Youth mental health subject of CBC Hamilton town hall

Youth mental health impacts our schools, our hospitals, our wallets and our hearts. And next week, we're hosting a community conversation about it.

CBC Hamilton is holding Mental Health 101 at Mohawk College on Oct. 24. The town hall session will include young people, parents, counsellors, health care professionals and educators.

The Canadian Mental Health Association estimates that as many as 20 per cent of Canadian youth have a mental illness or disorder, and 3.2 million aged 12 to 19 are at risk for developing depression.

Canada's youth suicide rate is the third highest in the industrialized world, and second to vehicle accidents for the leading cause of death.

The session will be streamed live, with questions and comments taken online and from the floor. It will be moderated by Heather Hiscox, host of CBC News Now.

CBC Hamilton will run a series of stories over the next week on how the issue affects Hamilton.

Mental Health 101 will be at 7:30 p.m. at the McIntyre Performing Arts Centre. The doors open at 7 p.m. The event runs until 8:30.