Drug and alcohol use in Canada: Youth (grade 7–12 students)
Explore Health Canada's latest data on drug and alcohol use by youth (grade 7 to 12 students) in Canada.
- Last updated: 2023-03-16
About the youth survey
Every two years, Health Canada runs the Canadian Student Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CSADS) to learn about substance use by students in grades 7 to 12 across the provinces. Since 1994, results from the survey have helped shape Canadian policies and programs to better address substance use and its impacts on youth.
In the 2023–24 school year, 51,844 students completed the survey, representing 1.8 million students in the Canadian provinces.
Explore the data
Data source: Canadian Student Alcohol and Drugs Survey, 2008-2024
Interpretation note:
To check if there is a difference between two groups or cycles, compare the confidence intervals in the "Text description" table.
- If the intervals do not overlap, it’s strong evidence that the difference is real and not just due to chance.
- If they do overlap, there may still be a difference, but a formal test is needed to know for sure.
In either case, tests of statistical significance only tell us whether the difference is likely due to chance. Whether a difference matters in the real world depends on expert judgment and context.
Figure: Notes
Figure: Text description
Technical notes
Data source
This dashboard features data from the Canadian Student Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CSADS), covering the 2008–09 cycle to the most recent 2023–24 cycle. The table below shows the overall sample size for each cycle, including both unweighted and weighted numbers.
An older blog on student alcohol use has been archived.
Table 1: Overall sample sizes of each cycle of the Canadian Student Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CSADS)
| School year | Sample size (unweighted) | Sample size (weighted) | Participating provinces |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-2009 | 45,425 | 2,468,623 | All |
| 2010-2011 | 44,852 | 2,437,598 | 9 (New Brunswick did not) |
| 2012-2013 | 41,057 | 2,215,804 | 9 (Manitoba did not) |
| 2014-2015 | 36,665 | 2,218,070 | All |
| 2016-2017 | 52,103 | 2,088,381 | 9 (New Brunswick did not) |
| 2018-2019 | 62,850 | 2,128,044 | All |
| 2021-2022 | 61,096 | 2,159,977 | 9 (New Brunswick did not) |
| 2023-2024 | 51,844 | 1,790,743 | 9 (Quebec did not) |
Data notes
- CSADS was known as the Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drugs Survey (CSTADS) between 2014-2022 and the Youth Smoking Survey (YSS) before 2014.
- Data were suppressed if the denominators were ≤ 70 at the national level or ≤ 50 at the provincial level, based on Statistics Canada guidelines using survey design effects.
- The confidence intervals shown in the text descriptions were calculated using the modified Wilson method. Previous reports used the Wald method, which may produce narrower intervals and lead to undercoverage, especially for small sample sizes or extreme proportions.
Additional resources
More information
Health Canada conducts the Canadian Student Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CSADS). For more information about the survey or its results, please contact the Office of Drug Research and Surveillance by e-mail at odrs-brsd@hc-sc.gc.ca.
Suggested citation
Health Canada. Drug and alcohol use in Canada: Youth (grade 7–12 students) [Internet]. Health Infobase: Ottawa (ON); 2025 [updated ; cited ]. Available from: https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-use/csads/
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Canadian Substance Use Survey (CSUS)
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Canadian Postsecondary Education Alcohol and Drug Use Survey (CPADS)
Patterns and consequences of substance use among postsecondary students in Canada.
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