The bleakness and winter chill coupled with post-holiday blues can make January a particularly challenging month. With that in mind, many Canadian employers are using the month to talk about mental health with their employees. Dalhousie University is focusing its workplace wellness strategy on mental health in January. Throughout the month, the university has been hosting […]
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has released a guide advising companies on how they can support employees facing mental-health challenges. The guide, which is based on a review of existing research on mental health in the workplace, offers five recommendations for Canadian employers: create a long-term mental-health strategy for the entire organization; implement […]
About three-quarters (72 per cent) of working Canadians said they’d perceive their employer in a more positive light if it offered virtual care or telemedicine, according to a new survey by RBC Insurance Services Inc. This view is most prevalent (78 per cent) among younger Canadians, between the ages of 18 and 34. The survey […]
Cadillac Fairview Corp. let the dogs out at four of its downtown Toronto office towers to cheer up its employees on Blue Monday, known as the gloomiest day of the year. The commercial landlord held pop-up puppy parks at Cadillac Fairview Tower, RBC Centre, TD Place and Simcoe Centre, where trained therapy dogs from the […]
The third Monday of January, known as Blue Monday, is considered the saddest day of the year, but some Canadian employers are trying to make it a little happier for their employees. At CAA Club Group, Blue Monday will kick off a week of events dedicated to mental-health awareness. “We have a mixture of fun things, educational things and […]
Morneau Shepell Ltd. is teaming up with Interaxon Inc. to test meditation-aid technology for use in workplace well-being programs. Interaxon makes the Muse meditation headband, a research-grade electroencephalography device that aims to help in the meditation process by providing visual and auditory feedback relating to the user’s brain activity. The feedback is an attempt to encourage mental behaviours associated […]
Strong competition to attract and retain talent will drive employers to adopt holistic employee wellness strategies in 2020, according to the Workforce Institute at Kronos Inc.’s global workforce predictions for the year. “We have these war for talent issues going on everywhere,” says Joyce Maroney, executive director at the Workforce Institute. “One of the ways […]
Starbucks Canada is giving its more than 23,000 employees a free subscription to meditation app Headspace. In total, more than 200,000 employees across North America are receiving access to the app, which offers guided meditations and videos, articles and animations around mental-health topics. “By arming [employees] with resources and support, they will be better able to curb and cope […]
On Nov. 29, the 2019 Toronto Mental Health Summit featured sessions on how employers can approach mental health in the workplace, including removing the stigma and facilitating positive return-to-work transitions. Here’s what you missed! Social connection can build or erode mental health, resilience Between 2017 and 2019, the number of individuals reporting mental-health issues has risen […]
Between 2017 and 2019, the number of individuals reporting mental-health issues has risen by seven per cent, according to Dr. Sam Mikail, psychologist and senior mental-health consultant at Sun Life. “We haven’t seen an improvement,” he said during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Toronto Mental Health Summit on Nov. 29. “If anything, we’ve seen […]