Percentage of Ontario youth struggling with mental health back to pre-COVID level, survey suggests

Recent Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey indicates psychological distress among youth in grades 7 to 12 has decreased since the pandemic, yet still remains high. According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 46 per cent of students reported moderate to serious psychological distress in 2025, down from 51 per cent in 2023.

Lead investigator Hayley Hamilton describes the reduction as "encouraging", but emphasizes the figure remains significantly higher than a decade before. Hamilton attributes the persistent high level of mental health issues to factors like social media and a potential decrease in stigma, as well as more willingness to discuss psychological distress.

The 2025 survey reveals fewer students are using alcohol and drugs compared to previous years, and they are delaying their first use. However, it also highlights a notable increase in online gambling, with one in 10 students placing sports bets in 2025, up from one in 100 in 2017. Nearly a quarter of students reported encountering daily advertisements for online gambling sites, despite age restrictions.

This surge in gambling can be attributed to changes in Ontario regulations allowing private betting sites, although students manage to access them. The Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, conducted every two years since 1977, included 11,108 students in grades 7 to 12 from 1,147 classes in 246 schools across 42 school boards in 2025.

The anonymous online questionnaires were completed between December 2024 and June 2025. The Canadian Research Insights Council, professional body of the polling industry, notes that due to non-random sampling, online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error.