Kids Help Phone Expands Nationwide Mental Health Support with $2 Million Investment from Health Canada
Funds will support more local, youth-serving organizations refer young people to Kids Help Phone’s 24/7 mental health services
TORONTO, July 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kids Help Phone (KHP) has launched a four-year, $2 million plan to provide youth-serving organizations across Canada with integrated, 24/7 mental health support. Funded by the Government of Canada’s Youth Mental Health Fund, the Scaling KHP’s Online Messaging Service for Youth project allows KHP to embed its digital messaging widget directly into the websites of local youth-serving organizations so youth accessing their services can reach a trusted and trained KHP crisis responder at any hour of the day.
The expansion of KHP service access points will focus on youth-serving organizations in Black, Indigenous, and newcomer community hubs and sports groups nationwide. Current and future partnerships between KHP and youth-serving organizations that will be established due to this funding will allow local organizations to bridge a critical operational gap as many organizations lack the capacity to offer mental health support outside of standard business hours. By leveraging KHP’s always-on existing and trusted infrastructure and clinical expertise, these partnerships will also allow youth-serving organizations to focus on their specific areas of professional expertise and refer young people they support to KHP to provide safe mental health services.
"The most fraught moment for a young person in distress is the time between needing help and finding it," said Rebecca Shields, President and Chief Executive Officer of KHP. “With this funding, a young person accessing social services in their local community is no longer relying on support only during business hours and can now discover KHP’s 24/7 e-mental health services on the website of a local organization they and their families already access and trust. When KHP is embedded within networks of youth-serving organizations, we meet young people where they are, in places they already trust to provide a critical safety net rather than expecting them to navigate the system on their own.”
By the end of the funding agreement, KHP is expected to have established 75 new partnerships with youth-serving organizations across Canada. Funding will ensure KHP builds capacity to ensure the ongoing demand for support from youth is met with high-quality e-mental health services in more communities across the country.
“Together, we are making efforts across Canada to strengthen mental health care tailored to the unique needs and challenges that young people face,” said Maggie Chi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health. “Increasing access to crisis response services is an important part of these efforts. Kids Help Phone is making it easier for youth to access support wherever and whenever they need it.”
Key Facts
- Young people connected with KHP more than 3.7 million times over phone, text, social media, and resources on KidsHelpPhone.ca in 2025.
- More than 273,000 texting conversations took place at KHP in 2025, a 30% increase from the prior year.
- 78% of young people who texted KHP in 2025 said they shared something with KHP that they have never shared with anyone else.
- There are more than 1,500 active KHP volunteer crisis responders who are trained to take conversations with young people reaching out to KHP under the supervision of KHP staff.
- The Youth Mental Health Fund is focused on improving youth mental health among young people across Canada.
About Kids Help Phone
Kids Help Phone (KHP) is Canada’s only free, national, 24/7, multilingual and confidential e-mental health service for youth to get help and Feel Out Loud. Since 1989, KHP has been the empowering, trusted changemaker giving young people’s feelings, big and small, a non-judgmental place to go through personalized well-being solutions. A made-in-Canada, global leader, KHP continually evolves by blending data, innovation and technology with real human support and clinical knowledge to unlock the hope young people need to thrive in their world. Explore help for all the feelings at KidsHelpPhone.ca.
About Health Canada
Health Canada aims to help Canadians maintain and improve their health while respecting individual choices and circumstances. Its overarching goal is for Canada to be among the countries with the healthiest populations in the world. To achieve this, the department relies on high-quality scientific research, conducts consultations with Canadians, communicates disease prevention information, and encourages healthy lifestyles such as proper nutrition and physical activity.
For more information, please contact:
Warren Hardie
Manager, Media Relations and Influencer Engagement
media@kidshelpphone.ca
437-962-2557
Alexandre Bergeron
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Health
alexandre.bergeron@hc-sc.gc.ca
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