Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair and honourable members, thank you for inviting me today for this important meeting and to have a conversation on what we're all very interested in seeing—the results of this study.
COVID-19 has had an impact on everyone in some way, regardless of age. This includes a significant and unique impact on children and youth. COVID-19 has also highlighted the resilience of communities across Canada. To support this resilience, our federal community-based programming in health promotion and chronic disease prevention demonstrated innovation on the ground in order to continue to offer a range of supports and services to promote positive health behaviours and build much-needed protective factors.
Key examples of this include our community action program for children and Canada's prenatal nutrition program. These two long-standing agency programs serve children and families throughout project sites located across the country. They are well established. They are trusted. They are family-centric hubs within their communities.
These programs were able to pivot and lead pandemic response efforts. The efforts included important things like addressing food insecurity through the provision of food hampers, providing advice on sanitary measures and vaccinations, and addressing social isolation through quick adaptation of programs, including parenting supports, to new virtual formats.
We know that the pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of children and youth. Across Canada, or at least most of Canada, approximately one in five youth aged 12 to 17 years self-reported that their mental health was somewhat or much worse in the fall of 2021 as compared with before the pandemic. The Public Health Agency is taking action to address mental health concerns in children and youth by providing $14.8 million over 36 months to Kids Help Phone. This funding is helping to directly provide surge supports for mental health crisis services for children.
Further, through the 2022 fall economic statement, the Government of Canada announced a $50-million investment to boost the capacity of distress centres across Canada. These mental health services and supports reach children and youth where they are at, including those who may be at greater risk—racialized children, children living with disabilities, indigenous children and 2SLGBTQ2I+ children and youth.
It is not just the mental health of our children and youth that has been impacted. The recent Statistics Canada survey of COVID-19 and mental health indicates that some of the risk factors for adverse child experiences, child maltreatment and family violence have also increased during the pandemic. These risk factors include depression, stress, and alcohol consumption within the household.
Throughout the pandemic, families may have encountered issues accessing much‑needed services that support both the health and well‑being of their children and youth. For example, people on the autism spectrum and their families and caregivers have had limited access to in‑person supports. There have also been disruptions in education and personal routines, which have made it challenging to maintain social relationships with family, extended family and friends.
To mitigate the effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic, the Public Health Agency of Canada is leveraging the autism spectrum disorder strategic fund to support the development of projects to address existing and emerging priority needs. The goal of the fund is to provide tangible opportunities for Canadians on the autism spectrum, as well as their families and caregivers, to gain knowledge, resources and skills.
There remains much that we still need to know about the impacts of the pandemic on all Canadians, including children and youth.
With Statistics Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Offord Centre for Child Studies, the Public Health Agency of Canada is cofunding a new cycle of the Canadian health survey on children and youth to assess these impacts and to compare pre- and postpandemic on a range of outcomes, such as healthy living, mental health and healthy child development.
In addition, the agency is supporting other research and data collection, such as CANCOVID-Preg, a study led by the University of British Columbia and cofunded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. This national project is assessing the impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy and infant outcomes.
Lastly, the agency is also working with the Canadian Paediatric Society through the Canadian paediatric surveillance program to field a two-year surveillance study on post-COVID-19 conditions, also known as “long COVID”, in children and youth in Canada.
I've touched on only some of the ways the pandemic has impacted children, youth and families, and provided just a few examples of how the agency is working to help protect and promote health among this cohort. There are a number of other ways that children and youth are impacted, and many other resources that the agency offers.
As we continue to navigate our way through this pandemic, we will continue to invest resources and support the health of our children and youth across the country.
Thank you, once again, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.