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The Peel Region of Toronto, Canada is home to over a third of the province's South Asian population. Youth are at a vulnerable time period in terms of their mental health. South Asian youth populations may face additional challenges to their mental health such as acculturative stress, intergenerational conflict, and racism and discrimination. This qualitative study set out to understand the mental health concerns and service access barriers experienced by South Asian youth populations in the Peel Region of Toronto, Canada from the perspective of mental health service providers. In-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with mental health service providers (n = 22) who work with South Asian youth living in Peel Region. Thematic analysis was used to elucidate themes related to mental health stressors and service access barriers experienced by youth. According to mental health service providers, South Asian youth navigate a number of unique stressors related to the domains of culture, religion, and family dynamics, experiences of discrimination, the impact of migration, beliefs around mental illness and help-seeking, help-seeking trajectories and therapy recommendations, and lastly, sex differences. Mental health service providers outlined steps needed to effectively address the unique mental health challenges, best practice guidelines, and recommendations for working with South Asian youth, families, and communities to provide a practical and nuanced overview on how a multi-level strategy for mental health care can effectively meet the needs of South Asian youth populations.

The purpose of this article is to explore the existing intersectional knowledge on integration and resettlement of refugees with disabilities in two of the top five resettlement countries in the world, Germany and Canada. There is limited research on the intersection of migration and disability, especially in the context of refugee resettlement. Reflecting the dominant pathways of migration in each country, what little research there is focuses on asylum seekers in Germany, and immigrants in Canada. The review describes settlement programs in each country. We draw from the global literature around forced migration and disability, as well as disability and migration more broadly in each country, to enhance the limited existing research and conduct an intersectional analysis at the level of systems, discourses and subjective narratives. Findings highlight three dominant themes that weave across all three levels: being a “burden” on society, being invisible, and agency and resistance. Finally, drawing from the theoretical stance of Disability Studies, critical, and holistic integration theories we discuss how this intersectional analysis highlights the importance of reshaping the policies, discourse and definition of integration, and the consequences this can have on research, service delivery, and evaluation of integration and resettlement.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health services rapidly transitioned to virtual care. Although such services can improve access for underserved populations, they may also present unique challenges, especially for refugee newcomers. This study examined the multidimensional nature of access to virtual mental health (VMH) care for refugee newcomers during the COVID-19 pandemic, using Levesque et al.’s Client-Centered Framework for Assessing Access to Health Care. One hundred and eight structured and semi structured interviews were conducted in four Canadian provinces (8 community leaders, 37 newcomer clients, 63 mental health or service providers or managers). Deductive qualitative analysis, based on the Client-Centered Framework, identified several overarching themes: challenges due to the cost and complexity of using technology; comfort for VMH outside clinical settings; sustainability post-COVID-19; and communication and the therapeutic alliance. Mental health organizations, community organizations, and service providers can improve access to (virtual) mental health care for refugee newcomers by addressing cultural and structural barriers, tailoring services, and offering choice and flexibility to newcomers.

Negative self-conscious emotions (shame, guilt) support self-regulation to social norms, which may be part of the identity development process. This study addressed whether cultural background affected this process. European Canadian (EC, N = 99), Chinese Canadian (CC, N = 86), international Chinese students in Canada (IC, N = 65) and mainland Chinese (MC, N = 69) undergraduates read 18 scenarios describing norm violations, rating each scenario on a Shame and Guilt Self-Regulation Scale (SGSRS). MANOVAs showed that MCs endorsed more approach responses (i.e., problem focus coping, support seeking) to the scenarios than CC and EC. Gender differences also emerged; women endorsed more approach strategies to shame than men and less withdrawal (denial). Cultural differences to both shame and guilt did not extend to first generation CCs, who had grown up in North America. Results suggest that cultural norms moderate how self-conscious emotions affect the development of some aspects of identity.

