Half of young Canadian men are at risk of ‘problem anger,’ survey finds

Kenton Boston from Canadian Men’s Health Foundation says a new study about problem anger among young men is ‘startling but not shocking.’

Half of young Canadian men risk letting their anger interfere with their daily life, relationships and work, new research suggests.

A survey conducted by Intensions Consulting and the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation (CMHF) found that 50 per cent of men between the ages of 19 and 29 are at risk of “problem anger,” compared to just 22 per cent of all Canadian men.

The findings reveal a “troubling reality” and warn of “deeper stress and disconnection from support systems” for young men, the CMHF said in a Wednesday press release.

“It’s startling, but not shocking,” CMHF president and CEO Kenton Boston told CTV News Channel on Wednesday.

Boston said young men, like many Canadians, experience economic stressors including affordability concerns, job insecurity and a lack of housing options.

“(But) there’s also the switch that’s happened in society about masculinity and the negative conversations that are often associated with that now, and that all combines to put pressure on young men in particular,” he said.

The survey found that 39 per cent of Canadian men between 19 and 29 reported a violent impulse when getting angry within the last month, compared to 16 per cent of all Canadian men.

Boston said it’s important for young men to develop ways to deal with their anger before an impulse turns into action.

“There’s the pontification or the thought of doing something negative, which is the one part of that conversation, the other part is acting on it,” he said.

“Incidents of where your fuse is shorter than it normally is, those are the real signs about things to be challenged and looked into to make sure that there is support to help to alleviate that angst and anger.”

Another obstacle many young men face is the shame associated with seeking help for mental health concerns, Boston noted.

“(For) many of us there’s a stigma and there’s hesitancy to go to see clinicians or doctors for your mental health in particular, and so we’re really getting behind this idea of talking to a friend or family members – this idea that you’re not alone,” he said.

“What you’re going through is something that all of us can understand and appreciate. It’s really a community effort to make sure young men in particular are heard, seen and listened to and that they’re not chastised or put aside.”

The challenges facing younger men are also felt by other male groups, the survey found.

Thirty-six per cent of all Canadian men who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) were also found to be at risk of problem anger. The same was true for more than a quarter of Canadian men aged 30 to 44.

Methodology

The Intensions Consulting study was conducted in Canada between April 8 and 14, 2025. The sample was stratified to ensure its composition reflected the underlying distribution of the population as determined by 2021 census data.

The online survey was administered in French and English and used the validated Dimensions of Anger Reactions (DAR-5) measure. A traditional probability sample of comparable size would have produced results considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.