Suicide Prevention Month at StFX: The State of StFX Counselling and the Latest Mental Health Movement

As recently as May 2026, the Government of Canada’s health info database declared that an approximate 4750 people die by suicide every year, with Nova Scotia's numbers reflecting an estimated 130-150 deaths by suicide per year. Nationally, suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth and young adults aged 15-23. 

Given these statistics, alongside the distinct pressures and student-specific needs comprised of academic, social, and financial stresses, it is a simple fact that our demographic is especially vulnerable.  

On a campus like StFX, where our campus community is so engaged with student life and experiences, most issues become glaringly obvious. Problems often do not continue at StFX if students are collectively speaking about them.  

However, this seems to not apply when it comes to the subject of suicide and mental health among students. There has been a historically negative stigma attached to mental health and getting professional help for such conflicts. This ultimately leads to a neglect of exposure, communication, and vulnerability with one another in the face of struggle. 

In May 2024, CBC News published an article simply titled, Suicide is a Leading Cause of Death for Young People, but Most Universities don't Track it. The article accounted for 52 Canadian universities, with several maritime institutions, including StFX, making the list.  

70% of the 52 universities investigated did not track student deaths by suicide or student suicide attempts. It was found that very few do track these numbers, as the remaining schools either did not respond to CBC’s request for data, or these schools did offer a response, but did not specifically address if suicide was tracked.  

StFX, alongside other Nova Scotia Universities (Cape Breton University and Mount Saint Vincent University) were of the minority that did not specify if student suicides or attempts were tracked.  

The ambiguity in this fact is the problem. Whether or not StFX students have committed suicide or attempted to do so is one matter, but there is nothing to be done in preventing future loss if there is no data to help us attribute a cause to such events, or knowledge about whether a student did or did not utilize campus resources. 

However, a newly launched mental-health movement is occurring throughout campus. The recent initiative titled Check-In, is one entirely student run and focuses on student-specific struggles in relation to their mental health. combatting the stigmas and stereotypes attached to it.  

The initiative was started by 2nd year health science student and Check-In President, Kevin Thomson. Other key members of the project include Vice Presidents Cole Thomson and Cormac Mallet. They are also backed by team of students, with support through social media management, marketing, finances, event planning, and several connections throughout StFX athletics.  

In my interview with Kevin, he spoke about what prompted him to start the group, stating “We realize there’s a stigma about getting access to mental health resources, so our main goal is trying to reduce the stigma. We basically do this by creating a culture of connection and trying to create the conversations about mental health more normal. We want to be able to allow students to reach out for help, and try to break the stigma as much as possible through our content creation and different events that we hold” 

Kevin expanded further on this cultural stigma, explaining “The stigma about mental health is obviously something we need to tackle, and there’s a lot of people that are struggling, and they don’t always know where to go with their problems. A lot of people might be like ‘it’s weak to try and get help’ but in reality, it’s not. You’re making your problems a lot deeper, and they’ll have a lot more of an effect on you if you keep it to yourself. Reaching out is the best thing you can do. That’s our main goal, and if we’re able to achieve that then everything we’re doing will be worth it.” 

In an anonymous form posted to Instagram by the Xaverian Weekly, we asked students to share their take on mental health at StFX. One response wrote: 

"StFX appears to take student mental health seriously and has considerably more infrastructure than simply “there’s a counsellor on campus.” However, the existence of resources doesn’t necessarily mean that students with significant or ongoing mental health needs are adequately supported. The biggest question isn’t whether StFX offers mental-health resources—it clearly does. The more interesting question is whether those resources are accessible, sufficient, and integrated into the broader academic experience when a student is struggling. Academic pressure can also become part of a cycle where mental- health difficulties lead to missed classes, lower grades, or academic consequences, which can then create even more stress and make a student’s mental health worse. I think universities need to recognize that academic struggles and mental health aren’t separate issues, and supporting students means addressing both sides of that cycle rather than simply referring students to counselling." 

A second response wrote: 

“The school doesn’t actually support mental health. Student Life especially appears to value certain groups—mostly their ‘favourites’—and it has impacted me negatively as it means I cannot sufficiently access resources. I shouldn’t be at risk of mental health consequences because someone has decided they dislike me”  

The first response highlights the academic aspect of student mental health. As I previously mentioned, students are faced with several pressures across a range of aspects such as academic, social, and financial. Considering this fact, one's mental well-being is largely based on the level of support offered for these many facets. As this anonymous individual stated, cannot be entirely fixed through a single visit to the counselling office. 

The second response also offers a unique take that biases and favoritism is present throughout these services, which is something I think is rarely considered when conversating about mental health resources.  

Both respondents argue against StFX's mental health services, but in differing ways.  Although addressing that they are widely known about and readily available to all students, they pose questions and prompt reflection regarding the true effectiveness and care for students who choose to utilize them. 

In our interview, Kevin shared his perspective on StFX's mental health services, and how the Check-In project is here no matter what.  

 "Were not replacing professional mental health services, were just trying to get students more comfortable in taking that first step," said Kevin. He continued, "A lot of people are unsure of how mental health counseling works, and they’re kind of afraid to step into that. We’re gonna make sure that taking that step isn’t something that’s like ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’, ‘should I really be doing this?' We’re going to make that feel more normal.’  

He continued, stating "They’re all free services; they’re something you should definitely take advantage of. There are enough services, but the amount of people that use them isn’t enough, just because of the stigma that getting support isn’t normal. Eventually, we’re gonna tackle the stigma so more people end up going and using the free resources we have, that we have plenty of." 

Kevin elaborated further on the brand aspect of Check-In. “Obviously our name is Check-In, the slogan is you’re not alone. Check-In means you can check-in on yourself; you can check in on others. The slogan helps in creating a campus where people realize you’re not alone, so we created a t-shirt about it. 

He continued explaining the thought process behind this creation. "The logo is on the front with the slogan on the back, and they’re green, which is the mental health colour. The idea is that people can wear these on campus, so others can see the message ‘you’re not alone.’ I feel like it’s something that can have a big impact on people. People might think ‘oh it’s really not gonna help too much’ but seeing that one thing on someone else, and that they have your back, that’s the best thing.” 

When I asked Kevin about the future of Check-In, he responded, "Our first event is Green Games. October 8th is gonna be women and men's soccer, and October 10th will be women's ice hockey. The whole point is a green out, so everyone in the stands needs to wear green in support of mental health. We wanna have a nice turnout for that." 

Kevin concluded our interview by reiterating the primary goal of Check-In.“Even if we can help one person feel more connected, supported, and comfortable getting that support, that’ll make everything that we’re doing worth it. In a few years I'd say we’re gonna have more and bigger events. This year is just a start to get the initial ideas down. I know with more time people are gonna feel what we’re doing, and it’s gonna help a lot of people” 

Regardless of the varying perspectives on if and how StFX responds to students' mental health and well-being effectively, there is no doubt that Check-In is there to encourage and support students in taking the first steps to receive the help they need. Although not a replacement for certified mental health resources, they offer the perspective, connection, and support for fellow students in understanding the unique, student-specific issues most, if not all of us, have experienced while breaking the unfortunate stigmas around mental health and getting help.  

Check-In Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/checkinstfx/  

StFX Mental Health Services: Mental Health Services | St. Francis Xavier University 

CBC Article: Suicide is a leading cause of death for young people, but most universities don't track it | CBC News