About positive mental health
Mental health includes positive mental health (PMH) and mental ill-health (including mental illness).
This website focuses on PMH. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) defines PMH as “the capacity of each and all of us to feel, think, and act in ways that enhance our ability to enjoy life and deal with the challenges we face”1. PMH is a key factor in individual and community health. It contributes to the function of individuals, families, and communities. It also contributes to the social and economic prosperity of society2.
PMH is important to monitor. At PHAC, we monitor PMH nationally and across diverse populations. By monitoring the needs of diverse groups, we can create more effective mental health supports and programs3,4. The data we report help inform the design and evaluation of mental health promotion efforts. Investing in mental health promotion creates social and economic benefits.
About the indicator framework
In 2016, PHAC launched the Positive Mental Health Surveillance Indicator Framework (PMHSIF) to monitor PMH. It uses the most recent, available data to provide information on PMH outcomes like:
- self-rated mental health
- happiness
- life satisfaction
- psychological well-being
- social well-being
The PMHSIF also provides information about some risk and protective factors. These factors may be at the individual, family, community, and society levels5.
Canadian estimates are available for adults aged 18 years and older, and youth aged 12 to 17 years. Estimates can also be broken down by demographic and socioeconomic variables. The PMHSIF is updated regularly. It contains historical data for PMH outcomes since 2012.
Features
The PMHSIF has many features to explore:
- Quick Stats has national estimates from the latest edition of the framework. It also has a description for each indicator.
- The Data Tool gives data breakdowns for every indicator in the current and previous editions of the framework.
- Publications lists relevant journal articles, infographics, data blogs, and data tools on PMH released by PHAC. It also lists Quick Stats from all previous updates of the framework.
Key findings
The latest edition (2024) of the PMHSIF includes the most recent national data available at the time of publication.
National estimates
Among adults and youth in Canada, the majority reported:
- high (very good or excellent) self-rated mental health in 2022 (54.6% adults; 58.1% youth)
- high levels of happiness in 2020 (73.6% adults; 73.0% youth)
- high psychological well-being (51.3% adults in 2023; 80.8% high autonomy and 84.3% high competence youth in 2019)
- high social well-being (63.4% high community belonging adults in 2022; 89.3% high relatedness youth in 2019)
Individuals in Canada are relatively satisfied with their life. Life satisfaction is measured on a scale from 0 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied). In 2022, the average life satisfaction was 7.6 for adults and 8.0 for youth. Almost 1 in 3 adults (29.0%) and more than 2 in 5 youth (43.4%) reported being very satisfied with life (rating of 9 or 10).
Positive mental health across population groups
Sociodemographic groups do not all share the same levels of PMH. These disparities vary across the PMH outcomes. Key differences6 include:
- Among adults (18 years and older) and youth (12 to 17 years), fewer females (than males) report high self-rated mental health.
- Adults from the following groups are less likely to report high self-rated mental health:
- those in the lowest household income quintiles (compared to higher)
- those with lower education (compared to post-graduate education)
- those who identify as First Nations off reserve, Inuit or Métis (compared to most other cultural and racial groups)
- those born in Canada (compared to immigrants)
- In general, adults aged 65 years and older (compared to younger age groups) and adults living in rural areas (compared to population centres) are more likely to report high PMH.
- In general, sexual minorities are less likely to report high PMH than heterosexual adults.
- Among females, those who identify as bisexual are less likely to report high self-rated mental health and high happiness compared to those who identify as heterosexual and those who identify as lesbian or gay.
Information about populations with lower levels of PMH is key. It helps inform the development of targeted and tailored mental health initiatives.
Decreasing mental health outcomes
Data suggests that some PMH outcomes have declined over time6,7. For example, we compared outcomes from 2022 to 2017. Fewer adults and youth reported high self-rated mental health and being very satisfied with life.
More information
Explore the Data Tool for detailed information and data breakdowns for each indicator. This includes newly added estimates by sex and other breakdowns (for example, by gender, cultural or racial background, and sexual orientation) and trends in PMH outcomes over recent years.