Independent report · Published sources only
By the Numbers
The Toronto Youth Report
What Toronto's published record can — and cannot — tell us about its young people
Toronto cannot say whether its young people are better off, because the numbers are published in pieces that don't add up. Where they do add up, most are moving the wrong way.
Independent report · November 2026 · The PDF is the authoritative version.
The population in question
residents aged 5 to 24 counted in Toronto on Census Day, May 11, 2021 — 20.8% of the city's population of 2,794,356.
Statistics Canada · 2021 Census · City of Toronto
Different sources, different years — read each on its own terms.
of children aged 0 to 17 were in low income in 2022, up from 16.8% in 2020 — 117,890 children, counted on taxfiler data.
Census Family Low Income Measure, After Tax (taxfiler data) · 2022 · Toronto
of youth in grades 7 to 12 reported fair or poor mental health in 2023, up from 27.1% in 2019.
Toronto Public Health, student survey · 2023 · Toronto
unemployment among ages 15 to 24 in 2025, against 12.3% in 2019.
Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey · 2025 · Toronto CMA — the city plus surrounding municipalities, not the city alone
The short read
The 2-minute version
Five of the scorecard's seven measures — the ones that carry the argument. Every rating travels with its caveat, its counting basis and its source.
How to read this page
Then = the earliest published figure. Now = the latest. WORSE = moved the wrong way. CAN'T TELL = no fair comparison exists. MIXED = some better, some worse — or better overall, with the youth share unknown. Every rating travels with its caveat.
The seven verdicts
The two solutions
Solution 1 — the open record: The Record.
Solution 2 — the Toronto Youth Alignment Plan. One buyer, one published price, one count, one promise: The Two Solutions.
Version 1.0 · November 2026 · Changelog