Ontario is set to give two years of free grief counseling to families of first responders who have died in the line of duty and those who died by suicide.
Solicitor General Michael Kerzner explains that family members can utilize mental health services like crisis support, counseling, and therapy through phone or online.
He mentions that the Ontario Immediate Family Wellness Program will extend assistance to families of police officers, firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers, and provincial correctional services workers.
The province is allocating $3 million for the program and qualified family members include partners, parents, siblings, and children.
The province states that mental health professionals offering crisis and care support will be accessible 24/7.
An equivalent initiative was suggested in a 2019 report by the province’s Office of the Chief Coroner, which investigated the suicides of nine police officers in 2018.
