CALGARY, Alb.-By some measurements, the quality of life for Canadian children-especially Indigenous children-has diminished, according to the sixth annual "Raising Canada" report revealed. The report, written by Children First Canada and university researchers from Calgary, McGill, and Toronto showed that Indigenous children are more susceptible to many of the issues researchers identified.
"They're more likely to become injured, become ill, or even die from preventable diseases," said Sarah Austin, founder and CEO of Children First Canada, the children's advocacy group, which printed the report.
According to the survey, the top 10 threats to childhood include: unintended and preventable injuries, poor mental health, violence, vaccine-preventable illnesses, systemic racism and discrimination, poverty, infant mortality, bullying, limited physical activity and climate change.
"I think, as many parents and people who care about kids, we were hoping that as pandemic restrictions were lifted that life for children would be getting better but sadly, what we are seeing is that the situation is getting worse," said Austin."This last year kids have experienced unprecedented challenges due to the 'tripledemic' of RSV, Influenza and COVID-19, and they continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic with significant impacts to their mental and physical health."
Regarding the high number of Indigenous children in foster care, Austin said that while it is not a new issue, her organization continues to flag this issue because the country is not seeing progress.
"These are issues that are not to be put on the shoulders of kids or families these are issues impacted by systemic racism and discrimination," said Austin.
She also spoke about the ongoing impacts of colonialism, the legacy of residential schools, and intergenerational trauma as regular contributors.
Canada ranks 81st among 193 countries on the Global Kids Rights Index, down significantly from 48th in 2022. Additionally, a recent review by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2022 gave Canada a scathing report for its failure to protect the rights of children.
Findings from the survey:
Threat 1: Unintentional and Preventable Injuries
• Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children aged 1 to 14.
• Injuries due to recreational drugs have increased by a third compared to pre-pandemic levels.
• Rates of hospitalizations are higher among Indigenous children and youth who consist of 3.3% of the pediatric population yet comprise 30.9% of fatalities.
Threat 2: Poor Mental Health
• 51% of youth aged 12 to 18 experienced depression and 39% experienced anxiety during the pandemic.
• There was a 7.4% increase in self-harm injuries among youth aged 11 to 18 in 2020.
• Children who experience adverse childhood experiences such as poverty, abuse, or discrimination, are more likely to experience poor mental health.
Threat 3: Violence Against Children and Youth
• 60% of Canadians experienced some form of child abuse before the age of 15.
• At least 548 students in K-12 schools reported an act of sexual nature.
• Internet sexual luring of children has increased by 815% in the past five years.
• Indigenous youth under the age of 15 (15.2%) experience physical and/or sexual abuse by adult perpetrators at more than double the rate of non-Indigenous youth. (7.5%).
• Children with an intellectual disability have 3.5 times higher of a risk in experiencing sexual abuse compared to children without an intellectual disability.
Threat 4: Vaccine-preventable Illnesses
• Vaccination coverage for all vaccinations for 2-, 7-, and 14-year-olds remains below the 95% coverage standard.
Threat 5: Systemic Racism and Discrimination
• The disproportionate and pervasive overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system remains a major concern based on publications released within the past year.
• There was a 286% increase in reports of racist and discriminatory actions against Asians.
Threat 6: Poverty
• Child poverty rates have increased sharply; 15.6% of children aged 0-17 (over 1.1 million children across Canada) live in low-income households-up from 13.5% in 2020.
• Approximately 60% of families with low incomes feel "very concerned" about meeting daily needs, especially with the rising prices of essential needs.
• Approximately 1.8 million children under 18 were affected by food insecurity, up from 1.4 million in 2021.
Threat 7: Infant Mortality
• Canada's infant mortality rate has been persistently high; notably the rates declined in the last year. Canada's current infant mortality rate in 2023 is 3.943 deaths per 1000 live births, a 2.76% decline from 2022.
• Rates of infant mortality are higher for Indigenous infants and immigrant infants from low socioeconomic status.
Threat 8: Bullying
• Approximately 7 in 10 youth aged 15-17 years old in Canada experience bullying.
• Indigenous youth, adolescents from low socioeconomic status, and sexually and gender-diverse youth are more often the target of identity-based bullying.
Threat 9: Limited Physical Activity and Play
• Only 2.3% of youth meet the 24-hour movement guidelines.
• Children aged 8-12 from middle-class or high-income households averaged 1180 more steps a day than those from low socio-economic status.
• During COVID-19, there was a 38% decrease in physical activity among immigrant communities in contrast to non-immigrant Canadians.
Threat 10: Climate Change
• Half of Canadian youth (48%) aged 16-25 expressed feeling high levels of anxiety about air pollution and climate change, while three-quarters (73%) expressed fear for their future.
• In the summer of 2023 alone, there have been multiple reports of child deaths due to extreme weather and pollution associated with climate change, and thousands of children have been displaced or had their daily activities disrupted due to wildfires and poor air quality.
• An estimated 15,300 Canadians die prematurely each year due to exposure to air pollution.
