Meeting the Demand: Assessing Mental Health Support Across Demographic Groups in Canada

ABOUT THE REPORT

The data were examined by demographic groups, including age, gender, ethnicity, income, and province. This study includes responses collected through MHRC’s online national surveys from July 2022 to January 2024, covering Polls 13-19, in partnership with Pollara Strategic Insights. This report is the first volume of a series of reports on Access to Mental Health Care.

This report examines the mental health support needs across various demographic groups, the types of services they accessed, and how effectively these services met their needs.

The latest findings from MHRC highlight that the groups who reported greater needs for mental health support often also encountered significant barriers to accessing care. Some of these groups have been the focus of previous reports by Mental Health Research Canada, such as youth, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and individuals facing financial challenges.

Even when they accessed support, some of these groups were less likely to say that the services they accessed met their needs.

Key Findings:

  • Our analysis of mental health support access by age reveals that younger Canadians have greater needs for mental health services. In the past year, 19% of younger Canadians accessed mental health services, compared to 17% of middle-aged Canadians and only 7% of older Canadians. Additionally, younger Canadians were more likely to report needing mental health support but not accessing it.

  • Individuals of another gender report significantly higher needs for mental health support. A notable 46% of non-binary individuals felt the need for mental health support, with 36% accessing it and 10% not accessing it despite their need. Women were the second most likely group to access care, with 15% having done so. These data should be analyzed carefully due to the small sample sizes, as these are preliminary trends that need further exploration.

  • When we look at who accessed mental health support in the past year, the percentage was similar across most ethnic communities, ranging from 12% to 14%. However, Caribbeans/Africans (12%), Asians (7%), and people from other ethnicities (6%)were more likely to report needing support but not accessing it, compared to North Americans and Europeans (4%).

  • Canadians earning below $30,000 annually were more likely to access mental health support in the past year (17%) or felt the need for support but not actually accessing it (7%).

    Overall, these findings highlight that groups with higher reported needs for mental health support often face significant barriers to accessing the care they need. Moreover, even when these groups do access support, they are less likely to report that the services met their needs.