographic

Ideas to Support Someone Who Is Grieving English infographic

Ideas to Support Someone Who Is Grieving French infographic

CGA National Grief Survey Results

Learn more about what 4000 people in Canada told us about their grief.

Executive Summary

Grief Chats Q&A Webinar Recordings

National Grief Network

If you are working in grief or related field join our growing national network for quarterly meetings to share, learn and support one another.

COMING SOON!

AboutGrief.ca
Aggregates helpful information about grief, including listings of local supports and trusted resoruces.
Next Steps Action Plan
A roadmap for improving grief literacy and services in Canada developed through cross-Canada consultations.

Never in our lifetimes has Canada experienced the volume and complexity of grief as has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canadians have been robbed of goodbyes with dying friends and family or people they care about and forced to grieve in isolation without funeral rites. They and those working on the front lines of health care are at heightened risk for prolonged, complicated grief marked by depression, and the risk of suicide. Existing grief services are fragmented, under-funded and insufficient. Left unaddressed, significant long-term social, health and economic impacts will result.

The Canadian Grief Alliance – a coalition of national leaders in grief and bereavement - is urging the Government of Canada to bolster the country’s grief services to meet the growing demand. Existing and recently announced mental health initiatives do not include grief services.

The proposal is supported by leading health, palliative care, and bereavement organizations including the Canadian Medical Association; the Canadian Psychiatric Association; the Canadian Nurses Association; Canadian Association of Social Workers; Canadian Association of Spiritual Care; the Canadian Alliance for Grieving Children and Youth and the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians, plus 150 other organizations.

“This is the hidden tragedy in the current crisis, but one that will also have long term implications for many individual Canadians as well as our health care systems and the economy. Many people are now facing the deaths of loved ones, isolated from networks of family and friends that normally help people get through such heartwrenching moments in their lives. Unless we step up and help people now, we will be dealing with the human toll for many years to come.” Paul Adams, CGA media spokesperson

The CGA applauds the increased investments for mental health services, however, grief services are outside the scope of these programs and are falling through the cracks of the Government’s response to COVID-19.

The CGA is calling for:

Develop a consultation-driven National Grief Strategy in the next 4 months to identify gaps, best practices and priorities.
Sustain and expand grief services by investing $100 million over three years to implement the National Grief Strategy.
Launch a national public awareness campaign to increase Canadians' understanding of grief, healthy coping strategies, and build the capacity of individuals and communities to support the grieving.
Invest $10 million in grief research to help us understand and respond to pandemic-related grief.

A pandemic of grief: 1 year of grief in Canada during COVID-19

March 8, 2021 marks one year since the first Canadian died of COVID-19. Since then, nearly 3 million Canadians are grieving a death during this pandemic. Watch this video for some of their stories.

Elder Roberta Price of Coast Salish Snuneymuxw & Cowichan offers a national blessing for our grief.