Kids Help Phone and Toronto Metropolitan University launch a pivotal five-year research collaborative to usher in a new era of youth mental health
TORONTO , May 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kids Help Phone (KHP) and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) today announced a five-year research partnership that will transform the future of youth mental health in Canada. Marking an important milestone, the partnership launches with a $3.2 million award from Wellcome—one of the world’s largest charitable foundations—to develop a generative artificial intelligence (AI) powered conversation simulator and performance assessor that will enhance rigorous training for KHP texting volunteers.
KHP and TMU Partner to Advance Mental Health Research
The formalization of this partnership brings together two leading Canadian institutions with deep and complementary strengths, creating a shared platform for research and innovation as equal partners. This partnership will leverage KHP’s data ecosystem, digital health leadership, and clinical and practice-oriented research expertise, alongside TMU’s research strengths in generative AI, learning sciences, and clinical psychology. This announcement marks the first formal research partnership with a post-secondary institution for KHP.
“Today’s announcement between KHP and TMU represents a new chapter for youth mental health in Canada,” said Rebecca Shields, President and Chief Executive Officer of KHP. “This five-year partnership formalizes a bridge between our crisis responders and academic research at KHP and TMU to develop responsible AI in mental health, which is more important than ever before given the rapid uptake of these tools by younger generations. This partnership is the most recent example highlighting how KHP constantly evolves to ensure that every young person has access to the resources they need and space to Feel Out Loud.”
Teams at TMU and KHP’s research portfolio will work together to develop projects to answer research questions within the youth, digital, and mental health research field, while also building novel service delivery methods and strengthening the next generation of AI researchers, clinicians, and scientists at TMU.
“At TMU, we know that mental health is one of the most pressing challenges facing young people today,” said Mohamed Lachemi, President and Vice-Chancellor of Toronto Metropolitan University. “We are proud to work with community partners like KHP to find innovative and interdisciplinary solutions, and develop future focused approaches, to better equip those who are on the frontlines supporting our young people today, and in the future.”
Advancing AI Training for Mental Health Support
The first major joint project between TMU and KHP will span 24-months and will develop a generative AI prototype to provide crisis responders undergoing training with the opportunity to practice with a secure model built on more than 750,000 de-identified KHP transcripts to generate realistic and anonymized youth crisis scenarios. This will provide a risk-free environment with cultural and linguistic accuracy to support skill development by giving trainees a safe and structured opportunity to practice before becoming a KHP crisis responder volunteer. The tool will provide real-time performance assessment feedback, aligned with KHP’s clinical standards to enhance the rigorous training KHP volunteers already receive.
“Securing $3.2 million from Wellcome is a significant milestone, and a clear vote of confidence in our work at KHP and TMU,” said Aaron Sanderson, President and Chief Executive Officer of KHP Foundation. “I am incredibly proud of our collaboration with TMU for making it through such an exceptionally competitive process. This investment reinforces our role as a leader in excellence and innovation, while it helps to ensure young people can access support that continues to evolve with their needs.”
Uniquely, young people are directly involved as funding co-applicants and in the cocreation of this research, ensuring the research and prototype development reflect the actual, current experiences of young people by providing direct feedback on communication style and language, among other elements.
“As a high school student, I have seen my peers experience mental health challenges first-hand and I am proud to have been directly involved in the science to support their access to high-quality mental health services to ensure that they can safely speak to someone about any feelings they may be experiencing,” said Simran Sodha, a grade 12 student and project co-applicant who has been involved in the project. “The partnership between KHP and TMU and funding from Wellcome is a major step to advance training and support more young people like me.”
The advancement of this research comes at a time when KHP has received more conversations from young people where users explicitly stated that they were referred from ChatGPT, and texting conversations about suicide rose 43% in 2025 from youth aged 12 and under.
“We are excited to announce this impactful project with KHP, funded by Wellcome,” said Dr. Steven N. Liss, TMU’s Vice-President, Research and Innovation. “Leading through excellence, this research team is co-developing scalable innovative tools to advance mental health through emerging technology. Ultimately, these tools will enhance training for health providers and contribute to better outcomes for youth seeking mental health support in Canada and around the world.”
Beyond technical innovation, this funding represents a long-term commitment to young people in Canada and beyond. By testing this model with Childline Trinidad and Tobago and working with Child Helpline International to share findings with other helplines around the world, this will build a blueprint that will address the biggest challenges in global mental health — today and for generations to come.
“We are witnessing an urgent need for more mental health support for young people in Canada,” said Andréanne Deschamps, Senior Vice President and Head of Clinical Services and Operations at KHP. “By investing in a generative AI simulator, we are allowing responders to practice complex mental health scenarios in a risk-free environment before interacting with youth. This will help use the benefits of AI to enhance training for volunteer crisis responders at KHP, and therefore provide better outcomes for young people.”
Key Facts
- Young people connected with KHP more than 3.7 million times over phone, text, social media, and resources on KidsHelpPhone.ca in 2025.
- More than 273,000 texting conversations took place at KHP in 2025, a 30% increase from the prior year.
- 78% of young people who texted KHP in 2025 said they shared something with KHP that they have never shared with anyone else.
- There are more than 1,500 active KHP volunteer crisis responders.
- The KHP and TMU collaborative announcement follows the launch of acceleratorKHP which established KHP’s applied research area of focus in 2024.
About Kids Help Phone
Kids Help Phone (KHP) is Canada’s only free, national, 24/7, multilingual and confidential e-mental health service for youth to get help and Feel Out Loud. Since 1989, KHP has been the empowering, trusted changemaker giving young people’s feelings, big and small, a non-judgmental place to go through personalized well-being solutions. A made-in-Canada, global leader, KHP continually evolves by blending data, innovation and technology with real human support and clinical knowledge to unlock the hope young people need to thrive in their world. Explore help for all the feelings at KidsHelpPhone.ca.
About Toronto Metropolitan University
A world-class research institution and Canada’s leader in innovative, career-oriented education, TMU offers more than 60 undergraduate programs, over 65 graduate programs, and 80 continuing education certificate programs. The university boasts 10 faculties, including the Lincoln Alexander School of Law and the new TMU School of Medicine. It is also home to 11 startup incubators, known as Zones, that support innovation across sectors – from health and life sciences to creative industries and social impact. Established in 1948, TMU is home to nearly 48,000 students, including 2,900 Master’s and PhD students, 4,000 faculty and staff, and over 265,000 alumni worldwide. For more information, visit torontomu.ca.
About Wellcome
Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. We support discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we’re taking on three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health.
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