Online harms rank number one threat to Canadian children: report

Online harms have become the number one threat facing children in Canada, according to a report commissioned by advocacy group Children First Canada (CFC). Launched in 2018, the Raising Canada annual report examines the top 10 threats facing children. The top 10 have remained largely the same over the years, and 2026 marks the first time online harms have made the list, though it was classified as an “emerging threat” in 2025. The report was produced in collaboration with PolicyWise for Children & Families, the Hospital for Sick Children, the Canadian Medical Association, and the University of Calgary, and draws on “the latest evidence from researchers, clinicians, governments, community organizations and young people across Canada,” according to a Tuesday press release. Sara Austin, founder and CEO of CFC, said the reason online harms rank as the most dire threat is because it’s no longer a standalone issue affecting only teens on social media. “It is permeating most other issues amongst our top 10 threats to children,” she told The Wire Report. “So everything from limiting physical activity and play, to accelerating bullying, racism and discrimination, violence and child abuse, even vaccine misinformation leading to declining immunization, as well as climate change and its impacts on children’s health as a result of AI data centres.” Austin said the data is “quite overwhelming” in relation to the way online harms accelerate other threats to children, impeding their “most basic rights to survive and thrive.” The other nine threats in the report are unintentional preventable injuries, violence against children, poverty and food insecurity, poor mental health, vaccine-preventable illnesses, bullying, systemic racism and discrimination, limited physical activity and play, and climate change. Sexual exploitation, AI chatbots, cyberbullying among concerns Online harms come in many forms, including harmful artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot behaviour, sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse material, violent online subcultures, and cyberbullying, the report notes. One of the statistics Austin found most troubling is that police-reported online child sexual exploitation incidents rose 347 per cent between 2014 and 2024, reaching 16,905 incidents in 2024 alone. The findings referenced reports conducted by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, which found eight in 10 mainstream AI chatbots were willing to assist users posing as teens in planning violent attacks, and that OpenAI’s “ChatGPT readily provides guidance on self-harm and suicide.” The report emphasized digital overload, unsafe online environments, and harmful platform design “have become central contributors to poor mental health among children and adolescents.” “Young people are increasingly navigating social and developmental experiences through digital platforms, often at the expense of in-person connection, mentorship, and belonging,” the report read. It also notes the consequences go beyond mental health issues, and can have heavy impacts on physical health as well. The findings show victims of cyberbullying often experience sleep disturbances, which can result in emotional dysregulation, impaired academic functioning, and can increase risk of mental health conditions. Other symptoms of online harms, the report found, include frequent headaches, stomachaches, back pain, and long-term dysregulation of stress physiology. The report argues online harms represent “one of the most complex and rapidly evolving threats to the health and well-being of Canada’s children and youth,” and calls on governments, tech companies, educators, and health professionals to “treat online safety as the urgent child health priority that the evidence confirms it to be.” Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller (Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs, Que.) tabled long-awaited Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, before the House rose June. Effective solutions to curbing this threat to children, the report said, must operate at multiple levels. This includes age-appropriate, evidence-based digital literacy programming, equity-focused support for marginalized populations, sustained investment in research, and independently enforced platform accountability. “It paints a pretty dire picture,” Austin said of the findings. “It really underscores that childhood is under threat in a very serious way.” “It’s an urgent call to action for parents, educators, policymakers to do their part. Children’s rights are being violated in very extreme ways.” mcollins@thewirereport.ca

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Online harms rank number one threat to Canadian children: report

Regulatory | By Maria Collins |September 8, 2026

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Regulatory |
By Maria Collins
|September 8, 2026