Valsef Dream Big Foundation Invests $50,000 in Research on Youth Mental Health and Physical Activity

At Valsef Dream Big Foundation, we've always believed in one simple idea: when you dream big for young people, you have to be willing to dig into the hard questions on their behalf. We're proud to announce a $50,000 donation to the Fondation de la recherche pédiatrique, funding a new research project that sits right at the intersection of everything we stand for youth mental health, physical activity, and the responsible use of technology.

Why This Project, Why Now

Adolescents today are growing up in a world we didn't grow up in. Screens, social media, and AI tools are woven into how young people connect, learn, and cope. That's not inherently good or bad, it's just reality. And it's a reality we don't yet fully understand.

At the same time, youth mental health has been declining for years, and the demand for support is outpacing what schools, community services, and health systems can provide. Too many young people are left to figure out where to turn on their own. This is exactly the kind of gap where good research, not assumptions, not headlines, but real data, can make a difference.

What the Research Will Explore

The project we're funding, led by Dr. Richard Bélanger and collaborators Dr. Slim Haddad and Dr. Anne-Marie Turcotte-Tremblay at Université Laval and the CHU de Québec research center, will use COMPASS-Québec, a school-based research platform that has been collecting data from nearly 200 high schools and over 110,000 young people since 2012. It's one of the richest sources of information on adolescent health in the country, covering mental health, screen use, sleep, physical activity, substance use, and school environments.

With our support, researchers will dig into questions that matter deeply to us:

• Do teens turn to digital tools (apps, virtual assistants, social media) when they're struggling with their mental health, and how do these tools fit alongside family, friends, school staff, and health professionals?

• Which young people are more likely to rely on these digital resources, and why?

• What role does physical activity play? A second phase of the project will specifically examine how movement, organized sports, school-based physical activity, and adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines, relates to how, and whether, young people seek out mental health support.

That last point matters enormously to us. We believe physical activity is a key piece of the youth mental health puzzle, and this research will help confirm where, how, and for whom that's true, moving us from belief to evidence.

Data That Belongs to Everyone

This is where our values as a foundation really come through. We didn't fund this research to sit on the findings, we funded it because we believe this data should serve everyone: researchers, schools, community organizations, parents, and the young people themselves. Understanding how adolescents actually navigate their mental health what helps, what doesn't, and where the gaps are — is knowledge that should be shared, not siloed.

That's the whole point. Real answers, made available to the people and organizations doing the work of supporting youth every single day.

What Comes Next

Once the findings are in by 2027-2028, our commitment doesn't end with a check. Valsef Dream Big Foundation intends to use this research as a launchpad for new initiatives focused on youth mental health, with a particular focus on the connection between movement and wellbeing by 2028-2029. We want to know: what does the right kind of support actually look like for young people today? Is it more accessible school sports programs? Better-integrated digital tools? A combination we haven't even considered yet?

We don't have all the answers yet and that's exactly why this research matters. It's the next step toward figuring out what those initiatives should be, grounded in what young people actually need rather than what we assume they need.

Dreaming Big, Together

This donation reflects who we are as a foundation: we dream big, but we build those dreams on solid ground. Supporting rigorous, independent research is how we make sure the initiatives we launch next actually move the needle for the young people we care about most.

We're grateful to the Fondation de la recherche pédiatrique and the entire research team for their partnership, and we can't wait to share what we learn with all of you.

Stay tuned as this research unfolds in 2027-2028, and follow along as we translate these findings into real initiatives supporting youth mental health and physical activity.