Health committee  A general improvement for families that were struggling economically—for them to get further help, as an example—would definitely help kids. The studies we reviewed in our report showed that most kids do recover. We still have to address those underlying deficits in children's mental health services.

Health committee  That's one barrier. I think a larger one is still our continuing failure to fully appreciate that virtually all mental disorders start in childhood. When they first start, they may appear milder. They aren't going to appear the way they would for a 40-year old, for example. So they're a little harder to detect, but we don't ask kids.

Health committee  I just want to say that it was a terrific initiative. In our policy brief to the standing committee, we mentioned that there could be invigorated opportunities to build on that earlier precedent. We didn't see those dollars going towards children. I think it was actually a really helpful move by the federal government to put strings attached for mental health, but the majority didn't go near children.

Health committee  I really appreciate that comment. There are very effective treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder in children. Principally, they comprise cognitive behavioural therapy. These are therapies that can be done online or by telephone or by video. The current restrictions are not an impediment to them.

Health committee  Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you this afternoon about COVID-19 and children's mental health in Canada. One basic message, and perhaps the most important, is that pre-pandemic, children's mental health needs were extremely high. Looking at epidemiological evidence, we estimate that 13% of children ages 4 to 18 years at any given time—800,000 young people in Canada—were experiencing mental disorders pre-COVID that needed treatment.