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

• Author: Shailaja Nadarajah
• Position: Holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from McMaster University and is a third-year JD student at Queen's University, Faculty of Law
• Pages: 97-120

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