Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association’s National Grief and Bereavement Day – November 18, 2025

Talking about death is not a norm for us as Canadians. Because of our unfamiliarity with the topic in general, we tend to not know how to integrate loss, making it difficult to process when our lives are touched by it. Often when we’re traversing grief and loss, we feel like we’re expected to get back to our lives as they were “before” as quickly as possible, and we aren’t prepared by how long grieving can take. It’s hard for us to know how we can support our loved ones, and ourselves, as we deal with bereavement, loss and grief.

The idea behind the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association’s National Grief and Bereavement Day is to build literacy around loss and grief, inviting Canadians to engage in conversations on how to support and resource ourselves and others through grief and bereavement. Recognizing our feelings, accepting them, and expressing them can often help. This is part of taking care of ourselves, which is especially important when we’re going through intense changes like loss. Finding meaning in the situation can help, as can finding humour in the moment. After time, we can reach a point where we can move on, while still keeping our loved ones in our lives in different ways.

Sometimes grief lasts longer and is deeper than we expect and we need a little more support. For those times, it’s important to seek extra support like peer support (try Peer Support Nova Scotia for one-off phone support) or grief-focused therapy. This fall, the Well-Being HUB is partnering with Bereaved Families NS to bring their peer-based grief and bereavement programs to the Eastern Shore and they are also offering virtual programming for a number of different needs.

Check out their evolving calendar & links to register here. For more information, contact Bereaved Families at 902-564-6795 info@bereavedfamiliesns.ca.

If you are in crisis or looking for support contact:

·       811 for health advice, 911 for emergencies, or 988 for suicide support

·       The NSH Mental Health Crisis line at 1 888 429 8167

·       the Mental Health and Addictions Intake line at 1-855-922-1122

·       the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 or http://www.kidshelpphone.ca

Or visit your nearest hospital’s emergency department.