Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 3rd, 2026

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

I'll follow up on that quickly.

As you know, Quebec has now banned the use of phones in schools.

[Guy Desrosiers]

Yes, both of us took part in the select committee on the impacts of screens.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Yes.

I think that has received a positive response, generally speaking, even among youth. I think young people realized they'd stopped talking to each other, that they were texting each other even though they were sitting right next to each other.

Human interaction is very important in all that. I think the testimony we have heard today shows that changes can be made respectfully when it comes to privacy, usage, ability to use social media, and so forth, with youth in particular.

Do you think that this ban should be extended across Canada? I believe the principle applied in Quebec has received a very positive response.

[Guy Desrosiers]

Yes, absolutely.

That's actually one of my recommendations, for school and child care settings.

For instance, it's not healthy for a child to be passively exposed to videos for an hour in child care settings just to keep them quiet or to avoid engaging with or stimulating them.

In my opinion, this is a high-priority recommendation.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Thank you.

Do I have any time left, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

No, your time is up, Mr. Généreux. Thank you.

Mr. Al Soud, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you all for being with us today.

I want to start with a conversation that I had with a parent in my riding shortly before we came back to the House. We landed on the following: It's about ensuring that when young people enter these spaces, they're ready for them.

I leave this question open to anyone who'd like to jump in, but Ms. Berends, I noted that you mentioned the importance of regulation skills, for instance. What does it mean for young people to access these spaces when they're ready? What do you think is essential for that readiness element?

[Aimee Berends]

Do you mean for the regulation specifically?

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Yes.

[Aimee Berends]

There's a lot to do with your sensory stimulus. It's nearly impossible to pay attention to what's going on inside of you if what's around you is pinging at your brain at a rate that's far too high to pay attention to.

While I don't research this, what I see is that kids have a really hard time turning inward because there's so much stimulation in their environment. Even when they get home, it doesn't stop. When I went to school, you went home and that was it, unless someone called you, maybe. It just never stops. There's not that same element of privacy.

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

There's the question of readiness in terms of access to social media. Is it the same for everyone here, for all of our witnesses?

I see Ms. Orser with her hand up, and Ms. Austin.

[Karen Orser]

It's really important that we don't put all the responsibility of readiness on kids and parents. We have to recognize the reality of brain development in adolescent children and the impact of that on impulsivity and decision-making. We see files at Luna on a regular basis where in particular young boys have been asked to send a picture. It is a matter of seconds before they are asked and send that picture. Then it has huge consequences.

I think we have to really consider brain development before we put the responsibility on kids and parents to be ready, and focus on access to those images.

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Ms. Austin.

[Sara Austin]

I echo what Karen just spoke to.

An element of this is around brain development, but even adults, who have fully developed brains, should not be exposed to much of the harmful content that we see every single day. A significant onus needs to be put on the tech industry to have protection by default and a duty of care to all Canadians, but particularly to our children and youth.

We are seeing, daily now, kids being exposed to extremely graphic content, online hate and sexual content. I could go on and on. You've heard the testimonies about this from countless witnesses.

As Karen has spoken to and as I will echo, we need to take the burden off of children and parents and put it back onto the tech platforms and hold them accountable.

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Thank you, all.

On this note of an onus on the tech industry, we've heard this several times over the course of this study. Mr. Desrosiers said it already. It's the idea of countries deciding to move forward with a minimum age requirement for social media. I've heard from parents in my riding, and several witnesses here at committee, that we should be considering the same. Meanwhile, others—and I will use the term “others” here loosely—have indicated that age-appropriate design on social media is a possibility. I think they refer to it as graduated access.

What do you make of the idea of social media platforms' attempts of creating safer spaces for children? Is there a world where this sufficiently protects children in online environments?

[Maude Bonenfant]

Can I answer that?

I think that we must use the safety by design principle and think about the design of these platforms at the front end so that it's based on science and the stages of child and adolescent development. The platforms must respect their privacy, and the design must take into consideration a certain number of these parameters and ban certain practices, such as some use of generative artificial intelligence; I think we can then have spaces that are healthy for children, and replicate something similar to school yards where they can socialize, share, talk about gaming, and so forth.

These spaces can have very positive impacts on their development if they are safe and if there are guardrails around the practice, meaning children are not left to play there all day, that maximum play time is set and that access is gradual.

My work focuses on gaming, and I encourage parents to take a tablet and get their children to play an age-appropriate game from the age of 3 for 10 to 15 minutes, and then switch off the tablet, set it aside and take out crayons, books or something else. That way, the child learns that the screen is one activity among others in their environment and not something that's highly desirable because it's banned or because they're left to their own devices.

I therefore think that it's possible to have healthy spaces, but it's really important to work with industry because they are making billions of dollars on the backs of our children's health. As such, if there are no laws or frameworks to actually set guidelines for platform design, then we're not going to make it with the current platforms. That's why Australia took such a radical step.

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Todd.

[Carol Todd]

I want to speak to a social media restriction or ban that Canada and other countries have talked about. This is my opinion and my opinion only.

If we're going to encourage and create a social media restriction or ban in Canada, we have to ensure that there are safety designs to monitor it, to oversee it. Oversight is a big part of the government bringing in an online safety act. If we don't do it, who is going to oversee things being done properly with the tech industry?

I want every member of the committee to do a Google search after this to look up the lawsuit, the trial, happening right now in Los Angeles, in the United States. That is about digital oversight with social media companies and what they are and aren't doing. What they aren't doing is putting in protections for children.

