A CALL TO ACTION
Our collective fate as a nation rests in the wellbeing of our children. The decisions we make today regarding our youngest citizens have immediate and long-lasting effects on the health and wellbeing of our country. A nation cannot prosper if it fails to invest in its children.
Which raises the question – what is the state of Canada’s children, and what are the implications for the future of our nation? A new study conducted by the O’Brien Institute for Public Health for Children First Canada suggests that there are deeply worrisome trends that require immediate action.
While many Canadians think of this as being one of the best places in the world to raise a child, Canada ranks 25th out of 41 wealthy nations for child wellbeing, according to UNICEF.
There are nearly 8 million children and youth below the age of 18, representing nearly a quarter of Canada’s population. Many kids are doing just fine, but far too many young lives are in jeopardy:
• Canada’s rate of infant mortality is among the highest of OECD countries, with the rates for Nunavut being three times higher than the national average. • Accidents continue to be the leading cause of death of children in Canada, and each year thousands of children are hospitalized due to preventable injuries. • Suicide is the second leading cause of death for children and youth, and Canada is ranked in the top five countries for the highest child suicide rates globally. • Hospitalizations and Emergency Department visits for mental health concerns have increased considerably over the past decade. • Nutrition, physical activity and weight continue to need attention, with more than 25 per cent of children reportedly being obese or overweight. • Food insecurity and inadequate housing plague far too many children: one in five children live in poverty, and one in 10 experiences moderate or severe food insecurity, with poverty rates being highest amongst indigenous children. • Child abuse represents a public health crisis for Canada, with one in three Canadians reporting some form of child abuse before the age of 16. • One quarter of Canada’s children are vulnerable in one or more areas of development prior to entering the first grade.
www.childrenfirstcanada.com RAISING CANADA: A CALL TO ACTION
As leaders of Canada’s top children’s hospitals, charities, and corporations that invest in children’s causes, we care deeply about these issues, and we are committed to our role in Raising Canada. We also know that children and youth have a role to play, not only as leaders of the future but as leaders today, and that they are deeply invested in improving their lives and those of their peers.
It is both an economic and moral imperative that we act now, and we call on our government and, on all Canadians, to join us.
We support urgent action to invest in the health and wellbeing of Canada’s children, and we call for the following:
A Commission for Children and Youth: Every child deserves a champion. We support the long- standing call to establish a national Commission for Children and Youth: an independent office of government with a mandate to raise the profile of children in Canada, promote the best interests of children with government and hold them accountable, and speak with and on behalf of children. In order for the Commission to address the health and wellbeing of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children and youth, it will need appropriate representation and support. We encourage the federal government to work nation-to nation, respecting and including the self-governance rights of Indigenous peoples, when considering this proposal.
A Children’s Budget: Every child needs resources to thrive. We call for the federal government to publish a children’s budget to track the national funding that is allocated and invested in children, to ensure the equitable distribution of resources and ensure that funding is being allocated to evidence-based solutions for children. A children’s budget should also include comparative funding for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children and youth, on and off reserve.
A Canadian Children’s Charter: Every child has rights. We call for the full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Canadian Children’s Charter. We must teach children and youth their rights and responsibilities and ensure that Canada’s laws protect the rights of children. The new Canadian Children’s Charter, created with input from thousands of children and youth across the country, lays a roadmap for urgent action to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of every child in Canada.
Join us today, and together we can make Canada the best place in the world for kids to grow up!
