About Us

The Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council has been active in the community since 1997.

The Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council (WRSPC) is a non-profit organization which has been active in the Waterloo Region community since 1997. We operate under the supervision of our Board and are supported by 3 full-time staff and one part-time staff.

As we value collaboration, WRSPC considers itself as a hub and point of connection for those engaged in the work of suicide prevention. We describe our efforts in community suicide prevention as promoting the work of hope, help, and healing.

Mission

Our mission is to reduce suicide and its impact through collaboration, education, training, and building a sense of belonging.

Vision

We envision a compassionate community leadership in suicide prevention, guiding the work of hope, help, and healing.

Values

Lived Experience

We seek meaningful and creative ways to involve people with lived experiences in our work.

Inclusivity

We break down barriers to create an anti-oppressive culture of respect and support that focuses on the individual needs of staff, volunteers, and people participating in our activities.

Community

We actively engage with our communities to create a sense of belonging for all.

Collaboration

We believe that by working together, we achieve great things.

Our Work

Our work is guided by our Strategic Plan 2025-2028, where we have identified four strategic goals:

Building a Sense of Community
Engaging Populations of Priority
Advancing Organizational Capacity
Growing Provincial and National Reach

On a day-to-day basis, our work can be understood as promoting hope, help, and healing.

Hope is the prevention work. We support hope through:

The development and distribution of suicide prevention resources to the community.
Social media engagement and campaigns.
Facilitating presentations in schools and workplaces on mental health and suicide prevention.
Hosting and participating in community events, such as our winter Community Skates, which help to foster peer relationships, social inclusion, and a sense of belonging.

Help is the intervention work that occurs when individuals are struggling with thoughts of suicide. While WRSPC does not provide suicide intervention directly through counselling or crisis response, we help by:

Facilitating access to training workshops for the community
Hosting professional development opportunities for those working in mental health, suicide prevention, intervention, or postvention fields.

Healing includes activities that are provided to support individuals and families in our community grieve and heal after a loved one has died by suicide. We help to facilitate healing by:

Coordinating the “Why…?” Support After Suicide Loss group for those bereaved by suicide in Waterloo Region and Wellington County.
Facilitating presentations on traumatic grief for individuals who are bereaved and those who support them.
Hosting events for those who are bereaved, such as our annual World Suicide Prevention Day event.

Equity Statement

To better serve the Waterloo Region community and beyond, Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council (WRSPC) is committed to embedding anti-racist, anti-oppressive and inclusive practices, and perspectives into our work. We actively engage in training, and opportunities for learning and unlearning from voices who have historically been silenced from conversations. Representation, celebration and allyship of diversity including ethnicities, races, sexual and gender identities, cultural backgrounds, abilities and beliefs are valued at WRSPC. We recognize the importance of building a culture of belonging for all. Our Board, staff, volunteers and community members are guided in our work by the principles of Hope, Help and Healing.

Building and fostering relationships with community partners through our Roundtables is a priority, as we commit to building an organization within this community that is focused on action and change.

Connect with Us!

We love to hear from professionals, service providers, and community members who are interested in learning more about our work.