Insights and Data
Young people across the country have been dealing with rising levels of mental health challenges for over a decade. While significant progress has been made in raising awareness and destigmatizing mental health conversations, critical barriers to support and systemic issues continue to impact their mental well-being.
To make meaningful change, we need to understand both the challenges youth face and the factors that contribute to positive outcomes.
The Insights & Data page is an anonymized and aggregated data set collected from Jack.org’s youth network. In every province and territory, Jack.org works with youth in communities to promote mental health by delivering mental health education, building networks of support, and addressing barriers to help-seeking.
This page is designed to showcase not only the challenges young people are facing, but the incredible value young people bring to mental health promotion work and how youth can and are a force for transformation in their communities.
ACCESSING SUPPORT
Accessing support —whether it’s from a community member or mental health professional — is essential to preventing mental health struggle from turning into distress or crisis. While many young people recognize the importance of seeking help, significant barriers still prevent them from doing so. Jack.org’s programs equip young people with the knowledge and skills to recognize signs of mental health struggle, to provide peer-to-peer support, and to seek professional help when it’s needed.
CURRENT CHALLENGES
Youth in our Talks program recognize the importance of taking action when struggling with their mental health. Just over half (51%) turn to someone with similar experiences seeking support, and 60% make personal changes in their lives to improve their well-being.
However, despite this awareness, many still struggle to ask for help. Before completing the Be There Certificate, only 57% of users felt comfortable reaching out for help when struggling with their mental health. Even more concerning, one in five young people (21%) would not seek help from anyone if they’re struggling with their mental health.
These findings highlight the ongoing need to break down barriers, such as stigma, accessibility, and cultural relevance, to ensure young people can receive the support they need.
THE ROLE OF PEER SUPPORT
Young people in our Talks program are most likely to seek help from the people they trust most — their friends (66%) and parents/guardians (52%) — before professionals like mental health specialists (42%) or doctors (35%). To support more young people, there is a need to provide young people, parents, and educators with mental health literacy and support skills.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SKILL BUILDING
EQUIPPING YOUTH WITH SKILLS AND TOOLS
Considering that youth are often key supporters of one another, there is a potentially transformative opportunity to create more peer-to-peer networks that provide non-urgent support and help youth seek appropriate professional care when needed.
Youth mental health in Canada has been in decline for over a decade. More young people than ever before are living with depression, anxiety, and a sense of helplessness.
How does Jack.org empower youth to provide support?
Fill gaps in young people’s knowledge about mental health to allow them to provide meaningful support.
Only 26% of users felt confident creating a safe environment for others before completing the Be There Certificate.
Just 26% felt equipped to offer practical support to a peer, highlighting a key area where more resources are needed.
To strengthen youth support networks, we need to provide training and resources.
Over 19,000 Canadians were trained to informally support peers struggling with their mental health through the Be There Certificate.
Six months after completion, 72% of participants had supported someone who was struggling. Of those, 86% used the skills and knowledge they learned from the Be There Certificate to support their peers.
Use the power of youth stories to build community and combat stigma
Contact-based education through stories from youth with lived experience is a powerful way to combat stigma. In 2024, 31,119 people across Canada engaged in mental health literacy education with Jack.org.
Trained youth shared their stories 286 times through Jack Talks. These conversations, informed by lived experiences, help in creating authenticity and break barriers.
In 2024, 2220 youth led mental health promotion initiatives in their communities through Jack Chapters.
YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH PRIORITIES - A NATIONAL PICTURE
In collaboration with Mental Health Research Canada, we collected additional data to better understand how young people across Canada perceive mental health, recognize signs of poor mental health, and identify key priorities for improving mental health support. The findings reflect insights from 414 youth aged 16-24 across Canada.
We found that while three in four youth in Canada feel confident recognizing signs of poor mental health in themselves, their confidence remains significantly lower than older Canadians (78% compared to 86% for ages 35-54 and 89% for those 55+).
When youth were asked about the factors that would improve mental health support:
(Note: The data representation and analysis was done by MHRC)
Social media use among youth
Social media has become an integral part of daily life for most young people in Canada.
Instagram was the most widely used platform among young people in Canada, with 82% of youth reporting engaging with it.
Only 4% of youth reported not using social media at all.
53% of youth reported using TikTok
The majority (71%) of youth reported using social media to scroll through feeds.
Impact of social media on youth mental health
While social media provides opportunities for connection, it also presents challenges for youth mental health.
Social media comparison
A third of youth (35%) reported often or always comparing themselves to others on social media and a fifth (19%) encountered bullying or harassment. This was higher than the general population (30% and 11% respectively).
Young women were more likely to report comparing themselves to others on social media than young men (35% vs. 19%) and found these comparisons to be more stressful (52% vs. 23%)
Stressful aspects of social media use
When asked to rate how stressful different aspects of social media use were, youth reported the following:
Steps to take to support youth
.webp)
Learn how to safely support someone going through a mental health struggle with our free, interactive learning resources.
Be There Certificate
Explore key statistics and the state of youth mental health today.
%20(1).webp)
Help us make a difference in the lives of young people by donating today.
A dedicated space for young people to learn about mental health & how to make a difference.
Emerging impacts of social media
In 2024, Jack.org partnered with MHRC to survey 414 youth aged 16-24 on their social media use and its emerging impacts on their mental health.