SIGNED BY THE COUNCIL OF CHAMPIONS AND BOARD OF CHILDREN FIRST CANADA
Sara Austin, Founder and Lead Director, Children First Canada and CEO of the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre
RAISING CANADA: A CALL TO ACTION
Mary Jo Haddad, Board Chair, Children First Canada, Former CEO of Sick Kids Hospital, and member of the Board of Directors of TELUS and TD Bank Group
Desiree Bombenon, President and CEO, SureCall Contact Centres
Christie Henderson, Managing Partner of Henderson Partners LLP
Gail O’Brien, Board Director of Children First Canada, Advisory Board member of the O’Brien Institute for Public Health, Board Director of Sick Kids Foundation, Trustee of the National Arts Centre, Co-chair of the Council for Canadian American Relations, and Former GM of Holt Renfrew Calgary
Lindsay Patrick, Director of Global ETF Strategy, RBC Capital Markets
Georgina Black, National Leader, Management Consulting and National Sector Lead for Health KPMG in Canada
Ilona Dougherty, Managing Director, Youth & Innovation Research Project, University of Waterloo
Angela Simo Brown, Head of Social Change Strategy and Innovation at Air Miles Loyalty One, and Co-Founder of Air Miles for Social Change
Dr. Michael Apkon, CEO, Sick Kids Hospital
Mathew Chater, CEO, Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Canada
Owen Charters, President and CEO, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
Catherine (Kiki) Delaney, Partner & President, Delaney Capital Management
Peter Dinsdale, CEO, YMCA Canada
Emily Gruenwoldt, President and CEO, Canada Association of Paediatric Health Centres, and Executive Director of the Paediatric Chairs of Canada
Julia Hanigsberg, CEO, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
Marci Ien, Canadian broadcast journalist, Guest Co-Host of CTV’s The Social and former Co-Host
Rick Headrick, President, Sun Life Global Investments
RAISING CANADA: A CALL TO ACTION
Alex Munter, CEO, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and the Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre
Andrea Stairs, Managing Director, eBay Canada
Kathleen Taylor, Chair of RBC Royal Bank and Chair of Sick Kids Foundation
Rhiannon Trail, President/CEO, Economic Club of Canada
Valerie McMurtry, CEO, Children’s Aid Foundation
Jacline Nyman, Vice-President, External Relations, University of Ottawa
Krista Jangaard, CEO, IWK Health Centre
Katherine Hay, CEO, Kids Help Phone
Trish Mongeon, Managing Director, Children First Canada
Dr. Michael Ungar, Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience; Director, Resilience Research Centre; Scientific Director, Child and Youth Refugee Research Coalition; Dalhousie University
Christine Hampson, PhD, President and CEO, The Sandbox Project
Dr. Michael Shevell, MD, CM, FRCP, FCHAS, Chair of Pediatrics, McGill University Health Centre, Pediatrician-in-Chief at The Montreal Children’s Hospital
Dr. Kevin Chan, Chair and Clinical Chief, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Department of Children’s Health, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Eastern Health
RAISING CANADA: A CALL TO ACTION
QUICK FACTS: A SUMMARY OF THE KEY DATA PRESENTED IN THE RAISING CANADA REPORT
Canada’s rate of infant mortality is among the highest of OECD countries, with the rates for Nunavut being three times higher than the national average.
Mental health issues are plaguing children and youth: • over the last ten years there has been a 66 per cent increase in emergency department visits, and a 55 per cent increase in hospitalizations, of children and youth (age 5-24 years) due to mental health concerns; • Suicide is the second leading cause of death amongst Canadian children and youth, with Canada being one of the top five countries globally for the highest teen suicide rates;
Accidents, or intended injuries are the leading cause of death for kids in Canada. Injuries also account for a number of hospitalizations among children: • In 2013-14, 17,500 hospitalizations of children and youth were for injuries, 3,000 of which were intentional/caused by others. • Approximately 2,500 children (10-17yrs) are hospitalized every year due to self- harm injuries, with girls making up 80% of these injuries. Self-harm hospitalizations increased 90% between 2009-2014. • Approximately 700 children and youth are hospitalized annually for serious bike injuries. Parents report that 25 per cent of children have not received the full 4 recommended doses of diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus vaccine by age 2.
In 1017, 27.9 per cent of children age 12-17 reported being overweight or obese. This is a slight increase from 26.8 per cent in 2016.
1.2 million children still live in low-income housing. • Childhood poverty varies across provinces, with the highest rates being in the maritime provinces and Manitoba and the lowest rates in Alberta and Quebec. Poverty rates are even higher amongst Indigenous children. • In 2015, nearly 38% of First Nations, 21.5% of Metis, and 20.3% of Inuit children under 18 years lived in low income households, compared to 16.1% non- Indigenous children and youth. • These rates are even higher on reserves, where 60% of children live in poverty.
Food insecurity and inadequate housing plague over a million children in Canada: • 1.2 million children living in low-income housing
RAISING CANADA: A CALL TO ACTION
• 10.7 per cent of families with children under 6 years saying they experience food insecurity. • Poverty rates are highest amongst indigenous children, particularly on reserves, where 60 per cent of children live in poverty.
Child abuse represents a public health crisis for Canada, with one in three Canadians reporting some form of child abuse before the age of 16: • 26% experienced physical abuse, 10% experienced sexual abuse, and 8% had exposure to intimate partner violence. • In 2016, there were approximately 54,900 child victims (under the age of 17) of violence reported to police. • Children and youth represent 1 out of 6 victims (16%) of violent crimes. 3 in 10 of these child and youth victims were abused by a family member (i.e., a parent, sibling, spouse, or other family member).
One in four children are vulnerable in one or more areas of development prior to entering the first grade. • At 5 years old, girls are less likely to be vulnerable than boys; 19% of girls are vulnerable compared to 33% of boys. • The area of greatest vulnerability among these children who are vulnerable in at least one area of development are: communication skills and general knowledge (44.2%), emotional maturity (43.4%), physical health and wellbeing (39.5%), social competence (34.8%), and language and cognitive development (30.1%).
Citation O'Brien Institute for Public Health (2018).Raising Canada: A report on Canada’s children, their health and wellbeing