How Canadian Families Can Protect Young People and Children from Online Harms

The Online Harms Children and Their Families Don’t See Coming

Young people are particularly attractive targets because they’re often more trusting online, tend to spend significant time on connected platforms and may be less experienced at recognizing manipulation, impersonation and other cyber threats. 

Social media, digital platforms and apps can be exploited to target young people through fake online shopping ads, phishing messages, fake giveaways, influencer impersonation scams, compromised accounts, identity theft, gaming scams, sextortion, online blackmail, cyberbullying and harassment. 

Many of these attacks begin with what looks like an innocent message from another teenager, an influencer, a popular brand or someone pretending to be a friend. Once trust has been established, the conversation can quickly shift toward sharing personal information, clicking malicious links, sending money or sharing images. 

The statistics highlight how serious these threats have become: 

• One in four Canadian youth aged 12-17 have been cyberbullied.  
• Cybertip.ca now receives an average of six reports of sextortion every day, while reports involving AI-generated sexually explicit deepfakes of children increased 125% between 2022 and 2025.
• Online luring reports in Canada climbed 344% between 2020 and 2025 and nearly 90% of sextortion victims in Canada are boys between 15 and 17. 
• The Canadian Centre for Child Protection reports 63% of sextortion cases happened on Instagram or Snapchat. 
• Identity theft offences involving Canadian youth rose 92% in a single year, while Canadians lost over $704 million to fraud in 2025 alone.  

How AI is Changing Online Threats for Young People

Canada’s new legislation also recognizes how new technologies, including Artificial intelligence, are changing how harmful content is created, amplified and experienced online.  

Deepfake images, cloned voices and AI-generated conversations allow cyber criminals to impersonate trusted people with remarkable accuracy. A message that appears to come from a classmate, teacher or even a parent may no longer be what it seems. 

AI is making familiar cyber threats much more convincing. Criminals can now create deepfake images or videos in minutes, making it harder for young people to recognize when they’re being manipulated. 

That’s why prevention has become just as important as response. Helping children understand how these scams work before they encounter them is one of the best ways to reduce cyber risk. BOXX helps families take that proactive approach through Cyberboxx® Assist, which includes identity monitoring, digital safety resources and a cyber security assessment designed to identify digital profile and account vulnerabilities. 

Why Protecting Kids Online Is So Important

Cyber threats don’t only affect devices, identities or finances. They can also have lasting emotional consequences. 

The significant emotional and psychological impacts can affect young people’s confidence, relationships and overall mental wellbeing. 

Canada’s proposed legislation recognizes that youth who experience online victimization are significantly more likely to report poor mental health outcomes, including suicidal ideation. 

Helping children and parents recognize these risks early by giving them access to resources without fear or embarrassment, is just as important as teaching them how to spot cyber scams and practice safe digital hygiene.

Online Security Habits That Keep Every Household Safe

While governments and technology companies continue to implement policies to decrease the risks associated with using the internet and social media, there are practical steps families can take today. 

• Talk openly about online harms.  

Have regular conversations about cyberbullying, sextortion, phishing scams, fake profiles and online shopping scams before they happen. Help children understand how cyber criminals manipulate trust and make sure they know they can come to a parent or trusted adult without fear or embarrassment if something goes wrong. 

• Teach children how AI is changing online scams.  

Helping young people question what they see online and verify before clicking, sharing or responding is one of the best ways to stay protected. 

• Strengthen your family’s digital security. 

Use strong, unique passwords for every account, enable multi-factor authentication and consider a shared password manager so everyone can follow good password habits without relying on memory alone. 

• Take advantage of parental controls.  

Tools such as parental controls, content filters and screen time settings can help monitor activity, block inappropriate content and create safer online experiences that match a child’s age and maturity level. 

• Create a family code word.  

Choose a code word that only close family members know and use it to verify identities if you ever receive an unexpected phone call, text message or voice note asking for money, personal information or urgent help. Also informextended family members like grandparents of the code word, as they can also be targeted by AI and deepfake scams, known as grandparent scams.  

• Build a layered approach to cyber protection.  

Good cyber security habits are the foundation, but they’re even stronger when combined with proactive protection. Cyberboxx® Home insurance policies come with Cyberboxx® Assist services to help families identify vulnerabilities through identity monitoring, dark web monitoring, digital safety resources and a cyber security assessment. 

How Cyber Insurance and Always-On Protection Tools Protect Families and Children Online

No family can prevent every cyber incident. That’s why effective cyber protection goes beyond education and legislation.  

BOXX helps families predict, prevent, respond and recover from cyber threats through prevention-first cyber insurance backed by built-in protection tools. 

Cyberboxx® Assist helps families stay ahead of cyber risks with identity and dark web monitoring, digital safety resources and a cyber security assessment that identifies vulnerabilities and alerts families before they can be exploited. 

If something does happen, BOXX Hackbusters® gives families immediate access to cyber experts 24/7. More than 80% of Hackbusters® cases are resolved without a claim, helping families prevent many incidents before they become larger financial losses. 

Cyberboxx® Home provides comprehensive protection against cyber incidents including identity theft, cyberbullying, cyber extortion and online fraud, while supporting families through the recovery process. 

Together, personal cyber insurance and always-on cyber protection tools help families prevent the threats they don’t see coming, build safer digital habits, respond faster when something goes wrong and recover with expert support. 

Helping kids stay safe online is one part of a much bigger commitment to helping them thrive. As part of the Zurich Canada family, BOXX also works with JA Canada to support youth mental wellbeing and resilience across the country.  

Stronger Online Protection for Children Starts at Home

Canada’s proposed Safe Social Media Act is a positive step toward improving online safety for young people. But no legislation can replace the role families play in helping children navigate today’s digital world. 

By talking openly about cyber risks, building safer online habits and putting the right protection in place before something goes wrong, families can help young people enjoy the benefits of being online without facing cyber threats alone. 

Protecting kids online isn’t only about responding after an incident. It’s about helping families predict, prevent, respond and recover from cyber threats every day.