Federal Framework on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has a major impact on people, families, communities and workplaces. People who have gone through or witnessed a traumatic event can be at risk for PTSD. Some people are at greater risk due to the nature of their jobs.

Canada is committed to addressing PTSD. As part of our commitment, we will be working on a federal framework on PTSD. The framework will look at how to:

• recognize symptoms
• provide timely diagnosis and treatment

It will also build on other federal PTSD activities.

Our national conference on PTSD will be a key step in this work.

National conference on PTSD

The National Conference on PTSD: Working Together to Inform Canada’s Federal Framework on PTSD took place in Ottawa on April 9 and 10, 2019. Leading the conference were the Ministers of:

• Health
• Veterans Affairs
• National Defence
• Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Experts from across the country, including people with lived experience, shared their knowledge and views. This will help us:

• track PTSD and its social and economic costs better
• promote and share guidelines and best practices to:
  • increase awareness
  • improve diagnosis, treatment and management

The federal framework will be completed in December 2019.