Manitoba child advocate seeing ‘significant’ increase in calls for youth addictions

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s Advocate for Children and Youth is calling on the province to develop a youth-focused addictions strategy.

Sherry Gott says her office is seeing a significant increase in the number of young people who are trying to access addictions services, and says the province needs to keep up.

She says that in the past five years her office has seen advocacy requests for youth living with addictions jump from three per cent to 22 per cent. 

Gott says the majority of those impacted are young females and Indigenous youth. 

Her office has also heard there needs to be more education and awareness, cultural, and land-based programming, and long-term support services. 

The advocate also found an increase in the number of young people who have died from a suspected overdose.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2024. 

The Canadian Press