A new report that looks at the sex lives of Canadian youth suggests more needs to be done to encourage safe sex, including reversing a decrease in condom use.
In a survey conducted by Angus Reid for the charity LetsStopAIDS, 24 per cent of participants said they use condoms "all the time." That's compared to 53 per cent who said they always used condoms in 2020.
One in five said they'd never used a condom.
LetsStopAIDS released Tuesday the results of its annual national survey of more than 1,100 Canadians aged 18 to 24.
Six per cent of survey respondents said they were diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection or HIV in the previous six months – up two per cent from 2023.
And seven in 10 sexually active youth who experienced unsafe or uncomfortable sexual encounters involving condom negotiation said they did not seek help.
The organization’s founder and president, Shamin Mohamed Jr., says proactively discussing how condoms can prevent STIs and HIV would better prepare youth, and "in turn help Canada have a lower STI rate, a lower HIV rate."
He highlights barriers he says are standing in the way: sex-ed in schools is outdated and health-care providers aren’t discussing HIV testing with young patients.
Sex education in the classroom has become a political battleground in Canada, he says, such as in Alberta, where the government has proposed a law that would make parents opt-in for their kids to be in sex-ed.
Addressing sex-ed curriculums across the country, Mohamed Jr. says, "It's not covering key topics like consent, gender equity, women's health, sexting and protecting your privacy. These are relevant discussions that actually lead to riskier sexual health and behaviours."
The result is that young people are left with little practical knowledge to initiate safe sex, Mohamed Jr. says.
The survey also found that LGBTQ+ and Indigenous youth reported feeling more unsafe in condom negotiations compared to other sexually active young Canadians.
“They face threats for their own personal safety and they're more likely to experience violence, including in sex,” says Trevor Hart, director of Toronto Metropolitan University’s HIV Prevention Lab.
Hart says Canada is failing young people in sex education across the board when it comes to HIV and STI prevention, “but it's certainly disproportionately affecting a lot of Indigenous Canadians and we're just missing the mark at supporting Indigenous health.”
A recent report by the World Health Organization also suggests condom use is declining among youth. In Canada, 31 per cent of 15-year-old males and 25 per cent of females said they did not use a condom or a contraceptive pill the last time they had sex.
Data from the Public Health Agency of Canada shows a 25 per cent increase in first-time HIV diagnoses in 2022 over the previous year.
"Young people are going to continue to have sex. So it's important for this information be provided," says Mohamed Jr.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
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Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press