Online harms are the biggest threat to Canadian children, new report finds

A new report is sounding the alarm about the risks that kids face online, ranking online harms as the number one threat facing children in Canada.

The report from Children First Canada is calling on the Canadian government to pass a stronger Safe Social Media Act this fall.

The report found that for the first time since it was launched in 2018, online harms now reflect the “profound and rapidly escalating impact of the digital world on children’s rights to health, safety and protection from violence.”

Each year the report looks at the top 10 threats to children across Canada.

“For many years now, we’ve been tracking online harms as a significant concern affecting children and youth across the country,” Children First Canada founder and CEO Sara Austin said.

“But this year it’s risen to the very top of the list because the issues that kids are experiencing are no longer confined just to teenagers on social media. We’re now seeing that every kid in Canada, from coast to coast to coast, from infancy all the way through adolescence are being impacted in their brain development, in their mental health, their physical activity and play.”

According to Children First Canada, Canada now ranks 22nd out of 37 high-income countries on UNICEF’s Child Wellbeing Index and 72nd out of 194 countries on the 2026 KidsRights Index.

“The Canadian Center for Child Protection is now receiving over 100,000 reports every single month of online child sexual exploitation,” Austin said.

“Over the past decade, we’ve seen reports of online sexual exploitation increase by over 347 per cent. That’s a significant rise.”

Austin said now is a good time for parents and caregivers to talk to their kids about the devices they use, the apps they have access to, and perhaps set some new rules.

“I certainly don’t want to send the message to parents that they need to panic or that they should be punishing their children,” she said.

“Our kids are not to blame. Our kids have grown up in a generation where they are exposed to online harms, and really, we need to be holding the tech companies accountable.”

Austin added that parents and caregivers can be more vigilant about the time kids spend online at home as Canadian teens spend an average of five to seven hours a day online.

“I’m raising a teenager; I didn’t grow up with these things, his algorithm looks very different than mine, so I can ask him questions,” Austin added.

“What is he seeing? What are his friends talking about? What are they experiencing? Not from a place of snooping, but really from a place of curiosity, so I can better understand and be better equipped to be able to support him.”

Mother of young triplets, Natalia Kubiak, told Global News that it is a delicate balance to make sure her kids grow up knowing how to use technology safely, but not expose them to it too early.

“I really hope that by the time they are old enough, there will be better safeguards in place,” she said.

Kubiak said she supports the Safe Social Media Act, which the federal government introduced earlier this year.

The legislation would require social media companies to restrict children under 16 years old from their platforms, but will not force AI chatbot platforms to do the same.

The Safe Social Media Act aims to create a “duty to protect children” for all online platforms that will require social media and AI chatbot platforms to incorporate age-appropriate designs, including content warning labels, safe search settings for children, and measures to reduce addictive behaviours like endless scrolling.

Platforms will also have a “duty to act responsibly” that aims to mitigate the risk of chatbots communicating harmful content and behaviour, while requiring AI companies to implement crisis intervention protocols when a user expresses a desire to commit violence or self-harm.