Background Perinatal depression and anxiety are increasingly recognized as important public health issues in low and middle-income countries such as Rwanda and may have negative consequences for both mothers and their infants. Maternal mental health may be particularly challenged in Rwanda because of the prevalence of risk factors such as poverty, low education levels, negative life events and marital problems. However, there are limited data about perinatal depression and anxiety symptoms in Rwanda. This study thus aimed to explore the prevalence of symptoms of perinatal depression and anxiety in Rwanda, and factors associated with them. Methods A sample of 165 women in the perinatal period (second and third trimester of pregnancy, up to 1 year postnatal) were interviewed individually over 1 month in October 2013. Women were interviewed at 5 of 14 health centres in the Eastern Province or the affiliated district hospital. Participants answered socio-demographic questions and scales measuring symptoms of perinatal depression (EPDS: Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) and anxiety (SAS: Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale). Results Among women in the antenatal period (N = 85), 37.6% had symptoms indicating possible depression (EPDS ≥10) and 28.2% had symptoms associated with clinical levels of anxiety (SAS > 45). Among women within the postnatal period (N = 77), 63.6% had symptoms of possible depression, whereas 48,1% had symptoms of probable anxiety. Logistic regression showed that symptoms of postnatal depression were higher for respondents who had four or more living children relative to those having their first child (Odds Ratio: 0.07, C.I. = 0.01–0.42), and for those with a poor relationship with their partner (Odds Ratio: .09, C.I. =0.03–0.25). Any lifetime exposure to stressful events was the only predictor of symptoms of postnatal anxiety (Odds Ratio = 0.20, C.I. = 0.09–0.44). Conclusions Symptoms of postnatal depression and anxiety were prevalent in this Rwandan sample and most strongly predicted by interpersonal and social factors, suggesting that social interventions may be a successful strategy to protect against maternal mental health problems in the Rwandan context.

Unmet health care needs are under explored among refugees. Previously we found unmet health care needs in Syrian refugees may be higher than in the general Canadian population (Oda et al. CMAJ Open 5(2):E354-E358, 2017; Oda et al. J Immigr Minor Health, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0780-z). This follow-up study with Syrian refugees who entered Canada between July 2015 and July 2016 aimed to understand if there are changes in unmet health care needs 6 months to a year after baseline collection. The number reporting unmet needs was high (42.6%). Although some refugees had their needs met, unmet health needs persist, and it seems that they are linked with sponsorship pathway and post-migration socio-economic position. While caution should be used generalizing these results, they do suggest that greater coordination between services may be needed as many of the refugees report unmet needs within months of arriving and continue to report needs after being here for a period up to 2 years.

Finding appropriate employment is a common challenge faced by refugees when resettling in a new country. For refugees with higher education, finding work commensurate with their skills and qualifications may be even more difficult. Refugees with higher education may experience more distress around employment because their expectations for employment are more discrepant from the realities of resettlement. As part of the SyRIA.lth project, the present study looked at employment rates and job quality of Syrian refugees resettling in Canada (N = 1805). Moderately and highly educated participants were more likely to be employed than those with less than high school education. Among those currently employed 2 to 3 years after arrival (n = 627), moderately and highly educated participants reported lower job satisfaction, quality, and appropriateness compared to those with lower education. As expected, employed former refugees with high education reported poorer mental health which was explained by the job quality measures.

Canada launched the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Initiative in 2015 and resettled over 40,000 refugees.To evaluate the prevalence of depression-level symptoms at baseline and one year post-resettlement and analyze its predictors.Data come from the Syrian Refugee Integration and Long-term Health Outcomes in Canada study (SyRIA.lth) involving 1924 Syrian refugees recruited through a variety of community-based strategies. Data were collected using structured interviews in 2017 and 2018. Depression symptoms were measured using Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9). Analysis for associated factors was executed using multinomial logistic regression.Mean age was 38.5 years (SD 13.8). Sample included 49% males and 51% females settled in Ontario (48%), Quebec (36%) and British Columbia (16%). Over 74% always needed an interpreter, and only 23% were in employment. Prevalence of depression-level symptoms was 15% at baseline and 18% in year-2 (Increase in depression-level symptoms deserves attention through focusing on identified predictors particularly baseline depression scores, social support, perceived control and language ability.

Between November 2015 and January 2017, the Government of Canada resettled over 40,000 Syrian refugees through different sponsorship programs (GAR and PSR). Timely access to healthcare is essential for good health and successful integration. However, refugee support differs depending on sponsorship program, which may lead to differences in healthcare service access and needs. A cross-sectional study with a sample of Syrian refugees was conducted to assess healthcare access, and perceived physical and mental health status. Results indicate demographic and healthcare access differences between GARs and PSRs. GARs reported significantly lower perceived physical and mental health, as well as, higher unmet healthcare needs than PSRs. GARs are among the most vulnerable refugees; they report higher needs, more complex medical conditions and tend to have more difficulty re-settling. These factors likely combine to help explain lower self-reported health and higher health needs in our sample compared to PSRs.

