World Suicide Prevention Day: Navigating Mental Health Support at SABVC

Did you know that September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day?

This day gives us all an opportunity to remember the lives of those we’ve lost to suicide and raise awareness for suicide prevention. Here at SABVC we are committed to prioritizing the mental health and wellbeing of BVC students. We understand that being a student can be difficult and can become an overwhelming experience that significantly impacts your mental health. The 2016 National College Health Assessment Survey found that 13.1% of post-secondary students had seriously considered suicide, and 2.1% had attempted suicide. And although this survey is 10 years old, preventing suicide among post-secondary students is still an extremely prevalent issue. 

There are many resources available to help those experiencing mental health struggles and thoughts of suicide. A safety plan is an excellent tool used in the prevention of suicide. It is a document that can act as a guide to navigating what to do when experiencing thoughts of suicide. Safety plans include personal warning signs, successful coping strategies, support networks and personal reasons for living, steps to make your environment safe, and finally professionals or agencies that can be contacted or visited in the event of a crisis. 

SABVC has free mental health resources available for students to take, including fillable safety plans. Come visit SABVC’s office and take whatever resources you may need. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide or a mental health crisis, please contact any one of the following services:

• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 988

• Distress Centre: (403) 266-4357 or www.distresscentre.com

• BVC Counselling Services: https://bowvalleycollege.ca/student-resources/student-life/mental-health-and-wellness/bvc-counselling

• Emergency help: 911

• Urgent Mental Health: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/findhealth/Service.aspx?id=1064160&serviceAtFacilityID=1099659

• Mental Health Helpline: 1-877-303-2642

• Mental Health and Social Services: 211

  
  

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, please call 988 for immediate support.    Get Help, 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline, 988 | 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline 

Additional resources available for World Suicide Prevention Day, suicide prevention, intervention and postvention:  

• Youth and Suicide Resources  - Healthy Campus Alberta  

• Skills for Safer Living (SfSL)  - Healthy Campus Alberta  

• Men and Suicide: A Suicide Prevention Toolkit 

• Sexual Minorities and Suicide Prevention Toolkit 

• Transgender People and Suicide: A Suicide Prevention Toolkit 

• HCA Webinar - Build Your Own Campaign to Cultivate Belonging: Lessons Learned from Suicide Prevention Campaigns at the U of A 

• HCA Webinar - Creating a Campus Suicide Prevention Framework - Healthy Campus Alberta  

• International Association for Suicide Prevention  

• Resources - Centre for Suicide Prevention 

• Sept 10: World Suicide Prevention Day — Social Workers Association of Alberta  

• Home | Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention 

National Suicide Prevention Day

September 10, 2026, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.Outside SABVC, South Campus 2nd Floor