Student Suicide On-Campus: Tort Liability of Canadian Universities and Determining a Duty of Care

AuthorShailaja Nadarajah
PositionHolds an Honours Bachelor of Science from McMaster University and is a third-year JD student at Queen's University, Faculty of Law
Pages97-120
APPEAL VOLUME 26 97
* Shailaja holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from McMaster University and is a third-year JD stu-
dent at Queen’s University, Faculty of Law. She sincerely thanks Professor Lynne Hanson and Rayna
Lew for their suggestions on early drafts of this paper, and Professor Lisa Kelly, Joannie Fu, and the
rest of the Appeal editorial team for their meticulous edits.
ARTICLE
STUDENT SUICIDE ONCAMPUS: TORT
LIABILITY OF CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES
AND DETERMINING A DUTY OF CARE
Shailaja Nadarajah *
CITED: (2021) 26 Appeal 97
Trigger Warning/Content Warning:
is paper and its sources contain information about suicide and/or suicidal ideation. While
the paper has been written to follow the Crisis Services Canada ("CSC") guidelines for
reporting on suicide, there are certain sections with direct quotes which may be triggering to
readers. We encourage readers to reach out to CSC or their local suicide hotline for support.
If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, help is available.
ABSTRACT
Suicide is a devastating issue that is increasingly aecting post-secondary students across
Canadian university campuses. Despite growing awareness of this problem, research shows
that mental health supports for post-secondary students in Canada remain insucient and
inaccessible. is paper argues that the law is also lagging behind. Currently, no legal recourse
exists to nd universities civilly liable if students die by suicide, on- or o-campus. In an eort
to address this lag, this paper examines the potential consequences of expanding the duty of
care owed by universities to their students in tort law. is paper briey maps the current
legal terrain, both in terms of general duties of care that universities owe their students and
jurisprudence related to suicide prevention, for example, in the contexts of jails and hospitals.
e paper turns to American jurisprudence that has recognized a duty of care for universities
to prevent student suicides and considers the potential costs and benets, for universities and
students alike, of adopting such a standard in Canada to create a new and expanded duty.
APPEAL VOLUME 26 98
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 100
I. AN OVERVIEW ON MEN TAL HEALTH AND CANADIAN
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ........................................................................................... 101
A. STATISTICS ..........................................................................................................................101
B. SUICIDE RISK FACTORS FOR ADOLES CENTS AND
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS .................................................................................................101
C. BARRIERS TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE ...................................................................... 103
D. LACK OF FUND ING AFFECTS AVAILABILITY AND ACCESS OF
MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES ....................................................................................103
E. MENTAL HEALTH POLICIES AT CANADIAN UNIV ERSITIES
ARE UNDERDEVELOPED ............................................................................................... 104
F. TRAINING OF UN IVERSITY STAFF IS INSUFFICIENT ............................................ 105
G. STI GMA AND STEREOTYPING CONTR IBUTES TO THE PROBLEM ................. 105
II. LAW ON FINDING DUTI ES OF CARE ................................................................................106
A. FIN DING A NOVEL DUTY OF CARE ........................................................................... 106
B. WHEN IS THERE A DUTY O F AFFIRMATIVE ACTION? .........................................10 7
III. EXISTING DUTI ES OF CARE BETWEEN UNI VERSITIES
AND STUDENTS .......................................................................................................................108
A. T HE DUTY OF CARE ANALYSIS IS A CIRCUMSTANTIAL ONE .......................... 108
B. THE CONTRACTUAL REL ATIONSHIP BE TWEEN A UNIVERSITY AN D A
STUDENT MAY GIVE RISE TO A DU TY OF CARE ...................................................10 9
IV. DUT IES TO PREVENT SUICIDE: CURRENT C ANADIAN JURISPRUDENCE ...........110
A. A D UTY TO PREVENT SUICIDE HAS BEE N RECOGNIZED IN
THE JAILORPRISONER RELATIONSHIP ....................................................................11 0
B. A DUTY TO PREVENT SUI CIDE HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED IN
THE HOSPITALPATIENT RELATIONSHIP ..................................................................111
C. A DUTY TO PREVENT SUICIDE HA S BEEN RECOGNIZED IN
THE TEACHERSTUDENT RELATIONSHIP.................................................................111
D. POLIC Y CONSIDERATIONS IN ALLOWING RECOVERY
FOR SUICIDE........................................................................................................................112
V. A DUTY TO PREVENT SUICIDE O N CAMPUS: AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE ..... 114
A. A D UTY OF CARE TO PREVENT ST UDENT SUICIDES HAS
BEEN RECOGNIZED IN SOME AM ERICAN JURISDICTIO NS ..............................114
VI. PROPO SING A NOVEL DUTY OF CARE IN C ANADA ...................................................116

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