Tuesday, October 15, 2024 – Mental Health Research Canada recently released a landmark special report: A Generation at Risk: The State of Youth Mental Health in Canada. It has been at least five years since Canadians have received a national youth mental health report – longer, if ever, since we have seen a report of this scale, depth, history, and prescriptiveness. This report examines youth mental health by multiple variables, including ethnicity and gender identity, and lived experiences with a disjointed mental health system. With the contribution of leading Canadian mental health organizations, Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC) draws on research conducted on their behalf by the team at Pollara Strategic Insights as well as historical data to thoroughly review the state of youth mental health. The findings underscore the collective recognition of the urgency to improve support and do better for our youth, the generation at risk.
The mental health of children and youth has been in decline for many years, both in Canada and globally. The significant decline witnessed in Canada includes increasing rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. The data highlights a worrying trend that is worsening, particularly among marginalized groups, such as 2SLGBTQ+ communities, newcomers, Black and Indigenous youth.
In Canada, 19% of the youth population accessed mental health support in the past year, and a further 9% needed help but did not access it. According to Pollara research conducted on behalf of MHRC, youth and younger Canadians are 50% more likely to access mental health services and 250% more likely to need services but not access them, compared to other age groups. It’s time to face the hard numbers: In Canada, we have over 1.25 million youth in need of mental health support – approximately 550,000 of whom are receiving help, while 720,000 are not.
Mental health challenges do not discriminate — they impact youth of all ages, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. However, the need for help, barriers to access and types of services required vary between populations. Young women, 2SLGBTQI+, Indigenous and newcomer youth have higher rates of mental health support needs. For instance, Black youth are less likely to use publicly funded services, often relying on community-based resources instead, while private service access is more common among those with group benefit coverage or the financial means to afford it.
Studies that focus on stigma indicators are showing significant progress – youth are increasingly open to talking about mental health, especially with their peers. Prejudicial attitudes towards people with mental health issues are also low among youth. There is a clear generational shift in how youth perceive and engage with mental health content. This shift is partly due to the Canadian-based mental health organizations supporting this report which have helped reduce stigma and foster more open conversations about this topic.
For more details and insights, please read the full report, available on the MHRC website.