With the global increase in the number of refugees and asylum seekers, mental health professionals have become more aware of the need to understand and respond to the mental health needs of forced migrants. This critical review summarizes the findings of recent systematic reviews and primary research on the impact of post-migration conditions on mental disorders and PTSD among refugees and asylum seekers. Historically, the focus of mental health research and interventions with these populations has been on the impact of pre-migration trauma. Pre-migration trauma does predict mental disorders and PTSD, but the post-migration context can be an equally powerful determinant of mental health. Moreover, post-migration factors may moderate the ability of refugees to recover from pre-migration trauma. The importance of post-migration stressors to refugee mental health suggests the need for therapeutic interventions with psychosocial elements that address the broader conditions of refugee and asylum seekers’ lives. However, there are few studies of multimodal interventions with refugees, and even fewer with control conditions that allow for conclusions about their effectiveness. These findings are interpreted using a social determinants of health framework that connects the risk and protective factors in the material and social conditions of refugees’ post-migration lives to broader social, economic and political factors.

Aim The future of the nursing profession in Rwanda in large part depends on the students who join the workforce and the education they have received. Preparing students with the necessary knowledge, values and judgement requires practice settings to be learner-centered. This study aimed at exploring strategies that might improve the current practice-based learning environment. Design A focused ethnographic approach was used. Methods Nursing students, staff nurses, clinical instructors and nurse leaders from three hospitals and an educational program participated in individual interviews. Results Five key areas of improvement emanated from study data: 1) strengthening institutional support; 2) improving school-hospital collaboration; 3) building the capacity of nurses and clinical instructors; 4) restructuring clinical placement; and 5) reviewing the current supervision model. Based on these findings a “Co-CREATES” framework grounded in the actions of collaboration, care, recognizing, empowering, actively engaging, transforming, enhancement and support was developed. The framework offers a collaborative approach that engages every stakeholder in “cocreating” conditions that build positive practice environments which are conducive to preparing students as professional nurses. Conclusion The positive outcomes stemming from such a collaborative approach can further enhance a positive culture of collaboration in nursing education and practice.

Islam is a monotheistic religion and is considered a way of life offering guidance and healing both within the public and private spheres of Muslims. Culturally sensitive counseling for Muslims requires integrating culturally grounded beliefs, faith-based values, and social norms into counseling practices. The goals of this chapter are to understand the role of religion and faith-based coping in the Western framework of mental health and recovery. More specifically, we will describe the ways in which traditional Islamic teachings are being applied within informal mental health support systems, including the role of Imams, and how Islamic principles from the Qur’an can be used to develop formal models of therapy. Finally, we will be exploring an Islamically integrated peer support model for Muslim refugees, in the Canadian context and making recommendations drawing from the five pillars of Islam.

Thirty-nine adults from mainland China (MC) and 34 adults of European descent from Canada (EC) were recruited and presented with five types of shame concepts (xiu chi, can kui, diu lian, xiu kui, and nan wei qing) and four types of guilt (nei jiu-1—harm to others, nei jiu-2—trust violation, zui e gan, and fan zui gan), which were based on Mandarin shame and guilt categories to recall or generate different situations for different types of shame and guilt. The responses were coded into themes, which were organized into eight higher order categories. Both cultures had “breaking own expectations,” “breaking other’s expectations,” and “intentional breaking social norms/rules” higher order categories. Chi-square analyses suggested that the main difference between cultures was in the higher order guilt category of “other’s improper actions”; ECs were more likely to associate guilt feelings with other people’s improper actions than MCs were. Moreover, within cultural differences between shame and guilt were also found. Euro-Canadian seemed to recognize the breadth of shame and guilt despite lacking the same terms. The results confirm that shame and guilt may be universal, but that cultural background moderates their experiences.

