What was the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canada’s youth? Data released by Statistics Canada in a survey initiated by a national research team led by the Offord Centre for Child Studies, an affiliated institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, will shed new light.

The initial findings of the survey by Statistics Canada broadly suggest a decline in the mental health of Canada’s youth since the pandemic. The survey, released Sept. 10, 2024, provides reliable, high-quality evidence to inform policies and programs for Canadian children and youth.

“We are delighted to be leading a national research team, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), to initiate the longitudinal component of the Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (CHSCY) in partnership with Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The CHSCY will fill critical data gaps in our country, enhancing governments’ capacity for evidence-informed policymaking for children’s health and well-being,” said Kathy Georgiades, lead of the CIHR-funded project and a professor in McMaster’s Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences.

Georgiades is also a member of the Offord Centre for Child Studies and holds the David R. (Dan) Offord Chair in Child Studies.

The Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth included a nationally representative sample of children and youth aged one to 17 years old and asked questions about their mental and physical health in 2019. For some children, their parents were asked to answer on their behalf.

Offord Centre researchers, with the support of a $3.1-million grant from CIHR and additional funding from Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, made it possible to return four years later to the same respondents, now aged five to 21 years old, to follow up about their health to determine how it changed.

The 2023 Statistics Canada report highlights four main findings related to the mental health of Canada’s youth:

• About one in five youth who felt their mental health was good in 2019 no longer felt that way four years later.
• Girls, especially those in their teens, were more likely than boys to report mental health declines.
• Declines in mental health were less common among younger children.
• Optimism about school diminishes with age, particularly among those with declining mental health.

“The longitudinal component of the Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth is a great example of how academic researchers can work collaboratively with government and community leaders to generate the evidence needed to inform policies and practices for all Canadian children, youth, and those who care for them. The Offord Centre for Child Studies is proud to be part of this national initiative,” said Stelios Georgiades, director of the Offord Centre for Child Studies; the McMaster Children’s Hospital Chair in Autism and Neurodevelopment; and an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University.

With the release of this national longitudinal data, Offord Centre researchers plan to contextualize how the pandemic impacted the health of Canada’s children and youth.