Mental health in the workplace

Mental health issues in the workplace have reached an all-time high, with over two-thirds of Canadian employees grappling with stress, anxiety and burnout in the past year. Women and younger workers are the most affected, with those aged 18 to 24 reporting the highest levels of stress, anxiety, depression and loneliness.

Other key findings from GreenShield’s survey include:

  • 67% of employees have faced a mental health challenge in the past 12 months, with stress and anxiety being the top concerns across all age groups
  • Confidentiality is paramount: 85% of employees rank confidentiality as the most important factor when accessing mental health services
  • Cultural relevance matters: More than half of employees (62%) say it's important that their therapist understands their cultural background, language or religion. This number rises to 71% for workers aged 18 to 24

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Improving mental health benefits

Three-quarters (75%) of employees want easier access to health professionals and simpler claims reimbursement processes, citing frustration with the current complexity.

"Employees are demanding more personalized, seamless solutions and employers who meet these evolving expectations are more likely to attract and retain top talent,” Nadim Kara, GreenShield’s executive vice-president of people and culture, said in a statement.

GreenShield is an integrated health and benefits organization and the first organization in Canada to operate as a payer-provider — offering insurance, administering benefits and paying claims as a 'payer' while offering health services such as mental health, pharmacy, telemedicine and chronic disease services as a 'provider.'

Survey methodology

These results come from a SAGO survey conducted online between September 13 and 19, on behalf of GreenShield. A sample of 1,500 full time and part time workers aged 18 and over who live in Canada and are members of the AskingCanadians community participated.

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Nicholas completed his master's in journalism and communications at Western University. Since then, he's worked as a reporter at the Financial Post, Healthing.ca, Sustainable Biz Canada and more. Aside from reporting, he also has experience in web production, social media management, photography and video production. His work can also be found in the Toronto Star, Yahoo Finance Canada, Electric Autonomy Canada and Exclaim among others.

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