Toronto is seeing a marked increase in the number of night-time requests from young people for mental health support via text messages to Kids Help Phone, a service that provides round-the-clock psychological assistance across Canada.
According to Kids Help Phone, between 1 January and 30 June 2026 there were 9,766 night-time text conversations in Toronto. Over the same period last year there were 8,195 such contacts, representing an increase of roughly 19 per cent. Across Canada in the first half of 2026, the number of night-time contacts rose by 24 per cent compared with the first half of the previous year.
Kids Help Phone classifies conversations that take place between 20:00 and 8:00 as night-time. The organisation’s president and CEO, Rebecca Shields, noted that the service is currently receiving text messages roughly every 90 seconds, indicating significant pressure on the youth support system.
Shields says that young people are increasingly reporting feelings of anxiety, hopelessness and profound worry. The main topics of contact, regardless of the time of day, concern stress and anxiety, relationships, depression and suicidal thoughts.
Statistics for 2025, shared by the organisation, show that these issues dominate in text conversations with Kids Help Phone counsellors. That year, 41 per cent of contacts related to anxiety and stress, 40 per cent to relationships, and a further 29 per cent to depression.
Service volunteer Donna Choznek, who has worked with Kids Help Phone since 2019, said that over the past year, themes of low self-esteem and deep self-rejection have appeared particularly often in night-time exchanges. She believes this is fuelled by toxic content on social media, which reinforces unrealistic standards and a sense among young people that they are “falling short” of expectations.
Rebecca Shields adds that the mental state of young people in Canada is being affected by geopolitical and economic instability, including worries about future employment and the consequences of climate change. According to her, children and teenagers are observing what is happening in their families, schools and wider society, but do not feel they have any control over the situation, which only increases the pressure they are under.
The head of the organisation also points out that the prevalence of mental disorders among young people is rising “year on year” and is increasingly affecting younger children. Against this backdrop, she says, the convenience of text-based support is becoming crucial for many, as young people often prefer messaging to phone calls.
Shields cited an example from Kids Help Phone’s practice, when a boy sent a text message after discovering he faced a threat of sexual exploitation online. She noted that in such cases it can be difficult for young people to talk about the problem out loud, but they may be able to describe the situation more openly in written messages.
In the view of Kids Help Phone representatives, the figures for night-time text conversations are an important warning sign of deteriorating mental health among young people in Toronto and across Canada, and require attention from government and community services.