Sources
Where our numbers come from.
We put statistics about mental health and addiction on our homepage. You should be able to check them. Every figure below links to the organization it came from.
Sources last checked 18 July 2026
- 1 in 2Verified
Canadians have had a mental illness by age 40
CAMH, Mental Illness and Addiction: Facts and Statistics
CAMH states: "By the time Canadians reach 40 years of age, 1 in 2 have, or have had, a mental illness." CAMH cites Smetanin et al. (2011), a projection study prepared for the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
- 1.2MVerified
Canadian children and youth affected by mental illness
Mental Health Commission of Canada
The Commission states: "Mental illness affects some 1.2 million of our children and youth. By age 25, that number rises to 7.5 million (about one in five Canadians)." The Commission is a national body funded by Health Canada. It does not publish a primary citation alongside this figure, so we attribute it to the Commission rather than to an underlying study.
- 21%Verified
will meet the criteria for addiction in their lifetime
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health, 2012
Statistics Canada reports: "Approximately 21.6% of Canadians (about 6 million people) met the criteria for a substance use disorder during their lifetime." Catalogue no. 82-624-X. We round to 21% and use the word addiction, which is how CAMH and the Canadian Mental Health Association present this figure publicly. The precise clinical term is substance use disorder.
- 12Verified
lives lost to suicide in Canada every day
Public Health Agency of Canada, Suicide mortality in Canada
The Agency reports 4,394 suicide deaths in 2024, which is an average of 12 a day. It notes 2024 is early data that may change. Over the more settled 2020 to 2023 period the figure sat near 4,750 a year, closer to 13 a day. We use the lower, most recent number. Widely quoted figures of "almost 11 a day" rest on older data and now understate the total.
Organizations we draw on
Our course material and written resources reference work published by these organizations. Where a specific claim comes from a specific report, we cite it in the material itself.
- CAMH
- Public Health Agency of Canada
- Mental Health Commission of Canada
- Canadian Mental Health Association
- Statistics Canada
- YMCA
- Canadian Civil Liberties Association
- SAGE Journals
Found a mistake?
If a number here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will fix it. Write to contact@pathwaytohope.ca.