I also want to clarify that there is a big difference.... In B.C., we have a cellphone restriction in each and every on of our schools, but it can be interpreted differently. There is a big difference between recreational versus educational screen time. Many parents I talk to are wondering about kids using laptops to do their [Technical difficulty—Editor]. It's a life skill to learn how to research. It's a life skill to learn how to put out information in a good way. When young adults are out in the workforce or in post-secondary education, that is of the utmost importance.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you, Ms. Todd. We've run out of time for this question. I apologize for cutting you off.

Mr. Champoux, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for joining us today.

All of us probably had preconceived ideas when we began this study. We all had our opinions about screens and the exposure of youth, children and adolescents to influencers and social media. Our opinions have evolved as we have heard from witnesses who have shared their expertise.

Mr. Desrosiers and Ms. Bonenfant, your approaches probably overlap to some extent. That's encouraging. Your approach is encouraging. It's not a guilt-tripping or accusatory approach that makes people feel uninformed. On the contrary, your approach is much more encouraging.

We know that we need to deal with screens, social media and this universe. We feel that you're not here to put pressure on us to legislate or have a strict framework, but rather, to talk about education, to help us understand that these tools have benefits and they're not negative across the board.

We also heard that from other witnesses a bit earlier in our study. They told us to be cautious, because social media is not negative across the board. In other words, there are ways to get a lot of value from social media. As a matter of fact, I would encourage everyone to visit Mr. Desrosiers's website pauseyourscreen.com because it's very interesting. The first page reads, “For screen use that feels good”. It's a different tune altogether. I think that's both refreshing and interesting.

However, there's still a great deal of resistance. There are still many calls for boycotts, calls for strict regulation for children. The more I see this, the more I question whether it's actually a good approach. You fuelled my thinking a little by saying that perhaps not, and that on the contrary, a more gradual approach might be wiser, supported by stronger guidelines, more education and much more vigilance.

I'd like to hear you talk a little bit more about this global movement that's leaning toward banning the use of and access to social media, including in Australia for those below the age of 16. France recently voted 130 to 21, a striking majority, to ban social media for those under 15. Is that a good approach?

As Ms. Berends said earlier, doesn't this deprive them of an opportunity to acquire digital literacy and to better prepare young people to access this universe?

I'd like you to speak to that a little bit because it's quite relevant to your areas of expertise.

[Guy Desrosiers]

My organization, colleagues and panel of subject-matter experts advocate for the development of self-control. This is a step-by-step process in a child's development. Earlier, we heard about families and children, and guidelines, so to speak. Someone with three children might tell me that the second‑born is different from the first and the third is different from both, to the point where you wonder where each came from. We need that spirit to understand the phenomenon and take action.

That is also true among young people. We have committees that consist of young people, we talk to them a lot and we conduct studies involving them. They tell us that they are fully aware of this situation, but they have challenges. The solution is very appealing, as Ms. Bonenfant mentioned, since billions of dollars are invested to make things more and more appealing, because of the business model.

However, young people are also telling us that their parents tell them to get off their screens, but the parents themselves are always on their screens. That's how things are. That's why I say that we need more of a societal approach. All of us have to take back control of screens and review this balance.

I think a ban is not possible because these screens are here to stay. As it is, you need to be 13 years old to use social media and yet 11-year-olds are using these platforms, so we can't count on industry. If we don't control it, it's going to control us, and that is what is happening. This speaks to the importance of developing healthy digital habits, so to speak, the same way we develop lifestyle habits. We speak about “healthy lifestyle habits”, but I'm not a fan of this expression, because implicit in that is that experts know what is best for people. It's about lifestyle habits that work for them, and the same applies to digital habits. I think these habits develop over time and maintaining a balance is essential.

I mentioned recommendations from the Canadian society for exercise physiology, which talks about the 24-hour movement that has health benefits. This includes other activities, in addition to sleep.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I'm glad you've brought up the 24-hour movement because there's also a movement in France that was originally inspired by a Quebecker. He recommended foregoing television for some time. That has now moved to screen-time habits on our digital devices. Is 10 days screen-free doable?

In my case, I can tell you that in my home, my children will bite off my head if I tell them that we're going to go screen-free for 10 days, and that will be the end of it.

[Guy Desrosiers]

Abstinence and prohibition in other areas of activity have never worked. Studies are quite clear on this point. However, we need to take a pause to think about it. For our part, through our PAUSE initiative, we are proposing a pause and the 24-hour PAUSE challenge. Reflecting on the place that screens occupy in our lives for just 24 hours, one day, is already quite educational and formative.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I would have more luck with a 24-hour pause than with a 10-day pause. I can tell you that.

At this stage, can we demonstrate certain impacts on physical health? We know that there are also psychological and mental issues that can be linked quite directly, but based on your observations, can we see the impacts of screens on the physical health of young people today?

[Guy Desrosiers]

There are some fairly robust studies on the increase in sedentary lifestyles and the impact on sleep. There is a triad that includes sedentary lifestyles, sleep and obesity or being overweight. In terms of eye health, we have seen an acceleration in myopia and drying of the retina. There are, of course, musculoskeletal disorders affecting the carpal tunnel, neck, shoulders and trapezius muscles.

More and more studies are being carried out, but, once again, there is no causal link. It's important to remember that these are correlations, because it's difficult to establish causal links. I would also invite you to read a study conducted in Austria, specifically on screen time in a university group. There is a control group with less than two hours of screen time per day and another group with more than four hours of screen time per day. The difference is quite striking.