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

Progress on indicators of child well-being has largely stalled in Canada, report says

May 14, 2025

A global study from UNICEF suggests many Canadian kids are unhappy, with social struggles such as bullying and difficulty making friends among the sources of their anguish.

UNICEF’s 19th Report Card suggests one in five youth in Canada face frequent bullying, one in five are lonely and one in four struggle to make friends.

It blames bullying in particular for a drop in life satisfaction reported by 15-year-olds, down three percentage points to 76 per cent since 2018.

That marks Canada’s biggest slide among categories examined by the report, which compares the well-being of Canadian children to those in other wealthy countries between 2018 and 2022.

Despite being among the 10 wealthiest countries studied, Canada ranked 19th out of 36 countries overall, landing toward the bottom end for adolescent suicide, child mortality and social skills.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/unicef-children-canada-1.7534521