Kids Help Phone and TMU unite to transform youth mental health with AI
Kids Help Phone (KHP) and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) have launched a five-year research partnership to improve youth mental health in Canada. The collaboration marks KHP’s first formal agreement with a post-secondary institution and builds on its 2024 initiative, acceleratorKHP. The partnership will focus on youth, digital, and mental health research. Together, KHP and TMU plan to develop new service delivery methods and address key research questions. A major project involves creating a generative AI-powered conversation simulator for crisis responders. This tool will generate realistic, anonymised youth crisis scenarios and provide real-time feedback on responder performance.
The initiative is supported by a $3.2 million award from Wellcome. Beyond technology, the partnership aims to train the next generation of AI researchers, clinicians, and scientists at TMU. The move follows KHP’s growing demand, with over 3.7 million connections in 2025—a 30% rise in texting conversations, 78% of which involved personal disclosures. KHP currently relies on over 1,500 active volunteer crisis responders. The AI simulator is expected to enhance their training and effectiveness in handling youth mental health crises.
The five-year partnership will combine KHP’s crisis response expertise with TMU’s research strengths. The AI simulator and training programmes aim to improve support for young people in distress. Funding and collaboration will also help advance digital mental health solutions across Canada.
