Manitoba advocate renews call for youth treatment centre as deaths, injuries reviewed
Posted October 29, 2025 8:20 pm.
Last Updated October 30, 2025 9:41 am.
The Manitoba advocate for children and youth is renewing her call for a specialized treatment centre for youth as she releases her annual report.
“I know that the government continually tries to find solutions to the issues but we haven’t seen anything written,” said Sherry Gott, Manitoba advocate for children and youth.
The annual report showed 206 children and young adults under the age of 20 died in Manitoba this past fiscal year, about 20 fewer than the five-year average.
“The trend is down,” said Gott. “There’s been a decrease in deaths, but anytime a child dies in the system or in Manitoba, it is tragic.”
The advocate’s office reviews all deaths in which the child had contact with child and family services, addiction or mental health services, or the justice system in the year prior to their death. This was the case for more than a third of the deaths, and Indigenous children were again overrepresented.
“We know that there’s trauma. There’s intergenerational trauma. There’s the impact of colonization,” said Gott. “I think one of the things is that there is a need for land-based learning for children so they can find their identity. And hopefully with the support of Elders, that they start to learn who they are and value that.”
The minister of mental health and addiction, Bernadette Smith, says the province is working on filling gaps in care, as well as creating more Huddle spaces, where youth can go to meet a variety of health needs and gain mentorship.
“It’s a really good model,” said Smith. “It’s right across Canada and they have proven it’s a good model to support young people.”
The advocate’s office also received 273 reports of serious injuries in the last fiscal year, up from 184 the previous year, when it began investigating injuries to children involved with government services. Gott says she’s very concerned about those cases, which are mostly linked to substance abuse.
