By saying ‘YES’ to participate in the OCHS, participants helped make a difference in the lives of children and youth in Ontario. The results of the OCHS will be used to develop programs and services to improve the mental health of children and youth across the province.
Who participated?
A total of 10,802 children from 6,537 dwellings in 484 neighbourhoods across Ontario participated! Statistics Canada conducted in-home visits with these families between October 2014 and October 2015.
What was involved in participating?
Families were contacted by Statistics Canada and invited to participate in the study. An interviewer would set up an appointment time to visit the family in their home and conduct the interviews with them.
What questions were asked?
Parents were asked about:
• their own physical and mental health
• their family and marital functioning
• their home and neighbourhood
• the mental and physical health of up to four of their children aged 4 to 17
• their children’s school, activities and their use of children’s health services
Youth aged 12-17 were asked about:
• their own mental and physical health
• their social and school activities
• their family and neighbourhood
Read More +
Families were also asked for consent to contact their child or children’s teachers and to ask them to complete a questionnaire. Teachers were asked about:
• the child’s mental health and social skills
• the child’s academic functioning
Using all of these sources helped us gather comprehensive and detailed information about the mental health of Ontario’s children and youth.