A new report suggests 1 in 5 kids aged 12 to 17 report symptoms of some kind of mental disorder. (ID 140463504 © Millafedotova | Dreamstime.com)

By Nick Nielsen

Back to School

Study shows children in Sask. performing poorly on mental health metrics

Sep 2, 2025 | 6:00 AM

Children First Canada has been tracking the Top 10 threats of Canadian school children since 2018. Today, the national charity that advocates for the well-being of youth, released its annual Raising Canada Report, and the findings show that children’s mental health in the country is suffering for multiple reasons.

Child poverty, vaccine-preventable illness, limited physical activity and play – these are just some of the factors that Children First Canada has identified across the country as challenges affecting today’s youth. According to CEO Sara Austin, in Saskatchewan the main issues surround mental health. She called the recent data ‘disturbing.’

“Significant numbers of children in the province dealing with depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, and I think for parents it’s really alarming to see that our kids are struggling in such a significant way and that when they, in spite of their best efforts, try to combat stigma around mental health and when they reach out for help, that often that help simply isn’t available and they’re on long wait lists trying to access care that they desperately need for their well-being,” Austin said.

The latest study shows 71 per cent of kids ages 12-17 in the country have reported being bullied in the past year, but the supports for those kids have not been keeping up. The percentage of teachers that believe they are doing enough to help with bullying is the same as the percentage of kids being bullied, but students themselves say more needs to be done.

“The majority of teachers…71 per cent claim that they have acted to prevent bullying. Only a quarter of our students feel like they’re supported within the school setting. So really, we’re seeing a significant number of our kids experiencing bullying and feeling like they don’t have the support that they need to address that issue within their school setting, and that is just one of many really alarming statistics that comes out in this report.”

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Today, 1 in 5 kids aged 12 to 17 report symptoms of some kind of mental disorder, most commonly lining up with things like anxiety, depression, and ADHD in particular. There’s also the issue of racism in schools, with 14 per cent of students saying they have experienced race-based bullying, while 58 per cent report having witnessed it themselves.

“I think at a very personal level, change begins at home in how parents, grandparents engage with our kids and provide the supports that they need, but also have really open and clear conversations with our kids about the struggles they face and the supports that they need to thrive.”

At the end of 2024, about 1.4 million children in Canada, or about 13.4 per cent were living in poverty, which is the highest amount the country has seen since 2017. This is one of the areas where Austin wants to see different levels of government step up the most.

“We need to see funding going to ensure that our kids have those safe and healthy childhood things like the new national school food program. We need the province of Saskatchewan working actively with the federal government, and with schools, to ensure that as kids head back to school this week that they have the nutritious meals that they need for breakfast and lunch. To be nourished, to be well in school, to have funding, going towards issues like mental health to address the urgent needs around access to care, but also, even more importantly, to go upstream to address the root causes of youth mental health.”

This year, Canada dropped from 66th down to 67th on the global Kids Rights Index out of 194 countries.
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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com