June 12, 2024 – In Pollara’s 20th wave of bi-monthly mental health tracking research for Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC), we have found that daily negative impacts of mental health symptoms are at a near record high. More than one in four (28%) of Canadians report that their mental health symptoms affect their daily functioning, marking the highest percentage recorded since the middle of the pandemic. Over one-third of respondents indicate that mental health symptoms disrupt various aspects of their lives, including work/school (40%), social/leisure (33%), and family/home (36%).
With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020, MHRC launched a bi-monthly survey of Canadians, dedicated to measuring, understanding, and tracking the country’s mental health. Today, MHRC released the results of its 20th survey in the series. Designed, fielded, and analysed by Pollara Strategic Insights on behalf of MHRC, the national online survey of N=3,713 adult Canadians was conducted from April 30 to May 16, 2024. Other key findings in the study include:
- High-Risk Problem Gambling in Canada: 7% of Canadians present high risk of problem gambling, with a higher rate of 15% among those aged 18-34. Those who present high-risk of problem gambling are more likely to face severe mental health issues, including 22% having planned a suicide attempt, and show higher rates of alcohol (38%) and cannabis (49%) dependency compared to non-gamblers.
- Upward Trend in Accessing Mental Health Support: More Canadians have accessed mental health support in the past year (16%), indicating a 5% increase since the summer of 2022.
- High Levels of Resilience: Almost seven-in-ten Canadians express confidence in their ability to bounce back from challenges (68%), marking the highest percentage recorded since the inception of this polling series. While younger Canadians are less optimistic, resilience levels have increased across all age groups.
- Self-reported anxiety levels remain high, with 12% of Canadians experiencing high anxiety. However, there has been a slight decrease in self-reported depression, down to 9% since the last poll. Younger demographics continue to report higher rates of anxiety and depression compared to older cohorts.
- A growing number of Canadians report missing days of work or school due to mental health concerns (11%). Productivity at work or school has declined for 27% of respondents, reflecting a 6% increase since the previous poll.
- Nearly half of Canadians are aware of the 988 Crisis Suicide Helpline (45%), with 4% having utilized the service themselves and an additional 8% knowing someone who has.
These, and other findings from this latest poll, are featured in both a summary report and a full report – both of which are free to view and download on the MHRC website. In addition, MHRC hosts a Pollara-managed interactive data portal, which allows Canadians to search, view, and interact with the tracking datasets from all waves of this ongoing series of surveys.
