Nineteen post-secondary institutions across the province have partnered with the Government of Saskatchewan to address rising problems in the wellness and mental health of their students.

In a collaboration called Healthy Campus Saskatchewan (HCS), the schools are looking to focus on suicide awareness and prevention, sexual violence prevention, substance use, pandemic responses, and inclusive environments. According to Shawna Langer, the marketing and communications officer with HCS, this has the potential to do a lot of good.

"We are essentially creating a community of practitioners, students, and professionals from across the province to make those connections and help see what other campuses are doing," says Langer, Then we can see what's working and what's not working and hopefully share some expertise and knowledge."

Langer adds that many of these mental health and wellness issues have become very apparent lately.

"It's become pretty obvious that students have a lot of concerns at campuses across the province. There's been some research done in the United States, such as with the National College Health Assessment, but that didn't speak the situation in Canada."

The hope is to get a more local dataset. The first step for the initiative, therefore, will be deploying the Canadian Campus Wellbeing Survey.

"I believe we are the first province to use this kind of survey. That data can help us see if there are any gaps in services or differences in student needs across our campuses."

HCS will also be expanding the University of Saskatchewan's Peer Health Program to the rest of the province's schools.

"That program is really helpful in providing resources to students and bridging gaps between available services. It focuses on harm reduction and creating a safe space for students to feel supported on a peer-to-peer basis."

The program is run by student volunteers so recruitment is underway in each school for students looking to take part.

So far, the following post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan have signed on to the initiative, including two local ones.

  • Saskatchewan Polytechnic
  • Briercrest College and Seminary
  • University of Regina
  • University of Saskatchewan
  • Campion College
  • Cumberland College
  • Lakeland College
  • Northlands College
  • St. Thomas More College
  • Carlton Trail College
  • Luther College
  • Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies
  • First Nations University of Canada
  • Gabriel Dumont Institute
  • Great Plains College
  • Northwest College
  • Parkland College
  • Southeast College
  • St. Peter's College