A federal funding program that helped sustain Kids Help Phone during and after the COVID-19 pandemic will expire next spring, ending millions of dollars in government support for the national youth mental health service.The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed the organization’s current three-year funding agreement will conclude on March 31, 2027, with no indication that the funding will be renewed.According to a follow-up information note provided to the Senate national finance committee, Budget 2024 allocated $7.5 million over three years to support Kids Help Phone’s mental health, counselling and crisis intervention services for young Canadians.Federal officials described the funding as temporary assistance designed to stabilize the organization's operations during a period of heightened demand and weakened charitable fundraising."These funds were a time-limited addition to the Health Agency's broader programming," the agency wrote.The government said the funding was intended to help Kids Help Phone maintain its round-the-clock service capacity as youth mental health needs surged during and after pandemic restrictions."It intended to help Kids Help Phone maintain its 24/7 capacity during a period when the economic downturn had temporarily strained charitable fundraising efforts even as youth demand for mental health supports spiked," the agency noted.The funding traces its origins to the COVID-19 lockdown period, when then-prime minister Justin Trudeau publicly encouraged children and teenagers struggling with isolation and anxiety to seek help through the service..During a nationally televised news conference on March 29, 2020, Trudeau addressed young Canadians directly."I know these past weeks have been tough," Trudeau said at the time. "You haven't seen your friends, you're not able to go to school, you've been hunkered down with your parents and you're watching the world you know change radically."He urged young people experiencing stress, anxiety or family difficulties to contact Kids Help Phone."The bottom line is this: Whoever you are, whatever you need, we're here for you," Trudeau said.Former Kids Help Phone chief executive officer Katherine Hay, who now sits in the Senate following her appointment by the Liberal government, previously told a Senate committee that the organization experienced overwhelming demand during the pandemic years.Hay said Kids Help Phone was already assisting young people dealing with depression, anxiety, suicide risk, bullying and cyberbullying before COVID-19 arrived."Covid-19 did not remove all those mental health challenges from the young people of Canada, it exacerbated them," Hay testified. "We are seeing an increase in depression and anxiety, a huge increase in isolation and fear."She added that many callers disclosed deeply personal struggles they had never shared with anyone else."Seventy percent of callers tell us something they would not have told anyone else," Hay said.While Ottawa says it remains committed to youth wellness, the expiry of the funding agreement means Kids Help Phone will lose a significant source of federal support unless a new funding arrangement is announced before the program ends in 2027.
