About the Jason Chare Crisis Responder Excellence Award

Jason Chare was a much-loved and respected colleague in the Talk Suicide team, who sadly passed away in 2021. The Jason Chare Crisis Responder Excellence Award was developed in his honour, to recognize crisis responder excellence within the Talk Suicide service. Each year two crisis responders that demonstrate the highest standard of service in their role, supporting those who are in crisis or with suicide-related concerns, will be recognized by the award. There are two award categories; one for paid responders and one for volunteer responders. Award winners will be selected from among a pool of nominations submitted by peers in the sector.  

Who can nominate someone for the awards, and who is eligble?

To nominate someone, you must be: 

  • Affiliated with Talk Suicide Canada (a member of staff or a volunteer at one of our member centres or Crisis Services Canada).  
  • Familiar with the work of the responder you intend to nominate.  

You do not need to have responder experience to nominate someone for the Jason Chare awards. You also cannot nominate yourself. 

Nominations will be kept confidential. You can let the person you have nominated know you’ve nominated them, if you’d like.  

Nominees must be: 

  • A responder who is currently taking interactions for Talk Suicide Canada (active as of January 31, 2023). 
  • Working at a member centre in the Talk Suicide Canada network, or at the Talk Suicide Hub.
  • Working in a volunteer or a paid role

Two awards are given each year, one for volunteer and one for paid responders. 

Selection Criteria 

Your nomination form should show how the person you are nominating meets the following criteria:

  • Excellence in crisis intervention skills.

    Examples might include: 

    • Demonstrating consistency in delivering effective and collaborative risk assessment and safety planning.  
    • Excellence in building rapport; empathetic and a thoughtful, sensitive, and active listener. 
    • Ability to deliver effective service in extraordinary circumstances such disasters events, the COVID pandemic, technology failure, etc. 

  • Contributing to the maintenance of a resilient and confident responder community

    Examples might include: 

    • Mentoring fellow responders or providing emotional support. 
    • Being passionate about their work and helping others. 
    • Persevering in the face of challenges. 
    • Showing they are reliable, consistently meeting their commitments and shifts, taking extra shifts to help fill gaps when required. 

  • Committment to ongoing learning and continuous improvement 

    Examples might include:

    • Listening openly to feedback and actively seeking to improve. 
    • Actively taking part in professional development and skill building opportunities. 

Selection Process 

  • A selection panel will rate nominations and identify winners for both the volunteer and the employee responder categories.  
  • The selection panel consists of close staff or stakeholders of Talk Suicide Canada, from a range of roles.  
  • The panel will assess all nominations against the above criteria and select two winners: one in the paid responder category and one in the volunteer responder category.
  • In the interest of fairness, nominee and nominator names will be kept removed from the nominations during the selection process.  
  • Winners will be announced Monday April 17. 

Recipients will be recognized through:  

  • A plaque engraved with their name
  • A cash award of $250 
  • Talk Suicide communications such as social media posts, videos, etc*

*Winners can choose to remain anonymous in award communications if they wish.

How to nominate 

Nominations for the 2023 Awards have now closed.

Thanks so much to everyone who nominated someone – winners will be announced on April 17, 2023.

About Jason Chare

Jason Chare was National Director of Clinical Operations at Crisis Services Canada  where he led clinical operations for Talk Suicide Canada. He had a lifelong career in the crisis sector, with roles that included the Tokyo English Lifeline in Japan and the Crisis Line Association of British Columbia.  

His contributions to the crisis line sector were extraordinary.   

Sadly, Jason died prematurely in June 2021. 

Jason was known for his ability to build consensus and articulate views in a calm, thoughtful way. An excellent presenter, Jason was humble and passionate about helping others. He was a deep and sensitive listener who truly valued the vital work of crisis line responders, and the support they provide to those in crisis. 

In 2013, Jason gave a TEDx talk on active listening. The approach he describes in his talk is one of the founding principles of the Talk Suicide service. Watch the TEDx talk here.

Any questions?

If you have questions about the award, the status of your nomination, or how to nominate someone, please email  Awards@crisisservicescanada.ca.