Why Is SBIA Advocating for a National Brain Injury Strategy in Canada?

Updated

The Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association (SBIA) is advocating for a National Brain Injury Strategy because, as its site states, "Every 3 minutes, another Canadian sustains a brain injury." SBIA says it is working with Brain Injury Associations across the country to push for that strategy, and it points to the book Forgotten Canadians: Brain Injury Crisis as an explanation of the urgent need for one. If you want to understand the case SBIA is making — or get involved in it — the starting points are the scale of the problem, the gaps the strategy is meant to address, and the advocacy materials SBIA has published.

The statistic behind the campaign

SBIA leads with a single, repeated figure: every 3 minutes, another Canadian sustains a brain injury. That framing matters for the advocacy argument. A national strategy is typically proposed when a health issue is common enough to affect the whole country but is handled unevenly across provinces and territories. SBIA's position is that brain injury meets that test.

What SBIA says the strategy should address

The advocacy material on SBIA's site groups its concerns under a few headings:

  • Housing — listed alongside advocacy as a distinct issue area, suggesting housing access for survivors is part of the policy ask.
  • Facts & statistics — SBIA treats reliable national data as something to be advocated for, not just reported.
  • Forgotten Canadians: Brain Injury Crisis — a book SBIA cites as laying out why a national strategy is urgently needed.

The through-line is that brain injury survivors and their families fall through gaps that a coordinated national approach would close.

Who is behind the push

SBIA is not advocating alone. It describes working with Brain Injury Associations across the country on the National Brain Injury Strategy. That coalition framing is central: the ask is national, so the organizations making it are provincial and territorial associations acting together.

SBIA itself was founded in 1985 by families whose loved ones sustained brain injuries, and its stated mission is to prevent brain injuries and improve the lives of survivors and their families. Advocacy sits alongside education and support as one of its core activities.

How to follow or support the advocacy

If you want to go beyond reading about the campaign:

  • Read the source material. Forgotten Canadians: Brain Injury Crisis is the document SBIA points to for the full argument.
  • Check the advocacy section of sbia.ca for housing, facts and statistics, and related policy items.
  • Donate. SBIA's site includes a donation route (BrainLove) and fundraiser pages such as Brain Boogie and Protect Your Melon, which support the organization's work.

What this means in practice

The case SBIA makes rests on three claims: brain injuries are frequent enough to be a national issue (the 3-minute figure), survivors face unmet needs in areas like housing, and the response is fragmented enough that a coordinated national strategy is warranted. Whether you agree or not, those are the terms of the debate SBIA has put forward — and the book it cites is where the detailed argument lives.