While happiness levels among young Canadians have fallen sharply over the past decade, Quebec stands out as a notable exception — a contrast that surprised even some of the province’s own youth.
Joshua Bujold, a 17-year-old psychology student in his first semester at Montreal’s Dawson College, was taken aback when he learned that Canadians under 30 have gone from being the happiest age group in the country to the unhappiest in less than 15 years.
That decline, highlighted in the 2024 World Happiness Report by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, largely excludes Quebec.
“In Quebec itself, I know a lot of people, and I think a lot of them are really happy, especially the youth,” Bujold said.
Data suggests his observation is not far off. Researchers at the University of Toronto, authors of the 2024 Canadian Happiness Report, found that the drop in well-being among young people is far less pronounced in Quebec than elsewhere in the country.
Since 2014, life satisfaction among young Quebecers has slightly improved according to Gallup polling, while declines in mental health indicators have been “much weaker” in Quebec based on Statistics Canada data.
The report points to cultural and linguistic factors as possible explanations for the gap. Bujold believes a shared sense of pride among francophones may play a role.
“I feel pride is a very similar thing to happiness,” he said.
He added that while Montreal feels less cheerful at times, happiness appears stronger in regions with larger francophone populations.
Whether something as abstract as pride can be measured remains an open question. Anthony McCanny, lead author of the Canadian Happiness Report, said cultural differences may indeed be influencing the results — particularly given that anglophones in Quebec tend to report mental health levels closer to the national average.
“That was a really important piece of information for us to start thinking about what is driving this difference between Quebec and the rest of Canada,” McCanny said.
The World Happiness Report also found that English-speaking Western countries are experiencing widespread declines in well-being among people under 30. That raises the possibility that young francophones are exposed to a different social media and cultural environment.
“This suggests there is something special about the English sphere,” McCanny said. “Perhaps English youth culture, or English social media, is creating expectations of life that are hard to live up to.”
John Helliwell, an emeritus economics professor at the University of British Columbia and a founding editor of the World Happiness Report, agrees that it’s not just access to social media but how it’s used that may matter.
“It’s how it’s used and what you hear and see on it, and what kind of connections you form through it,” Helliwell said.
Jacques Forest, a psychologist and professor at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), said he isn’t surprised that young Quebecers appear happier.
“It’s not me that says it — it’s the data,” he said with a laugh.
The 2025 World Happiness Report, released in March, found that when Quebec is separated from the rest of Canada, it would rank sixth among 147 countries surveyed, while Canada overall placed 18th across all age groups.
Forest pointed to Quebec’s strong social supports as a likely factor, noting similarities with top-ranked countries such as Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands. Quebec has the lowest university tuition in North America, affordable daycare, and employment insurance benefits that support new parents.
“These systems send a clear message that the government supports people,” Forest said. “If people want to be happy, I think they should copy Quebec.”
While cultural explanations such as Quebec’s famed joie de vivre are often mentioned, Forest cautioned that such interpretations are more anecdotal than scientific.
Still, he believes there is a collective awareness in Quebec that what the province has built is worth protecting.
Despite the apparent happiness gap, challenges remain significant. Surveys conducted in November 2024 involving more than 32,000 students found that nearly 45 per cent of college students and just over 40 per cent of university students reported symptoms associated with anxiety disorders. More than 42 per cent of university students also reported symptoms of depression.
“Those results are very concerning,” said Julie Lane, a professor at the University of Sherbrooke who helped lead the research.
The data showed students whose first language is English reported higher levels of anxiety and depression and were more likely to describe their mental health as poor. Still, nearly 89 per cent of respondents overall described their mental health as “moderate” or “flourishing,” a finding Lane described as encouraging.
Jessica Proulx, a second-year student at UQAM studying to become a high school teacher, said financial pressure is one of the biggest stressors facing her generation.
“I have to work four jobs to make ends meet,” she said. “I don’t have any family members who can help me, so I pay for everything myself — my studies, my housing, my basic needs.”
Academic pressure also contributes to anxiety, she said, and support services are not always sufficient. Still, Proulx considers herself a happy person.
“My anxiety is still very much there,” she said. “But I don’t feel unhappy because of it.”