Feds giving $1 million to help grieving Canadians

The Canadian government is giving $1 million in funding to the Canadian Grief Alliance (CGA) in an effort to address the growing need for grief support in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement comes at a time when an estimated 10 million Canadians are grieving a death that occurred during the pandemic or afterwards. The CGA says it will use the money to make a significant impact on Canada’s grief support landscape.

“The Government of Canada’s funding marks an important first step in improving support for grieving Canadians,” said Paul Adams, spokesperson for the CGA in a news release. “We look forward to engaging Canadians and organizations across the country in a social movement to improve our collective ability to respond to grief.”

The non-profit organization is aiming to develop foundational resources and learning opportunities to better assist Canadians in understanding and responding to grief. Adams said despite grief being a universal experience, many Canadians find it a difficult topic to discuss, and struggle to respond to others’ grief in a helpful way.

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed significant gaps in grief support across Canada.

"The Advancing Grief Literacy in Canada project shows how far we’ve come in our common vision for palliative care in Canada and supporting those experiencing any form of grief," said health minister Mark Holland in the release. "The project will improve access to educational tools and learning opportunities for people who are grieving, as well as their families and friends. I’m grateful to the Canadian Grief Alliance for raising awareness of the importance of palliative care and grief services."

The CGA has launched a public consultation, asking Canadians who have experienced any type of loss to take a survey. The survey asks about living with various losses, including death, relationship breakdown, business, and job loss.

 The CGA has also announced the launch of its learning opportunities, including a webinar on "Grief and the Holidays," as well as a monthly webinar series called "Grief Chats" starting in January.