Human Resources committee  I'm not sure I can answer that for you. If there's a death certificate that is issued and there is some behind the scenes work that can be done, that's always helpful. I also feel that when families are aware that this is the process, information can be comforting to them, so it

Human Resources committee  No. It's been around for about 25 years.

Human Resources committee  There is now. After Bill 141 passed, we became fully funded by the Ministry of Health in Ontario.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. It's not top of mind for families to let Service Canada know that their baby has died. Oftentimes, there is no one around them to tell them to do so. That would be some of the education we would need to give to funeral homes, to health care providers, and anyone who i

Human Resources committee  That's right.

Human Resources committee  If you ask families to provide their consent for you to share their information with Service Canada, that could happen at the health care provider level. Some families may not choose to go to a funeral home, depending on their beliefs and on the stage of their loss. The health ca

Human Resources committee  I think the automatic and universal nature of that type of support would first validate that this is a loss that deserves this type of attention and deserves to be supported by our government. When we offer families information at the time of their loss about support that is av

Human Resources committee  The unique grief needs of families who have experienced the loss of their pregnancy or the death of a baby certainly require a different approach at times, we feel. Again, to be clear, our support is not professional support but peer support. All of our support is one-to-one phon

Human Resources committee  I agree with you. When you are by yourself, the isolation can certainly increase, and being connected to social programs, peer support networks, online support can certainly start to alleviate it. Unfortunately, it's not always the case that your family is the most supportive. Of

Human Resources committee  Yes, I think that's incredibly important. Without the type of education needed to be able to provide the information in a compassionate way, those experiences could just serve to further traumatize the family. We did hear from lots of families who, when they went to seek support

Human Resources committee  I believe that families will need to access professional support, as well as the type of support that we offer, which is peer support. Learning that you're not alone in your grief can be a very comforting notion for families to be able to move forward. In terms of access to other

Human Resources committee  The social help we could offer to families would certainly do a lot in breaking the stigma that's associated with pregnancy and infant loss. I feel that families would talk more about their losses, and would be better accepted by their peers and by society if it wasn't such a tab

Human Resources committee  I agree. What we're piloting right now with PAIL Network is an automatic consent system so that, at the time of their loss, families will give their consent to their health care provider to share their information directly with PAIL Network so the family doesn't have to go home,

Human Resources committee  To start with the question about the resources for different organizations that require it, prior to Bill 141 passing, PAIL Network was also a volunteer-run organization. We were applying for grants to try to keep the doors open. Very little promotion was available to us to let f

Human Resources committee  Sure. My answer will be brief, because I wasn't aware that I was eligible for any leave at all through Service Canada. My loss was at 20 weeks and five days, which was just below some of the cut-offs at the time, so I wasn't eligible for any government leave that I was aware of—