This study examined differences in the experience of shame and guilt in undergraduate students from mainland China (MC: collectivist. N = 39) and Canada (EC: individualist. N = 34). Participants were presented with five types of shame concepts (xiu chi, can kui, diu lian, xiu kui, and nan wei qing) and four types of guilt (nei jiu-1—harm to others, nei jiu-2—trust violation, zui e gan, and fan zui gan), which were based on Mandarin shame and guilt categories and described situations that would elicit each concept. The data were coded in terms of three dimensions based on earlier research (“public” versus “private,” “self” versus “action,” and “withdrawal” versus “repair”). Results showed that situations eliciting these emotions were more likely to be public than private when MCs were experiencing shame, but not this was not true for guilt. ECs experienced both guilt and shame primarily in public situations rather than private situations. MCs focused on blaming themselves more in shame situations than in guilt situations. MCs focused more on blaming their actions in guilt situations than in shame situations. ECs in both guilt and shame situations still focused on blaming their actions rather than the self. ECs focused on social withdrawal rather than repairing behaviors in shame situations, but reverse in guilt situations. Cultural background plays an obvious and important role in experiencing of shame and guilt.

Canadian immigrants can be without health insurance for many reasons but limited data exists regarding uninsured health outcomes. Uninsured Canadian residents were identified in the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System for all visits to emergency departments in Ontario, Canada between 2002/3 and 2010/11 (N = 44,489,750). Frequencies for main diagnoses, severity (triage), and visit disposition were compared. Ambulatory care sensitive conditions were identified in a 10 % subsample. The uninsured (N = 140,730; 0.32 %) were more likely to be diagnosed with mental health (insured: 3.48 %; uninsured: 10.47 %) or obstetric problems (insured: 2.69 %; uninsured: 5.56 %), be triaged into the two most severe categories (insured: 11.2 %; uninsured 15.6 %), leave untreated (insured: 3.1 %; uninsured: 5.4 %), or die (insured: 2.8 %; uninsured: 3.7 %). More ACSC visits were made by uninsured children and youth. Insurance status is associated with more serious health status on arrival to emergency departments and more negative visit outcomes.

This article outlines the understanding of the connections made by Rwandan practitioners in the human social services between the application of conventional counselling training and local practices. Undertaken by a group of social researchers from three Canadian Schools of Social Work and academics and students from the University of Rwanda Social Work Program, this qualitative study included 18 individual interviews with practitioners, reports from meetings with a local advisory group and three annual workshop discussions held with various stakeholders in Rwanda. The findings indicate that professional counselling is a specialty of those formally trained to counsel individuals or groups of people who are severely distressed emotionally, while in a Rwandan context, counselling consists of helping practices of approaching and accompanying persons in need, strengthening their connections to local resources, and building capacity in order to help them get back on their feet. Policy, pedagogical and practice implications are discussed.

Technology specifically designed for people with disabilities is important in lowering boundaries to education, employment and basic life needs. However, the growth of a vibrant tech sector in Kenya has had little effect on the prevalence of digital assistive technology in the country. In this chapter, the authors report on initial explorations undertaken in Kisumu, Kenya to identify existing strengths, relationships, and gaps in access to digital assistive technology. The goal was to explore opportunities for initiatives in participatory design of assistive technology, using an international community/academic partnership. Relevant literature and projects from the areas of Information and Computer Technology for Development (ICT4D), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Critical Disability Studies are reviewed and, these theories are grounded in the authors' experience working with stakeholders in the region. The conclusion discusses promising future directions for participatory and collaborative research in Kenya, and more broadly in the East African context.

Research with immigrant and refugee families consistently documents acculturation gaps and role reversals between migrant youth and their parents. However, debate exists over whether these necessarily lead to family conflict and distress. This question was explored in this community-based qualitative study through focus groups and interviews with 70 newcomer refugee youth aged 16 to 24 from the Afghan, Karen and Sudanese communities in Toronto. Thematic analysis revealed that youths’ responsibilities increased following migration, often involving service navigation, language interpretation, and providing financial and emotional support, in addition to household chores and pursuing education and employment. Several youth explicitly took on parental roles in the absence of a parent. These changes did not necessarily lead to conflict, and where family conflict and distancing occurred, other factors such as lack of time together or low levels of family support seemed to be the contributing factors. Youth were clearly “resettlement champions” for their families, which increased family-level well-being, often at the cost of individual-level well-being. Policy implications are discussed. Resume: Une recherche documentee sur les familles d’immigres et de refugies montre de maniere consistante des ecarts dus a l’acculturation ainsi que des renversements de role entre les jeunes immigres et leurs parents. Il y a cependant un debat sur la question de savoir si ceci doit forcement mener a des conflits familiaux et a une certaine detresse. Cette question a fait l’objet d’une etude qualitative realisee dans les communautes afghanes, karenes et soudanaises de Toronto a partir de groupes cibles et d’entrevues menees avec 70 jeunes refugies nouvellement arrives et âges de 16 a 24 ans. Une analyse thematique a revele que les responsabilites de ces jeunes augmentaient suite a l’immigration, souvent afin d’aider les leurs a s’orienter dans les services, a leur servir d’interprete et a leur apporter un soutien financier et emotionnel, et ce en plus de tenir la maison, de continuer des etudes et de gagner leur vie. Plusieurs d’entre eux ont pris explicitement le role de parents en l’absence de l’un d’entre eux. Ces changements n’ont pas automatiquement provoque de conflits sauf que, la ou il y en a eu dans la famille ou qu’elle a souffert de distanciation, d’autres facteurs tels que le manque de temps en commun ou un bas niveau de support familial semblent y avoir contribue. Les jeunes sont clairement les «champions du reetablissement» pour les leurs, ameliorant le bien-etre familial, souvent au prix d’un mieux-vivre individuel. Il s’agit donc de voir ce que cette situation implique au niveau des politiques a leur egard.

