Higher numbers of Nova Scotia youth turn to Kids Help Phone for support

Nova Scotia saw a 25 per cent jump in the number of youth who reached out to Kids Help Phone in 2025.

According to the helpline, more than 8,100 Nova Scotia youth used the organization’s text service to reach out for mental health support last year, which is a 25 per cent increase from 2024.

A senior director at Kids Help Phone told CityNews Halifax the numbers suggest that young people are struggling, but there is a silver lining.

“They are reaching out,” says Diana Martin. “I know sometimes when we see about that increase, it can feel distressing about how many people are needing support, but to me, it also speaks to the fact that they know Kids Help Phone exists and that they know that we are a safe place to support them.”

Martin says some of the biggest subjects young people reach out about are anxiety, stress and relationships.

She went on to say there is no issue too small for young people to reach out about, adding they want to support them before it becomes a bigger issue.

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Young Canadians increasingly unhappy

The World Happiness Report says Canadians under 30 were the happiest age group in the country as recently as 2011.

Now, they’re the unhappiest.

The 2024 edition of the decades-long study of global happiness, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, asked participants to picture their life as a ladder, with the best possible life at 10 and the worst at zero.

While many countries among the 134 covered by the research have also seen happiness levels fall among those under 30 since 2006, the slide of young Canadians down the ladder is exceptional.

Only four countries have seen a worse decline — Jordan, Venezuela, Lebanon and Afghanistan.

With files from Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press