Youth Mental Health Reality: The Difference We Can Make

Youth Mental Health Reality

1. An estimated 1.2 million children and youth in Canada are affected by mental illness—yet, less than 20 per cent will receive appropriate treatment. By age 25, approximately 20 per cent of Canadians will have developed a mental illness. Youth who are engaged in child and adolescent mental health services, and who require continued services, are also often not well supported as they prepare to enter the adult mental health system.
2. 70% of mental health problems have their onset during childhood or adolescence.
3. Young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience mental illness and/or substance use disorders than any other age group.
4. In 2016, suicide accounted for 19% of deaths among youth aged 10 to 14, 29% among youth aged 15 to 19, and 23% among young adults aged 20-24
5. An estimated 75% of children with mental disorders do not access specialized treatment services.
6. A growing body of international evidence demonstrates that promotion, prevention, and early intervention initiatives show positive returns on investment.
7. Wait times for counselling and therapy can be long, especially for children and youth. In Ontario, wait times of six months to one year are common.
8. After accidents, suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged 15-34 (Statistics Canada, 2019).
9. First Nations youth die by suicide about 5 to 6 times more often than non-Aboriginal youth. Suicide rates for Inuit youth are among the highest in the world, at 11 times the national average.
10. Canada’s youth suicide rate is the third highest in the industrialized world.
11. Unicef Canada Report Card 14 finds that in general, boys are more likely to die by suicide than girls – three times more likely, on average. Girls however, attempt suicide twice as often as boys – though they generally choose methods than are less lethal. For Indigenous boys, the rates are higher than the average of any wealthy country. Suicide, as discussed in the report, is defined as the suicide rate for teenagers aged 15-19.

Support YMHC, Support Youth

YMHC donated over 100k worth of mental health workbooks in 2023 across Canada to support the mental health of our communities, all thanks to generous YMHC donors. We operate like a social enterprise: what we receive, we give back. You can help us make a difference today and help us inspire hope one person at a time. Please share this post in your networks. Please encourage your friends, family members, and workplace colleagues to donate and/or hold fundraisers. Please purchase our mental wellness workbooks and gift them to a young person or family. Please support your local school or community organization and purchase mental wellness workbooks to be used by educators or community workers. Help us to keep operating and supporting youth mental health.

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