The 2014 Ebola crisis has highlighted public-health vulnerabilities in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea—countries ravaged by extreme poverty, deforestation and mining-related disruption of livelihoods and ecosystems, and bloody civil wars in the cases of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ebola’s emergence and impact are grounded in the legacy of colonialism and its creation of enduring inequalities within African nations and globally, via neoliberalism and the Washington Consensus. Recent experiences with new and emerging diseases such as SARS and various strains of HN influenzas have demonstrated the effectiveness of a coordinated local and global public health and education-oriented response to contain epidemics. To what extent is international assistance to fight Ebola strengthening local public health and medical capacity in a sustainable way, so that other emerging disease threats, which are accelerating with climate change, may be met successfully? This chapter considers the wide-ranging socio-political, medical, legal and environmental factors that have contributed to the rapid spread of Ebola, with particular emphasis on the politics of the global and public health response and the role of gender, social inequality, colonialism and racism as they relate to the mobilization and establishment of the public health infrastructure required to combat Ebola and other emerging diseases in times of climate change.

Immigration can have powerful effects on gender roles and family relationships. In the present study, 102 Pakistani married immigrant women in Canada completed questionnaires on recalled pre-migration, and perceptions of current post-migration, personal autonomy in their family; life satisfaction; living arrangements (i.e., whether with in-laws) in both countries; income and employment in Canada; and their expectations of, and willingness to, immigrate. The women reported significantly higher personal autonomy and life satisfaction while living in Canada relative to Pakistan. Linear regression analyses indicated that living with in-laws was associated with lower life satisfaction in Pakistan but this was fully mediated by autonomy. More autonomy was also related to higher life satisfaction in Canada, but not to living arrangements or any other measured variable. The results suggest that, for these women, immigration was associated with more personal autonomy and life satisfaction, but determinants of women’s autonomy differed in Pakistan and Canada.

Educators are being challenged to develop new pedagogies and e-learning platforms for engaging students, especially in higher education. Traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS), such as Moodle and Webct, have not, we suggest, offered sufficient innovation consistent with the new pedagogies required for education in the 21st century. Current authors collaborated on a project to develop a new teaching-learning platform inspired by complexity pedagogy. Authors present the story of Daagu (original spelling is Dagu) to situate the e-learning platform within complexity thinking and extant curricular theory. Complexity pedagogy is placed in relationship with androgogy and heutogogy, as well as constructivism and connectivism. We briefly describe the complexity e-learning platform that disrupts traditional e-learning approaches by focusing on patterns of relating, diversity, conversation, reflection, and emergence among groups of learners.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether unstructured graduate student research internships conducted in collaboration with community agencies build capacity and knowledge for students and community.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports the results of four semi‐structured interviews and 20 pre‐ and post‐internship surveys of students' perceptions of their internship activities; whether participation built research capacity in students and community resulted in the creation of new knowledge and promoted ongoing partnerships and relationships.FindingsStudents reported generating concrete outcomes for community partners, the acquisition of new research and professional skills, plus an increased understanding of theoretical knowledge. Many students also maintained ongoing relationships with their organizational partners beyond the terms of their internship.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations to this study are the relatively small sample size and reliance on self‐report measures.Practical implicationsThe paper describes a model for student‐community engagement that benefits both community and students.Social implicationsAs universities explore their relationships with their local communities, graduate student internships have tremendous potential for supporting research and knowledge‐based needs of local communities, while providing valuable skills and training to a cohort of students in bridging academic research to real world solutions. These students may go on to be community engaged scholars, or research trained personnel in the community.Originality/valueThe results presented in this paper demonstrate the benefits to graduate students in scholarship of engagement programs that prioritize true partnership between students, universities and communities.

