Survey: What Ontario Students Are Actually Dealing With

On Ramp’s work with DrinkSmart, and what the data reveals about campus life today

There’s a version of campus life that gets told a lot. It involves parties, social freedom, and a certain kind of youthful excess. The 2025 DrinkSmart Campus Pulse Survey tells a different story.

Last spring, over 3,000 Ontario post-secondary students shared an honest account of what campus life actually looks like right now. What they described was a student experience shaped by financial pressure, mental health strain, and a tendency to manage everything quietly, often alone.

The findings challenge some of what we assume about how students are living, what they reach for when they’re struggling, and where the gaps in support actually are.

DrinkSmart exists to support safer, healthier student communities through peer-led education. Getting that work right means understanding what students are genuinely navigating. Ramp partnered with DrinkSmart on the survey, providing strategic direction on the questions and building the report from the results.

DrinkSmart is a sister organization to Smart Serve Ontario, and is one of the health and wellbeing partnerships featured in Ramp’s 2025 Impact Report.

Explore the 2025 Impact Report or read the full DrinkSmart Campus Pulse Survey findings at drinksmart.ca.