CTV News Feature: Stacie Mistysyn on Bell Let’s Talk & Recovery High School (2026)

Source: CTV News Toronto
Air Date: January 8, 2026
Document Type: Broadcast News Segment
Source Link: Watch original segment on CTV News

On January 8, 2026, CTV News Toronto aired a special feature spotlighting Stacie Mistysyn (Caitlin Ryan) and her pivotal role in mental health advocacy ahead of the annual Bell Let’s Talk Day initiative.

Reporter Pauline Chan visited the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, where Mistysyn currently serves as a Peer Support Specialist and Mental Health Instructor. The segment focused on the intersection of physical and mental well-being, a topic deeply personal to the former child star.

Lived Experience

In a candid interview, Stacie opened up about the reality behind the camera during her years as a teen icon on the Degrassi franchise. She discussed her personal battles with anxiety, depression, and eating disorders, explaining how those lived experiences eventually guided her career path away from acting and toward advocacy.

“Physical and mental health is so connected… I always knew that I wanted to talk more about mental health.”

— Stacie Mistysyn, Ontario Shores

Recovery High School

The feature also highlighted the Recovery High School program, a specialized educational model supported by funding from the Bell Let’s Talk initiative. The program allows students to continue their high school education while receiving structured, integrated mental health support—removing the barrier between academic success and recovery.

As one of the franchise’s original stars, Mistysyn’s journey from portraying Caitlin Ryan’s on-screen growing pains to supporting real-world youth reflects the core ethos of Degrassi itself: that you are not alone.