1in 5 youth in Canada face frequent bullying, UNICEF says

Cassandra Szklarski · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 14, 2025 9:18 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

A planetary survey from UNICEF suggests galore Canadian kids are unhappy, with societal struggles specified arsenic bullying and trouble making friends among the sources of their anguish.

UNICEF's 19th Report Card suggests 1 successful 5 younker successful Canada look predominant bullying, 1 successful 5 are lonely and 1 successful 4 conflict to marque friends.

It blames bullying successful peculiar for a driblet successful beingness restitution reported by 15-year-olds, down 3 percent points to 76 per cent since 2018.

That marks Canada's biggest descent among categories examined by the report, which compares the well-being of Canadian children to those successful different affluent countries betwixt 2018 and 2022.

Despite being among the 10 wealthiest countries studied, Canada ranked 19th retired of 36 countries overall, landing toward the bottommost extremity for teen suicide, kid mortality and societal skills.

The caput of an aboriginal learning portion astatine Vancouver's University of British Columbia said the findings are particularly disappointing since Canada should person the resources to code younker struggles, and the societal factors that exacerbate them.

"Children, successful galore ways, are doing worse. The supports are decreasing alternatively than increasing," said Dr. Mariana Brussoni, manager of the Human Early Learning Partnership.

"Children are portion of families, which are portion of communities and neighbourhoods and societies, truthful it's not conscionable children [struggling]. You person to deliberation astir everything that surrounds them, and we've seen however parents are struggling and however communities are having hard times."

WATCH: Calls for cellphone bans successful class:

A companion study besides released Tuesday that focuses connected the Canadian findings says bullying is simply a large contributor to little beingness satisfaction, with 22 per cent of 15-year-olds saying they were bullied frequently, ranking 26th of 40 countries.

Prioritize children and youth, UNICEF Canada says

Canada ranked 28th retired of 41 countries for societal skills, with 1 successful 4 15-year-olds saying it was not casual to marque friends astatine schoolhouse — somewhat much than the report's mean and portion of a worrisome trend.

"This study puts a spotlight connected the areas we request prioritized for our children and youth: their health, safety, acquisition and happiness," Sevaun Palvetzian, president and CEO of UNICEF Canada, said successful a release.

"I'm profoundly disappointed by however the beingness restitution of children and younker successful Canada is falling. Good intelligence wellness is the instauration for childhood, yet it continues to beryllium overlooked," added UNICEF Canada's younker advocator Matin Moradkhan.

"We are calling for cardinal argumentation alteration to our education, funding, and health-care system, truthful each kid and young idiosyncratic has the accidental to thrive."

Child mortality improved slightly

The survey from the UN Children's Fund notes societal skills mostly held dependable during an antithetic clip play erstwhile COVID-19 upended regular routines for galore families.

In Canada, the pandemic forced classes successful astir parts of the state to determination online, cancelled immoderate extracurricular activities and restricted gatherings.

"This indicator changed comparatively small betwixt 2018 and 2022 — expanding by much than 5 per cent successful 7 of 36 countries portion lone decreasing substantially successful one," says the study.

"This is simply a affirmative motion fixed the concerns astir the imaginable impacts of schoolhouse closures during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Still, Brussoni says these trends existed earlier the pandemic and proceed today, requiring vigilance to guarantee the close supports are disposable aboriginal successful a child's beingness erstwhile it "pays disconnected truthful overmuch much than trying to hole things aboriginal on."

Canada ranked 13th for wide beingness satisfaction, and though determination was a flimsy drop, the survey says it was not considered statistically significant.

The survey besides recovered Canada improved its rates of termination and kid mortality but inactive ranked comparatively debased — 33rd retired of 42 countries for suicide, and 25th of 43 countries for kid mortality.

Since 2018, the complaint of teen termination fell to 8.4 from 10.1 per 100,000 but remained good supra the mean complaint of 6.2 per 100,000, with termination remaining a starring origin of decease of adolescents.

The mortality complaint among children aged 5 to 14 dropped to 0.88 from 0.94 per 1,000, but that betterment was little than gains successful astir different countries, portion determination was besides small advancement successful addressing overweight kids — much than 1 successful four.

Canada's lone apical 12 ranking was successful world skills, wherever it placed sixth retired of 42 countries.

The companion report, "Childhood Interrupted: How Canada's Child Well-Being Compares to Other Wealthy Countries" urges each levels of authorities for measures that see doubling the Child Disability Benefit, greater entree to income benefits and parental leaves for babe care, and greater extortion from selling and integer harms.

It besides calls for amended responsiveness of Jordan's Principle, established by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to marque definite First Nations children bash not look delays oregon denials successful accessing authorities services.