I stepped into Trent University’s Symons Campus where the morning sunlight poured through tall windows, illuminating faces of educators, healthcare providers, and young people gathered for what has become an essential annual conversation. The third annual Child and Youth Mental Health Symposium in Peterborough brought together over 300 participants this past weekend, creating a rare space where young voices weren’t just invited but centered.
“We’re dealing with a generation that’s experiencing mental health challenges in ways we haven’t seen before,” said Dr. Kerri Bojman, child psychologist and keynote speaker, as we chatted between sessions. “The pandemic was just the tipping point for what’s been building for years.”
The symposium, organized by the Peterborough Youth Services Coalition, has grown significantly since its 2022 inception. What struck me immediately was the deliberate integration of youth perspectives—teenagers weren’t just subjects of discussion but active participants in shaping solutions.
Seventeen-year-old Maya Collins, who has navigated anxiety and depression since she was 14, shared her journey with remarkable candor during a youth panel discussion. “The hardest part wasn’t actually getting help,” she told the audience. “It was knowing what help to ask for in the first place. We need to teach kids the language to describe what they’re feeling.”
Local data presented at the symposium reveals concerning trends. According to the Peterborough Public Health’s 2023 Youth Wellbeing Report, anxiety disorders among youth aged 12-18 have increased by 43% since 2019. Emergency department visits for youth mental health crises have similarly risen by nearly 30% in the same period.
The symposium addressed this reality through workshops focused on practical interventions. In one packed room, I observed educators learning about trauma-informed classroom strategies from the Canadian Mental Health Association. Down the hall, parents gathered for sessions on supporting teens through digital wellness and social media management.
What differentiated this symposium from similar events was its emphasis on systemic solutions rather than individual resilience alone. Dr. Alisha Virmani from Health Canada presented research showing how social determinants—housing security, food access, sense of belonging—significantly impact youth mental health outcomes.
“We can’t medicalize problems that have social roots,” Virmani explained during her presentation. “Young people today face unprecedented pressures, from climate anxiety to economic uncertainty. Their mental health struggles often reflect very rational responses to genuine threats.”
When I visited a youth-led breakout session called “Building Communities That Care,” I witnessed teenagers and young adults mapping community assets and gaps. They identified everything from safe spaces to transportation barriers that affect their ability to access support.
Elijah Thompson, a 16-year-old participant, sketched out his vision of an ideal support system on large paper taped to the wall. “We need adults who don’t just listen to check a box,” he said. “We need them to actually change things based on what we say.”
The innovative approach extended to addressing cultural dimensions of mental health. Indigenous youth leaders facilitated a session on land-based healing practices, while newcomer youth shared perspectives on navigating cultural expectations around mental health disclosure.
Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal, who attended the symposium’s opening ceremony, acknowledged the city’s commitment to implementing recommendations from previous years’ events. “The youth mental health action plan that emerged from last year’s symposium has guided our budget priorities,” Leal noted. “We’ve increased funding for after-school programs and community hubs based directly on what young people told us they needed.”
As the day progressed, I noticed something subtle but significant—the gradual shift in language used by professional attendees. What began as clinical discussions of “interventions” and “cases” evolved into more humanizing conversations about connection, belonging, and community responsibility.
The symposium wasn’t without tension, particularly around resource allocation. During a panel discussion featuring representatives from the Ministry of Health, school board officials, and community organizations, hard questions emerged about waitlists and funding disparities.
“We have programs that work,” said Rebecca Chen, executive director of Peterborough Youth Services. “What we lack is sustainable funding to make them accessible to everyone who needs them. Our young people deserve more than pilot projects and temporary solutions.”
When I caught up with Chen later, she expressed both hope and frustration. “Events like this are vital for awareness and networking, but the real test is what happens tomorrow and next month. Will decision-makers act on what they’ve heard from young people today?”
As the symposium concluded with a community commitment session, participants wrote specific actions they planned to take on colorful cards that were displayed on a collective mural. The promises ranged from school principals pledging to create quiet spaces for overwhelmed students to healthcare providers committing to shortened assessment processes.
The day left me reflecting on the power of creating spaces where young people’s expertise about their own lives is valued alongside professional knowledge. In a system often fragmented by specializations and jurisdictions, the symposium succeeded in bringing different worlds together—if only temporarily.
For Maya, the teen panelist I spoke with earlier, the experience of being heard by community leaders felt both validating and tenuous. “Today I felt like people were really listening,” she told me as participants filtered out of the closing session. “But we need them to remember what we said even when we’re not in the room.”
As Peterborough looks toward next year’s symposium, the challenge remains translating a single day’s insights into sustained structural change. If this year’s event demonstrated anything, it’s that young people aren’t waiting for permission to be part of that transformation.
