A closer look at which Canadians feel they are managing challenges well and report confidence in their ability to bounce back from unexpected troubles.

According to the American Psychological Association, resilience is defined as “the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioural flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands”. In recent years in particular, there have been aggressive pressures on Canadians, which had notable impacts on their mental health. MHRC decided to take a closer look at resilience, specifically, which Canadians feel they are managing challenges well and report confidence in their ability to bounce back from unexpected troubles?

In the infographic found here, you will find more information about resilience, and its association on the positive mental health of Canadians.

Key findings:

• MHRC's most recent quarterly national polling report cites 66% of Canadians are resilient. Further analyses suggests level of self-reported resilience are significantly influenced by age, strength of connections with family and friends, annual household income, highest attained level of education and sector of employment.

• Findings reveal the most resilient Canadians are over the age of 55 years, have consistently good relationships with family and friends, report the highest annual household income bracket, highest attained levels of education and likely work in high-stress occupations (emergency services, professional / scientific / technical services, construction)

• Self-rated resilience increases with annual household income, and Canadians with some level of post-secondary education are more likely to feel resilient, compared to those who did not pursue further education after high school.

Find out more by clicking here.

A collection of our previously released research briefs providing an in-depth investigation of our polling results can be found here.