In 2020, substance use across Ontario rose considerably while measures of mental wellness decreased across the province. What was thought to be a short-term impact of COVID-19 has persisted, resulting in longer-term trends in harmful alcohol use and poor mental health.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) released today the 2025 CAMH Monitor report, Canada’s longest-running population survey on adult substance use and mental health that spans 49 years. The survey enables researchers to detect emerging trends related to substance use, mental health, physical health, and overall wellbeing in Ontario.
The 2025 CAMH Monitor was conducted using an online web-panel survey of 3,012 Ontario adults aged 18 and older between February 12 and March 28, 2025. Participants were asked about a range of health behaviours and issues, including smoking, drinking, drug use, mental health, physical health, driving-related behaviours, and their opinions and attitudes on some of these topics.
High-risk drinking behaviours and symptoms of dependence remain elevated
The report shows that while the overall percentage of adults reporting alcohol use in the past year has declined since before the pandemic (from 79.9 per cent in 2019 to 76.2 per cent in 2025), harmful patterns of alcohol use have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Binge drinking (defined as consuming five or more drinks on a single occasion) remains stable compared to pandemic levels (11.3 per cent in 2020, and 9.6 per cent in 2025). More concerning, symptoms of alcohol dependence continue to be reported at higher-than-pre-pandemic levels, rising from 7.4 per cent in 2019 to 13.9 per cent in 2020 and remaining elevated at 12.1 per cent in 2025.
As Dr. Leslie Buckley, CAMH Chief of Addictions Division, notes: “While overall reports of drinking in the past 12 months continue to trend downward, those at a high risk of harm from alcohol continue to drink at record high pandemic levels. Alcohol remains one of the leading preventable causes of death in Canada, in large part due to its accessibility and potential for dependence. Increasing availability raises concern about further harm to this higher-risk population.”
Self-reported mental and physical health has remained at pandemic levels or worsened
Beyond alcohol use, key mental and physical health indicators have not rebounded from pandemic levels and, in several cases, have worsened over the past five years.
The percentage of adults reporting fair or poor self-rated mental health increased from 26.2 per cent in 2020 to 29.0 per cent in 2025, while those reporting frequent mental distress (14 or more days in the past month) rose from 16.8 per cent to 18.7 per cent over the same period. The proportion of adults reporting fair or poor overall health also increased, from 16.3 per cent in 2020 to 20.8 per cent in 2025.
Several trends are particularly pronounced among specific demographic groups: Anti-anxiety medication use among women increased from 22.3 per cent in 2020 to 26.5 per cent in 2025, while antidepressant use among adults aged 65 and older rose from 10.8 per cent to 16.3 per cent.
Among men, self-reported mental health has worsened despite no corresponding increase in clinically screened poor mental health. The percentage of men rating their mental health as fair or poor increased from 20.8 per cent in 2020 to 25.0 per cent in 2025, while those reporting frequent mental distress rose from 12.3 per cent to 16.3 per cent.
Dr. Omair Husain, Associate Director, Medical Head and Clinician Scientist at the Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition at CAMH, explains: “Although standardized screening tools do not show a clear increase in the proportion of men meeting criteria for poor mental health, a growing number of men are self-reporting mental distress. This discrepancy may reflect that screening tools are not fully able to discern subjective mental health experiences but also that there is an increased awareness of mental health issues and a greater willingness to acknowledge them in men.”
Alcohol purchasing patterns are shifting, increasing access
The 2025 CAMH Monitor also highlights significant shifts in where Ontarians purchase alcohol. Purchases from traditional beer stores have declined substantially, dropping from 25 per cent in 2016 to 12.3 per cent in 2025. At the same time, 10 per cent of current drinkers reported purchasing alcohol from grocery stores in the past 30 days, and six per cent from convenience stores.
Because legislation permitting alcohol sales in convenience stores only came into effect in September 2024, it is too soon for the 2025 data to fully capture its impact. Continued monitoring will be essential to understand whether increased availability is associated with higher levels of harmful consumption.
Cannabis consumption levels are comparable to 2020
Despite increased accessibility, self-reported cannabis use in 2025 remains comparable to 2020 levels. While this indicates no further increase during the pandemic and post-pandemic period, use is nearly double pre-2013 levels, reflecting a marked long-term rise in prevalence.
Taken together, the 2025 CAMH Monitor findings show that many of the pandemic’s impacts on mental health and substance use have not resolved — and in some cases have worsened — over the past five years.
Dr. Hayley Hamilton, Senior Scientist and Co-Director of the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at CAMH, adds: “Mental health indicators showed significant declines early in the pandemic in 2020. At the time, we thought these impacts would be temporary. Five years on, several important measures of mental wellness continue to decline. This suggests that mental wellness remains a challenge for many adults in Ontario and highlights the need for continued investment in mental health and addiction supports, as well as ongoing monitoring of alcohol use and consumption patterns.”
Read the full 2025 CAMH Monitor report.
About the Monitor Report
The CAMH Monitor is an ongoing health survey of Ontario adults (aged 18 years and older) conducted by CAMH since 1977. It is the longest ongoing adult substance use and mental health survey in Canada and one of the longest in the world. The CAMH Monitor comprises 39 repeated cross-sectional surveys conducted among adults aged 18 and older across Ontario between 1977 and 2025. The main purpose of this survey is to describe trends in smoking, drinking, drug use, mental health, physical health, impaired driving, and other risk behaviours among Ontario adults, as well as opinions on various policy measures in Ontario. The Institute for Social Research (ISR) at York University has administered the survey since 1991.
