Healthy Youth Initiative

The Healthy Youth Initiative has a goal of bringing research to inform meaningful change to policy that impacts youth health and well-being. Three important bodies of work inform why we need to prioritize youth in Canada and deliver an initiative focused on improving the well-being of youth and partner with youth in a meaningful way through research.

UNICEF Report Card 16 - Canada ranked 30th overall in the health and well-being of children when compared to 38 wealthy countries, despite holding one of the best economic, environmental, and social conditions for growing up.

Canada's Youth Policy - In 2020, the Canadian Government published Canada's Youth Policy in response to a broad engagement designed to better understand the experiences and perspectives of youth in Canada. The policy emphasizes that providing youth with appropriate supports to achieve their full potential will benefit all Canadians, and identifies six key priorities:

• Leadership and Impact
• Health and Wellness
• Innovation, Skills, and Learning
• Employment
• Truth and Reconciliation
• Environment and Climate Action

Inspiring Healthy Futures initiative - The Inspiring Healthy Futures vision and priorities, developed through a partnership between CIHR-IHDCYH, UNICEF Canada, Children's Healthcare Canada, and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada in collaboration with over 100 partner organizations, focused on the need to support youth in Canada to thrive.

In response to this overwhelming demonstration of need, IHDCYH developed the Healthy Youth Initiative, focused on the key need to bring research evidence to enable progress in the six priority areas outlined in Canada's Youth Policy.

In line with the commitment in Canada's Youth Policy to ‘create meaningful opportunities for youth voices to be heard and respected', all funding opportunities developed as part of the Healthy Youth Initiative will include a key focus on building capacity and best practice for the engagement of youth in research, both in terms of training and experience of the researchers, as well as capacity of youth to engage with, shape and inform the research and research approaches.

Funding opportunities to date

Planning and Dissemination grants

Summer 2022 competition - Youth Health Research pool

• Lisa Bishop, Memorial University of Newfoundland: Directed Education on Cannabis for Youth Decision Empowerment (DECYDE): Planning a strategy with youth to enhance cannabis decision making
• Sara Kirk, Dalhousie University: Engaging Children and Youth to Take Action to Promote Their Well-being
• Aislin Mushquash, Lakehead University: Connecting across sectors: Exploring the JoyPop app as an e-mental health solution to support youth in Northwestern Ontario

Winter 2023 competition – Healthy Youth Pool

• Sakiko Yamaguchi, McGill University: Co-creation of a youth engagement guide for mental health policymaking

Healthy Youth Catalyst Grants

The first round of Healthy Youth Catalyst Grants was launched in Fall 2022, in partnership with the CIHR Institutes of Gender and Health (IGH), Indigenous Peoples' Health (IIPH), and Musculoskeletal Health (IMHA), and Indigenous Services Canada – First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (ISC-FNIHB). Twelve grants were funded in the broad areas of youth health as well as Indigenous health, physical health, 2SLGBTQI+ health, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

Congratulations to researchers funded through the 2022 Healthy Youth Catalyst Grants competition!

The second round of Healthy Youth Catalyst Grants was launched in Summer 2023, in partnership with the CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH), and Indigenous Services Canada – First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (ISC-FNIHB). Eighteen grants were funded in the broad areas of youth health as well as environment and climate action, Indigenous youth, and promoting health equity in Canada’s youth.

Congratulations to researchers funded through the 2023 Healthy Youth Catalyst Grants competition!

Read more about the research funded as part of the Healthy Youth Initiative:

• Research by youth and for youth in Canada
• Connecting 2SLGBTQIA+ youth through sports
• Promoting sun awareness in youth can prevent skin cancer in adulthood
• Indigenous voices take the lead to improve health outcomes for Indigenous youth
• Early childhood screen use may impact adolescent sexual health

Healthy Youth Summit

A Healthy Youth Summit took place in July 2023. It brought together successful round one Healthy Youth Catalyst grant recipients and their Youth Voice Representatives with youth, funding partners, policy and decision-makers, and other interested parties. Co-designed and co-lead by members of IHDCYH's Youth Advisory Council (YAC), Summit objectives were:

• Objective 1: Identify knowledge gaps and priorities in youth health research in relation to Canada's Youth Policy and IHDCYH's Healthy Youth Initiative
• Objective 2: Foster networking and collaboration between health researchers, youth, community and partners
• Objective 3: Build capacity for youth engagement in health research by ensuring active inclusion of youth voices

Check out our Summit Snapshot for photo and video highlights, key themes from the Summit, and more!

Future funding opportunities

Additional funding opportunities will be announced as the initiative develops.

Date modified:

2024-05-28