Info Sheet 21: Asian-Canadian Youths’ Pandemic Experiences Through Visual Arts

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and the associated disruptions such as school closures, isolation, cancelled events, and missed milestones had an emotional toll on Canadian youth, making them highly vulnerable to the impacts of the pandemic (Ferguson et al., 2021). The pandemic intensified existing health and socioeconomic disparities that immigrants face in diverse settings (Khanlou et al., 2020), differentially and disproportionality impacting racialized communities (Gopal & Adesara, 2020). In the earlier stages those identifying as Asian-Canadian were especially affected (Cheng et al, 2021; Choi et al., 2021). Identity is a distinguishing character of an individual. A recent study found university students in Canada and in Spain were increasingly reporting higher rates of mental health problems relating to identity concerns (Gfellner et al., 2024). The 2023 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth found a decline in mental health and optimism about school from the pre-pandemic period amounts all young persons (Statistics Canada, 2024). Our ongoing study explores the impacts of the pandemic on the identities, sense of belonging, and agency of Asian-Canadian youth. In this Information Sheet we report on some of the educational and mental health challenges that youth experienced as a result of the pandemic.