Rogers puts $50M to address excessive screen time among teens and tweens

TORONTO — Rogers Communications says it is investing $50 million over five years to address the excessive time teens and tweens spend on screens.

The telecom giant launched a national school program Thursday that Tony Staffieri, the president and CEO of Rogers, said is meant to change behaviour and help youth develop healthy relationships with screens. It involves bringing professional athletes to schools to talk about healthy screen use.

Rogers says it is also creating grants for up to four youth organizations that encourage physical activity and will commission an annual study on youth screen time.

The internet, mobile and TV service provider also touted Rogers apps that allow parents to set time limits on kids’ phones and monitor the amount of time spent on popular apps.

“This is a big issue in Canada, in our society, and we think we have a role to play,” Staffieri said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Rogers commissioned an online Angus Reid survey of 1,212 parents of 11- to 17-year-olds with smartphones, and 503 children, between Oct. 30 and Nov. 11, 2025.

It found tween and teen respondents spent more than five hours per day on average on their phones. Parents, meanwhile, underestimated their kids’ screen time by about 90 minutes per day. Those with the most screen time reported lower quality of life in terms of overall wellness, connectedness with others and physical activity.

Rogers said this far exceeds the two-hour limit the Canadian Paediatric Society recommended for recreational screen time. Dr. Michelle Ponti, chair of the organization’s Digital Health Task Force, said the area of focus has shifted since that recommendation was released in 2019 to “how” the screen is used, instead of “how much” it is used. For example, using a fitness app or texting about plans with friends may benefit youth.

Excessive or passive screen use, however, is associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, reduced self-esteem, sedentary lifestyle, possible weight gain and distraction from school, and interference with sleep, according to the Canadian Psychological Association.

Ponti, also a pediatrician in London, Ont., said health providers have been raising alarm bells about screen time for decades. In 2023, she said the pediatric society released a call to action that urged technology companies and policymakers to help manage screen time and said the onus should no longer be on individuals.

“I think it’s about time, is what I think. It’s much needed,” Ponti said of the Rogers campaign.

“We’ve seen the danger. We need government, we need policymakers, we need tech companies. The entire globe needs to come together with this issue,” she said.

Dr. Nicole Racine, chair in child and youth mental health at the CHEO Research Institute and the University of Ottawa, saw the announcement as another step towards recognizing the impact of screens on young people.

She said excessive screen time is often a coping mechanism for youth experiencing mental health or social challenges.

“That can also be a risk marker, like when we see kids who, maybe their mental health is declining, maybe they sort of retreat, withdraw and are using their phones more often.”

Reports about the hazards of childhoods lived online have received attention recently on a global scale, with some calling for tech giants to do more to protect young people. Last year, Meta revamped controls on the Instagram Teen accounts, saying it uses age-prediction technology to spotlight only age-appropriate content in user feeds and gives parents options for additional restrictions.

In December, Australia implemented a law that bans users under the age of 16 from popular social media platforms, and some have called on countries including Canada to take similar measures.

Asked if the Rogers initiative might be met with some skepticism given that its business model depends on people being online, Staffieri said it’s the company’s way of addressing the screen-time problem.

“This is about us doing our part and an issue that we know is of concern to our customers and to Canadians.”

The polling industry’s professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 8, 2026.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press