Canada urgently needs to take action to support the well-being of young people and secure a healthier and more prosperous future for generations to come.
Since 2015, well before the COVID-19 pandemic began, self-reported mental health has notably declined among young people. Currently, 1.25 million young people require mental health support. According to Mental Health Research Canada, in 2024, 19 per cent of Canadians between 16 and 34 years old accessed mental health services in the previous year while another 12 per cent felt they needed services but did not receive them.
Megatrends
The recently published Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Youth Mental Health shows that this problem is global, and in part driven by megatrends — major and long-lasting societal changes such as climate change, insecure employment and growing intergenerational inequality. These issues are situated within decades of colonial and neoliberal political, social and economic policies.
Read more: What exactly is neoliberalism?
In Canada, the effects of historic and ongoing colonialism on First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth are heartbreakingly clear in rates of suicide, which are six times higher in First Nations youth than non-Indigenous youth, and 33 times higher in young Inuit women than non-Indigenous young women. Additionally, there are gaps in services and barriers to access for Indigenous, 2SLGBTQ+, newcomer, Black and racialized young people, leading to disparities in care and support.
To support youth mental health, Canada must work towards reversing these megatrends while also investing in youth mental health services.
As a team of mental health researchers and professionals, we are deeply committed to improving youth mental health. Without timely support, mental health challenges can disrupt education, relationships and career development, creating long-term effects for young people, their families and their communities. Unaddressed mental health issues can persist into adulthood, becoming more difficult to treat, adding preventable strain to health-care systems and hindering economic growth due to lost productivity.
We were inspired by The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Youth Mental Health, which calls for global action to address this urgent mental health crisis affecting young people. This global initiative involved researchers from diverse fields, service providers and young people, and was co-led by Srividya Iyer (a co-author on this piece and Canada Research Chair in Youth, Mental Health, and Learning Health Systems). It advances a framework for improving youth mental health care, integrating all sectors providing services relevant to mental health (for example, community centres, stand-alone clinics, hospitals) and all types of interventions, ranging from prevention to specialized services for youth with long-term mental health problems.
The situation in Canada
Canada is a global leader in creating new mental health services for youth, which began with the creation of a network of programs for youth with psychosis. Lessons learned have inspired transformation in broader youth mental health services, called “Integrated Youth Services” (IYS).
Designed with input from youth and their families, IYS do not require transition from pediatric to adult care at age 18, which prevents youth from slipping through the cracks between the two systems. IYS integrate mental health, medical health and other social services; and create primary mental health care services.
Today, there are almost 80 IYS hubs in most jurisdictions across Canada, with approximately 50 more in development. In the 2024 federal budget, a $500 million investment in community-based youth mental health services was the most positively received item by the public.
These services and investments represent Canada’s critical commitment to youth mental health. However, there have been relatively fewer efforts to address other elements responding to factors contributing to worse youth mental health, such as the ongoing harms of colonization and the climate crisis.
To truly address the youth mental health crisis, we must move beyond just creating services and into creating a world that supports young people to thrive. In these areas, young people themselves have shown us the way through initiatives like the Indigenous Climate Action Youth Leadership, the Anti-Racist Youth Lab and EveryChildNow, which takes action on youth poverty.
What can we do
To support young people, the Lancet report highlights that society must embrace a strong cultural shift that prioritizes a duty to young people, future generations and intergenerational equity, ensuring that present-day policies consider their long-term impacts. The influence of megatrends suggests that activism on any of these societal issues can benefit youth mental health.
For those who want to take action directly, advocating for increasing mental health and social service funding, supporting local organizations dedicated to young people, involving youth in decision-making processes, and fostering nurturing social communities are all important steps.
In light of the upcoming federal election, Canadians should demand that all political parties have a clear plan for youth mental health. Policymaking should prioritize youth, family and community needs. Policies should be evidence-based, especially since intuitively helpful but untested ideas may have unintended consequences (for example, negative effects of universal prevention efforts) or can be complicated (such as the relationship between social media use and youth mental health).
Continuous funding for mental health research can generate knowledge that can inform practice and policy, anticipate and respond to future priorities, test innovative interventions (like nature-based, social prescribing and intergenerational connection) and improve existing systems and interventions.
Young people are tomorrow’s leaders, innovators and contributors. Ignoring their mental health problems undermines their potential and jeopardizes Canada’s ability to build a prosperous, inclusive society. Prioritizing youth mental health is not just a strategic investment for the country’s resilience — it is an ethical imperative.
Tovah Cowan receives funding from CIHR for a Planning and Dissemination grant supporting a project related to improving learning health systems for youth mental health services. Her current salary is paid through a CIHR grant previously awarded to Dr. Iyer.
Camila Velez receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) through a Doctoral Scholarship and a Planning and Dissemination grant for an International Symposium on arts-based research in youth mental health. Her current research assistant salary is paid through a CIHR grant previously awarded to Dr. Iyer.
Nora Morrison's current salary is paid through a CIHR grant previously awarded to Dr. Srividya Iyer.
Rubén Valle receives his salary from a CIHR grant previously awarded to Dr. Iyer.
Srividya N. Iyer is supported by the Canada Research Chairs Program (Tier 1) and has received peer-reviewed grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé and the International Development Research Centre.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
