The Current Why are more kids missing school?
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Dec 2, 2025 Tara Carman, a senior reporter with CBC’s investigative unit, shares exclusive data revealing a troubling rise in student absenteeism in Canada. Natasha McBrary, a researcher at the University of Ottawa, discusses the complex causes, including mental health and support gaps for diverse learning needs. Psychologist David Smith highlights the peak bullying rates in middle school and its impact on attendance. Together, they explore the challenging landscape where high absenteeism links to both social and educational issues, emphasizing the need for better support systems.
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Rising Absences, But Murky Causes
- CBC data shows student absences have risen compared to five years ago, with illness the category increasing most widely.
- The raw numbers are vague and don't reliably distinguish causes like mental health, COVID, or common colds.
Mental Health And Safety Are Central
- Experts at Canada's first school attendance conference pointed to student mental health and safety as primary drivers of absenteeism.
- Bullying often gets reported to schools as illness or goes unreported, obscuring true reasons for absence.
Invest In Better Attendance Data
- Gathering meaningful absence data is laborious and costly, often requiring FOI requests and dealing with inconsistent recordkeeping.
- Policy makers should invest in standardized, accessible reporting rather than piecemeal data collection.