Step It Up 2025

In July of 2023, a member from our Bennett Design family lost her 70 year old father to suicide. He was a 30 year veteran of the Toronto Police Force and was the 3rd member of her family to take their own life in 5 years.

And while this series of tragedies left us bereft and searching in shock for answers, the statistics on suicide in Canada show this loss is all too common. 

The World Health Organization estimates one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds. Over 4,000 Canadians die by suicide every year—an average of 11 per day.

And yet, while mental illness accounts for about 10 per cent of the burden of disease in Ontario, it receives just seven per cent of health care dollars. This shortfall, totaling almost $1.5 billion, creates an ever-widening gap in the system's ability to deliver timely intervention and adequate…