The Ontario government announced Monday it will introduce a new mandatory education curriculum for elementary and high school students that aims to increase mental health literacy, in the wake of continued challenges that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new curriculum will be introduced for the next school year, and will involve updates to the career studies course that is required for Grade 10 students, as well as mandatory resources for teachers and students on mental health literacy for Grades 7 and 8.

The program was ushered in due to the advocacy of Progressive Conservative MPP Natalie Pierre, who put forward a motion in December around mental health literacy.

At the news conference Monday, she said that her 17-year-old son dying by suicide six years ago was what propelled her to pursue the initiative.

“My son was just like any other student. The day before he died, he took a university campus tour,” said Pierre, through tears. “The night before, he went to a school dance. Anyone seeing him would have observed a normal, healthy teenager. But we know now that was not the case,” she said.

She said in the months and years that followed, others contacted her to