Men’s mental health: How are Canadian men doing?

Men’s Health Week presents an opportunity to bring awareness to the health and well-being of those who identify as men in Canada, particularly when it comes to mental health and how it impacts their quality of life.

This week, and all year round, let’s all commit to checking in on one another about feelings, emotions, well-being and overall quality of life! Having these conversations could help reduce some of the stigma that creates barriers around these topics.

Data collected from October to December 2022 revealed that half of men (50%) aged 15 years and older said they have excellent or very good mental health. Of the remaining men, roughly one-third (32%) said they have good mental health, and 17% said they have fair or poor mental health.

Better together

More than half (55%) of men who were married or in a common-law relationship reported having excellent or very good mental health, while less than half (43%) of men not in a couple said the same.

Similarly, in fall 2022, men who lived with others (51%) were more likely than men living alone (42%) to report having excellent or very good mental health. On the topic of households, those who owned their dwelling (52%) were more likely than those who rented (44%) to have excellent or very good mental health.

Quebec men report higher rates of excellent or very good mental health

Although men aged 15 years and older living in rural and urban areas were equally as likely to report having excellent or very good mental health, there were some differences observed across the regions of Canada.

Over 6 in 10 (62%) men living in Quebec reported having excellent or very good mental health. This share was comparatively higher than men living in other regions, who reported having excellent or very good mental health at rates ranging from 46% to 49%.

Diverse identities and lived experiences

Intersecting characteristics of a person’s identity are important to consider, such as immigration status, sexual orientation and being a part of a racialized community.

For example, according to data collected from October to December 2022, 2SLGBTQ+ men aged 15 years and older (29%) were much less likely to report excellent or very good mental health than non-2SLGBTQ+ men (51%). This may be partly because of lower levels of self-reported mental health of young 2SLGBTQ+ people. While the sample size of the 2SLGBTQ+ population is too small to publish age breakdowns from the same time period, pooled data from spring 2021 to winter 2022 revealed that less than one in five 2SLGBTQ+ men aged 15 to 24 years reported excellent or very good mental health (17%). This was lower than the share of non-2SLGBTQ+ men in the same age group (54%) from this dataset. These figures could be a result of greater levels of discrimination and stigma faced by 2SLGBTQ+ people in society.

Canadians with a disability, difficulty or long-term condition (33%) were less likely to report excellent or very good mental health, compared with those without a disability, difficulty or long-term condition (61%).

Similar rates of those with excellent or very good mental health were found between immigrant (50%) and non-immigrant men (49%), and between racialized (52%) and non-racialized, non-Indigenous men (49%).

We all need somebody to lean on

Social support networks and having someone to count on are important protective factors against feelings of loneliness and negative mental health outcomes. Overall, 7 in 10 (70%) men said they always or often have someone to count on, and over half (56%) said they rarely or never feel lonely.

Among men who reported always or often having someone to count on, more than half (55%) rated their mental health as excellent or very good. This was significantly higher than the share of those who sometimes, rarely or never have someone to count on (38%). The same distinction was true with feelings of loneliness: 64% of men who said that they rarely or never feel lonely had excellent or very good mental health, while among men who always, often or sometimes feel lonely, the share with excellent or very good mental was 33%.

Interested in learning more?

Indicators such as self-rated mental health and having someone to count on are part of Canada’s Quality of Life Framework. Additional data on self-rated mental health by gender, province and other sociodemographic characteristics are available in Table 45-10-0079-01 and Table 45-10-0080-01.

In the future, infographics and accompanying discussions on men’s health and women’s health will be available. Stay tuned!