INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
What’s the Need?
Ontario students are facing increasingly complex challenges related to substance use, device use, and overall well-being (Henderson et al, 2021). These challenges can impact their mental health, relationships, and sense of belonging at school.
School staff have said that they need resources that help students build skills to navigate these pressures, make healthier choices, and strengthen connections with themselves, their peers, their community and environment (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2021).
Recent Canadian research underscores the urgent need for evidence-based resources and school-based practices that can help prevent, reduce, and delay substance use harms (Jenkins et al, 2025), while also promoting healthier, more balanced use of digital devices.
For students, these issues are especially important. Adolescence is a critical period of brain development, decision-making, and identity formation. During this time, young people are exposed to increasing pressures—from peers, media, and online environments—that can influence their choices around substances and device use (Wood, S. 2025).
Without supportive tools and guidance, students may be more vulnerable to stress, social isolation, risky behaviours, or negative impacts on their mental health, academic success, and overall well-being (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2025).
This is where Connect Quest makes a difference. By providing engaging, student-centered activities and campaigns, it equips young people with opportunities to:
- Build knowledge about healthy coping strategies and the risks of substance use.
- Reflect on their own habits and values, including how they use technology and connect with others.
- Strengthen peer and school connections that act as protective factors against harmful behaviours.
- Lead positive initiatives within their communities, amplifying messages of resilience, balance, and belonging.
The resource has been titled “Connect Quest” to highlight the critical role that connection plays in protecting and promoting young people’s mental health. Young people who feel connected to the people and institutions in their communities may be protected from other risk factors in their lives (Raniti, M.,et al, 2022). Increasing connectedness has been demonstrated as an effective prevention strategy for mental health and substance use health problems (Satre et al., 2025, Rodríguez-Ruiz et al,2025)