Current North American sexual standards allow women to be sexual within committed relationships but may still restrict women’s sexuality to a greater extent than men’s. We investigated whether these gender double standards interact with an age double standard that describes the elderly as less sexual than the young, to create particularly limiting sexual standards for older women. 305 Canadian undergraduates completed a 2 (target age) × 2 (target gender) × 2 (participant gender) within-subjects study measuring perceptions of younger (own age) and older (over 65 years old) men’s and women’s interest in traditional sex (e.g., cuddling, intercourse with main partner) and experimental sex (e.g., extra-relationship sex, viewing erotic materials). ANCOVAs controlling for ageist and sexist beliefs revealed the ageist double standard; the elderly were perceived to be less interested in sex overall than the young. There was also a sexual double standard; women were perceived to be more interested in traditional sex than men, and men more interested in experimental sex than women. For traditional sex, women perceived younger targets as more interested than the older targets, and women targets as more interested than men. For experimental sex, a three-way interaction showed the interplay between the sexual and ageist double standards. Elderly female targets were perceived as least interested, and young male targets as most interested. Results reinforce that the current sexual standards distinguish between sex for intimacy and sex for other reasons (e.g., pleasure) and that the standards are particularly restrictive for older women.

HIV and AIDS remains one of the most serious problems facing youths in many sub-Saharan African countries. Among young people in South Africa, gender is linked with a number of HIV-risk behaviours and outcomes. The literature suggests that factors such as socioeconomic status, intimate partner violence, and several psychosocial factors contribute to gendered differences in sexual behaviour among youths in South Africa. However, the existing body of literature scarcely addresses the interaction between gender, confounding factors (particularly peer norms) and sexual behaviour outcomes. This study uses a survey design (n = 809) to examine how gender and socioeconomic status moderate the effects of norms and attitudes on higher-risk sexual behaviours among secondary school learners in a low-income community in South Africa. The findings suggest that gender interacts significantly with peer norms to predict sexual behaviour. Peer norms and the experience of intimate partner violence were significantly associated with sexual risk behaviour among girls participating in the study. The article discusses both the wider implications of these findings and the implications for school-based and peer-facilitated HIV interventions.

The effects of life stress, social support, cultural beliefs, and social norms on parenting styles were examined for mainland Chinese (MC), Chinese Canadian (CC) and European Canadian (EC) mothers of 2- to 6-year-old children. Authoritarian parenting increased with stress and traditional parenting beliefs and decreased with social support. EC mothers used less authoritarian parenting than either CC or MC mothers. This cultural difference was fully mediated by stress. For authoritative parenting, there was a country of residence effect, which was not mediated; MCs were less authoritative than either CCs or ECs. All mothers were more authoritative when less stressed, when they had lower traditional childrearing beliefs, and when they were more individualist. The results suggest the importance of the immediate social environment in influencing these cultural differences.

ObjectivesThis qualitative study set out to understand the mental health challenges and service access barriers experienced by South Asian youth populations in the Peel Region of Toronto, Canada.SettingIn-depth semistructured interviews were carried out with South Asian youth living in Peel Region (Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon), a suburb of Toronto, Canada, home to over 50% of Ontario’s South Asian population.ParticipantsSouth Asian youth (n=10) engaged in thoughtful, candid dialogue about their mental health and service access barriers.Primary and secondary outcome measuresQualitative interview themes related to mental health stressors and mental health service access barriers experienced by youth living in Peel Region were assessed using thematic analysis.ResultsSouth Asian youth face many mental health stressors, from intergenerational and cultural conflict, academic pressure, relationship stress, financial stress and family difficulties. These stressors can contribute to mental health challenges, such as depression and anxiety and drug use, with marijuana, alcohol and cigarettes cited as the most popular substances. South Asian youth were only able to identify about a third (36%) of the mental health resources presented to them and did not feel well informed about mental health resources available in their neighbourhood.ConclusionsThey offered recommendations for improved youth support directed at parents, education system, South Asian community and mental health system. Institutions and bodies at all levels of the society have a role to play in ensuring the mental health of South Asian youth.