Story highlights:
- Despite a slight decrease in mental health concerns since 2021, local youth are just as vulnerable now as they have been over the past five years.
- Opioid use among Ottawa youth in Grades 7-12 doubled between 2021 and 2023, and there are some stark differences when comparing the mental health challenges of those identifying as male and female.
- Project step is a community-wide initiative to ensure young people, and their families, have access to support, treatment, education, and prevention of harms related to substance and technology use.
- Through project step, 81% of youth involved in community-based counselling services across Ottawa reduced their substance use.
- Your donation to United Way strengthens project step.
United Way East Ontario and its project step partners know that the road to curbing mental health and addictions struggles for young people in our region is long. These are critical times that call for urgent and coordinated action.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) released its latest Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) results earlier this year, and Ottawa Public Health (OPH) reviewed data related to students in Ottawa. On the surface, it appears there are some things to be optimistic about: the rate of youth in Grades 7 through 12 experiencing fair or poor mental health is down from 44 per cent in 2021 to 37 per cent in 2023.
But it’s when you look at where we are today compared to 2019 (when 21 per cent reported fair or poor mental health), the breakdown in genders (56 per cent of female students report fair or poor mental health compared to 20 per cent male), and the fact that more young people are using substances to cope, that the gravity of the situation becomes apparent.
Mental health data points are similar in rural East Ontario, however, alcohol, cannabis, vape, and cough/cold medication usage is shown to be higher among youth in those communities.
“While young people in all communities use substances for a variety of reasons, these stats tell us there is much work to be done to improve the wellbeing of our youth.”
Key findings: drug use and gender differences
The OSDUHS data, extracted by OPH, shows that past-year use of non-medical opioids doubled among youth in Ottawa, from 10 per cent in 2021 to 20 per cent in 2023, with Grade 7 and 8 students just as likely to report using them as high school students.
According to the data, those identifying as girls reported higher alcohol, opioid, cannabis, and vape use than those identifying as boys and are more likely to be bullied. Whereas boys showed an increase in body image issues and more signs of problematic technology use such as video gaming and online gambling.
In rural East Ontario, the survey found that 42.6 per cent of students reported using alcohol (compared to 33 per cent in Ottawa), 19.5 per cent used cannabis (versus 15 per cent in Ottawa), 16.9 per cent reported vaping (versus 10 per cent), and 13 per cent used cough/cold medications to get high (compared to 9 per cent in Ottawa).
And while more students reported feeling close to people at their school, 1 in 5 students reported thoughts about suicide in the past year.
We also know that poor mental health and wellbeing, thoughts about attempting suicide, and self-harm behaviours are more prevalent among young people who are already marginalized: those with a lower socioeconomic status, and those who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+.
In Ottawa and rural East Ontario, one third of students surveyed wanted mental health supports but did not seek them out, and in the city that stat was significantly higher for females compared to males (45 per cent versus 21 per cent). The top reasons students cited for not seeking help were that they could manage themselves or they were afraid of what others would think.
At United Way, we know boys and men face many barriers to accessing mental health services. Stigmas around mental health and substance use for boys and men are ongoing, and this may have influenced how they responded in the survey.
The way forward
The data unpacked from the OSDUHS reminds us that, despite a slight decrease in mental health concerns since 2021, local youth are just as vulnerable now as they have been over the past five years.
At United Way, we believe every young person deserves the chance to succeed. We also know that when we come together as a community, we can help those who need it most.
Project step is a community-wide initiative to ensure young people, and their families, have access to support, treatment, education, and prevention of harms related to substance and technology use.
For nearly 20 years, project step has influenced the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people across our region and is continually evolving to meet the needs of young people in our communities.
- Through project step, 81% of youth involved in community-based counselling services across Ottawa reduced their substance use. We know that when needs are addressed early in life, youth are better able to strive toward a thriving future.
- While the OSDUHS data revealed youth’s aversion to seeking mental health help, resources provided by project step, such as counselling, offer spaces where youth can simply be themselves.
- Not just for students: their families and teachers can also access resources through project step, resulting in a community of strengthened support for youth. As our community gains education and resources about mental health and substance use, we are better equipped to walk alongside our youth to prevent addictions and guide them onto hopeful paths.
With our project step partners, we continue to look for ways we can better reach and support youth who need help, where they are.
Your donation to United Way keeps project step strong. When you invest in local youth, you’re investing in the future of our community.
