Youth in Canada Service Corps (CSC) co-creation sessions have highlighted mental health support as a priority to enhance the success of service initiatives, particularly the importance of having service opportunities that promote positive mental health and include prevention efforts to improve well-being. After months of ongoing discussion with coalition partners about how to tackle this issue, mindyourmind developed a needs assessment survey distributed in December 2019 to begin the planning process.

The purpose of this needs assessment is to determine the mental health needs and assets of project participants and frontline staff during their program involvement in order to guide the development of a coalition-wide mental health support strategy. This report presents the results of the survey, outlining our identified needs, assets, and how we can collectively address these needs, particularly by offering recommendations on how to steer the coalition activities in an effective way to support mental health.