Rise in Overnight Demand for Mental Health Support Prompts Kids Help Phone to Launch Urgent Appeal Ahead of Anticipated Jump During Back-to-School Season

TORONTO, Aug. 10, 2026 (ZM NEWSWIRE) — Kids Help Phone (KHP) is sounding the alarm on a record surge in overnight demand for youth mental health support across Canada ahead of the back-to-school season. As of June 30, KHP has experienced a 24% increase in the number of text messages received from young people in the overnight hours compared to the year prior. Between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. ET, texting demand is 183% higher than during daytime hours, highlighting growing pressures for mental health resources that are open 24/7, day and night, from coast to coast to coast.

“Many young people are reaching out to us during the quietest hours of the night, when support can feel hardest to find,” said Rebecca Shields, President and Chief Executive Officer at KHP. “While the increased demand is deeply concerning, it also tells us something hopeful about the state of youth mental health as young people are finding the courage to Feel Out Loud and tell us what they need. We must listen, respond, and continue building a future where no young person faces a crisis alone. KHP is taking action to hire additional frontline clinical roles and this heightened demand should be a call to action for us all.”

Last year, KHP experienced a 10% increase in year-over-year texting demand during the back-to-school season from August 24 to September 14, 2025. Top issues that young people discuss with volunteer crisis responders at KHP include anxiety and stress, relationship challenges, and depression.

Demand for mental health support overnight at KHP has spiked across all provinces and territories in Canada, with the highest increase in the Yukon (64%), followed by Prince Edward Island (59%), British Columbia (49%), New Brunswick (49%), Saskatchewan (36%), Manitoba (30%), Alberta (29%), Ontario (27%), Nova Scotia (26%), Northwest Territories (25%), Nunavut (17%), Newfoundland and Labrador (12%), and Quebec (10%).

Major Canadian cities have also experienced a heightened increase in demand for mental health services in overnight hours as of June 30, such as Vancouver (46%), Toronto (19%), Halifax (18%), and Montreal (13%).

“The unprecedented demand for mental health support at KHP reflects the very real pressures young people are facing today,” said Anjana Sudharshan, Board Member and Co-Chair of the National Youth Council at KHP. “When you’re navigating a mental health concern, especially in the early hours of the morning, it can feel as though you are completely on your own and that’s why KHP is a critical support.”

Urgent Fundraising Appeal Launched to Respond to Overnight Demand for Mental Health Supports

To respond to increasing demand for mental health support overnight at KHP, KHP Foundation has launched a fundraising appeal to raise critical funds to hire staff overnight, particularly in British Columbia and Atlantic Canada, to respond to text messages in the late evenings and early morning hours, and to expand French-language capacity.

From August 10 to September 11, J&W Murphy Foundation will match all donations, up to $250,000, made to KidsHelpPhone.ca/Urgent

“Demand for texting support overnight is now more than two and a half times what KHP receives during the day. The scale of demand is impossible to ignore and deserves a response worthy of the trust young people place in KHP,” said Aaron Sanderson, President and Chief Executive Officer of KHP Foundation. “Young people are reaching out, and we need Canada to stand with them now. Every dollar raised will help strengthen overnight clinical capacity and expand French-language support. Thanks to the generosity of the J&W Murphy Foundation, every donation will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $250,000, giving people across Canada the opportunity to double their impact at a moment when support is needed most.”

Key Facts

• On average, KHP receives a new text message conversation every 90 seconds each day and night.
• Young people connected with KHP more than 3.7 million times over phone, text, social media, resources on KidsHelpPhone.ca, and other touchpoints in 2025.
• More than 273,000 total texting conversations took place at KHP in 2025, a 30% increase from the prior year.
• 78% of young people who texted KHP in 2025 said they shared something with KHP that they have never shared with anyone else.
• There are more than 1,500 active volunteer crisis responders at KHP who are trained to take conversations with young people contacting KHP under the supervision of KHP staff.

About Kids Help Phone and Kids Help Phone Foundation

Kids Help Phone (KHP) is Canada’s only free, national, 24/7, multilingual and confidential e-mental health service for youth to get help and Feel Out Loud. Kids Help Phone Foundation inspires generosity and raises funds across Canada to deliver on KHP’s promise to youth. Together, KHP and KHP Foundation unlock the hope young people need to thrive in their world by scaling access to support, advancing equity and accelerating innovation so youth can always Feel Out Loud and get trustworthy help for any feeling or issue, big or small. Help means everything at KidsHelpPhone.ca.

*Data is reflective of texts received by KHP from January 1 to June 30, 2025 compared to January 1 to June 30, 2026 from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. ET.

For more information, please contact:

Warren Hardie
Manager, Media Relations and Influencer Engagement
Kids Help Phone
media@kidshelpphone.ca
437-962-2557

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