The Health Behaviour in School-Age Children (HBSC) Study is a longitudinal, cross-national research project conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organization, and supported in Canada by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The key goals of the HBSC Project are to inform health promotion and education policy, influence programs and interventions at national and international levels, and increase understanding of young people’s health and well-being. This study collects self-report data every 4 years from youth across Canada aged 11-15 through anonymous surveys. In collaboration with Co-Primary Investigator Dr. Pickett and his team at Brock University, we collect information on a variety of health indicators including nutrition, physical activity, mental wellbeing, healthy relationships, risk-taking behaviours and social determinants of health. This large-scale data collection allows us to compare the health of Canada’s youth both across the country and around the world to inform targeted policies and interventions that both promote healthy behaviours and prevent harmful ones. We also facilitate the production of school-based, provincial, and national reports from the data that can be used to inform future directions in policy and education. Data collection has wrapped up for the most recent period, and will begin again in 2026.

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The HBSC team has recently released the Canadian National 2022 Report with a focus on youth mental health. A total of 26,360 Canadian youth were surveyed, and the report produced six key findings:​