The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every community in Canada and threatened the childhoods of millions of its youngest residents. However, we have not yet heard about what matters most from children and youth themselves. UNICEF Canada, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and Medavie Health Foundation are partnering with four communities to launch the Community Child and Youth Well-being Survey to get a snapshot of the lives of young people.

The survey launches this week in four pilot communities: Ottawa, Halton Region, Waterloo Region and Tri-Counties in Nova Scotia (Digby, Yarmouth, and Shelburne Counties). The questions are available online for young people 9-18 years old.

The survey covers nine themes: health, happiness, learning, security, participation, ability to play, protection, belonging, and connection to the environment. The survey will reveal how young people are experiencing mental health, life satisfaction, support from family, teachers and friends, personal safety, discrimination, leisure and rest, and food and housing security.

The survey meets a need for comprehensive data on child and youth well-being which can be challenging to secure at the local level. It enables communities to identify equity gaps between children, monitor progress, and bring young people together with decision-makers to help inform programs, services, and supports available to young people.

UNICEF Canada has co-developed the survey with community partners, including young people, to help build capacity to secure the rights and well-being of their youngest residents and learn from each other’s common challenges and successes.