September 10, 2025 – Pollara’s 25th wave of bi-monthly mental health tracking research for Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC) reveals how caregiving responsibilities, opioid use, sexual and reproductive health challenges, and access to emerging AI supports are shaping the mental health of Canadians. While many experience resilience and seasonal improvements, disparities remain stark for vulnerable groups.
With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020, MHRC launched this bi-monthly survey series – “Understanding the Mental Health of Canadians: Through COVID-19 and Beyond” – dedicated to measuring, understanding, and tracking the country’s mental health. Today, MHRC released the results of its 25th survey in the series. Designed, fielded, and analysed by Pollara Strategic Insights on behalf of MHRC, the national online survey of 4,666 adult Canadians was conducted from July 21 to August 5, 2025. A probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of ±1.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Using standard statistical techniques, the dataset has been weighted by the most current gender, age, and geographic Census data to ensure the sample is representative of the population as a whole.
In addition to our standard tracking questions regarding key mental health factors such as depression and anxiety, this wave also explored the mental health impacts of caregiving responsibilities, opioid use, sexual and reproductive health challenges, and AI supports. Key findings in the study include:
- Caregivers Facing Strain and Limited Support: One in five Canadians provide unpaid care, most often to older adults, yet more than half (53%) receive no support.
- Opioid Use and Mental Health Risks: Thirteen percent of Canadians report using opioids in the past year, most often for pain management. Opioid users face significantly higher rates of suicidal thoughts (29% vs. 11%) and substance dependency, yet many still have unmet mental health needs.
- Sexual and Reproductive Health Linked to Mental Well-Being: SRH challenges, such as infertility, unplanned pregnancy, or stigma, are closely tied to poorer mental health. Canadians who experience SRH issues are nearly twice as likely to face depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts, with many reporting they have no one to turn to for support.
- Uptake in AI Supports: Almost 1 in 10 Canadians have turned to AI tools for mental health support, with uptake highest among youth, racialized individuals, and 2SLGBQ+ communities. While most users (84%) find these tools helpful, only 17% of the general population trusts them, highlighting a divide between perception and lived experience.
- Sense of Belonging to Canada Protects Mental Health: Most Canadians (76%) feel a strong sense of belonging to the country, and those who do report slightly lower levels of anxiety and depression, as well as fewer financial struggles, than those with weaker ties to Canada.
- Summer Brings Relief, But Pressures Remain: As in previous years, mental health indicators improved slightly in the summer months. However, economic and political stressors remain significant, with nearly half of Canadians citing the cost of living and Canadian relations with the Trump Administration in the United States as harmful to their mental well-being.
These, and other findings from this latest study, are featured in both a summary report and a full report – both of which are free to view and download on the MHRC website. A series of research briefs which provide in-depth explorations of specific topics (ex. mental health challenges of youth, newcomers, and cannabis users) are also housed at the MHRC website – including a new infographic illustrating the economic toll of mental health. In addition, MHRC hosts a Pollara-managed interactive data hub, which allows Canadians to search, view, and interact with the tracking datasets from all waves of this ongoing series of surveys. All of MHRC’s initiatives can also be found catalogued on their website.
