Celebrate Canadian Compassion in Honour of the Inaugural World Compassionate Communities Day this November 1st

Led by Public Health Palliative Care International (PHPCI), November 1st, 2021 marks the inaugural World Compassionate Communities Day. The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) is proud to celebrate this day to recognize and applaud the contributions of people across Canada and around the world to build stronger, kinder, and more compassionate communities for those experiencing end-of-life, caregiving, and bereavement.

“A common saying about raising children is that ‘It takes a village’ – the same is true when a loved one is sick and needs care, or when someone is nearing the end of their life,” says Laurel Gillespie, CEO of CHPCA. “There are wonderful initiatives across Canada that are weaving compassion into the fabric of our communities and on this World Compassionate Communities Day, we applaud each of them for being ‘the village’ for their neighbours facing grief, caregiving and end-of-life.”

The Compassionate Community movement has grown substantially over the last decade and is now a global movement involving thousands of initiatives on all continents. The need for increased supports for community members who are faced with end-of-life, caregiving or grief was particularly stark over the past 18 months while also navigating the restrictions brought on by the pandemic. Death, dying, care and loss is everyone’s responsibility, and Compassionate Communities demonstrate how all communities can honour and act on this responsibility.

CHPCA is particularly proud to celebrate the Canadian Compassionate Companies for their contributions to building compassionate communities through their commitment to fostering compassionate workplaces for their employees. CHPCA created the Canadian Compassionate Company (CCC) designation to help organizations to integrate compassion into the workplace. Carol Seaby, Executive Director of At-Home Hospice, a Canadian Compassionate Company, states that: “At-Home Hospice believes that by supporting our employees to care for themselves first, it will make good caregivers in the community.” The CCC program was developed to recognize organizations with formal human resources policies that accommodate employees who need time off work to care for a loved one. For a full list of the organizations recognized as CCCs, or to learn about becoming a CCC, go to www.chpca.ca/ccc.

Share how member of your community are building a more compassionate community using the hashtags #WorldCCDay and #CompassionateCommunities.

Find out more about CHPCA’s campaign for World Compassionate Communities Day at www.chpca.ca/compassionate-communities-day. For more on PHPCI, click here: www.phpci.org/worldccday.

For media inquiries:
Katrielle Ethier
Communications Officer
Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
Tel: (343) 804-4414
Email: [email protected]