Quebec Youth Protection Services say they received more and more reports of child abuse and neglect in the past year.
Officials presented their annual report showing they received an average of 250 calls a day for the 2016-2017 period - up four per cent compared to the previous year - totalling nearly 92,000 reported cases.
Montreal alone saw an increase of about seven per cent in cases of physical and sexual abuse.
Of the 36,000 cases that were substantiated in the province, about a quarter of them involved youths aged 13 to 17. The number of confirmed cases also went up - by three percent.
Most of the cases involved physical and psychological abuse and neglect. Reports of psychological abuse increased by 9%.
Officials for Laval reported a 50% decrease in the number of runaways on their territory. This follows new measures prompted by an independent inquiry into a string of runaways at a Laval group home last year.
Youth protection officials said it's possible more public awareness has triggered the increase in reports of abuse.