Mental health at work: What Canadian employers can actually do

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. While the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) highlights a specific week in May to #GetReal, the reality is that psychological safety is a year-round commitment. 

If you’re a business owner or HR leader in Canada, mental health is likely already on your radar. The harder question is: What are you actually doing about it?

As expectations evolve, Canadian employees are looking for more than “wellness theater.” They want workplaces where mental health is woven into the fabric of the workday. While awareness is a great first step, lasting impact comes from the consistent, practical actions businesses take to protect their people.

In this article, we’ll explore:

• The current state of mental health in the Canadian workforce.
• Why “good intentions” aren’t enough to move the needle.
• 7 practical actions Canadian employers can take right now.

Why mental health still needs action

Workplace stress and burnout are hitting Canadian businesses hard. According to the Mental Health in the Workplace 2025 report, more than one-third of Canadian employees admit to feeling burnt out and burnout costs employers $5,500–$28,500 per employee annually. 

For employers, the consequences of “powering through” are measurable:

• Increased absenteeism: Employees taking time off to recover from burnout.
• Presenteeism: Staff showing up physically but lacking the cognitive “fuel” to perform.
• Higher turnover: In a tight labour market, employees leave high-pressure environments for those that prioritize balance.

Relying on your team to “speak up” isn’t enough. Many Canadians still feel the stigma of admitting they are struggling. Leaders must be proactive in creating an environment where support is normalized long before a crisis hits.

Companies that prioritize prevention see a 27% burnout rate versus 47% for those taking no action, resulting in potential savings of $1.7 million per year for a 500-employee company or $3,400 per employee.

Employment Hero is hosting a webinar with Yvette Murray, Canada’s Mental Health Trainer on May 14th for leaders around treating burnout as a business risk and proactively solving it. 

In the webinar, you will learn about: 

• How to identify early signs of burnout and intervene before it impacts performance and retention
• What leaders often get wrong about managing mental health at work (and how to avoid common missteps)
• Practical strategies to support your team while maintaining accountability, performance, and business outcomes

Interested to know more? 

or catch up on demand if you’re reading this after! 

What ‘taking action’ really means for businesses

Moving from awareness to action means changing how you think about mental health at work. Not as a box to tick, or a week in May to acknowledge, but as something embedded in how your business operates all year round.

• From reactive to proactive: Many employers only address mental health when something goes wrong, when someone is signed off sick, or when a manager finally flags a concern. Proactive support means creating the conditions where problems are spotted earlier and people feel safe enough to ask for help before they reach crisis point.
• From HR’s responsibility to everyone’s: Mental health isn’t something that sits with HR. It’s shaped by how managers behave, how leaders communicate and what your culture actually rewards. If your organisation praises people who work weekends and never switch off, that’s a culture problem no Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) can fix.
• From policy to practice: Having a mental health policy is not the same as having a mentally healthy workplace. What matters is whether your policies are understood, applied consistently, and backed up by behaviour at every level of the business.
• From uniform to inclusive: Mental health support needs to work for everyone, including remote workers who might feel isolated, frontline staff who can’t easily step away for a conversation and employees who are less likely to self-identify as struggling. One-size-fits-all doesn’t work here.

7 practical actions for Canadian businesses

1. Train managers for “human” conversations

Business owners and HR professionals aren’t the only people responsible for championing mental health. Line managers also play a key role as they are your employees’ first point of contact at work  and the people most likely to notice when someone isn’t coping. But noticing isn’t enough. It’s important for line managers to be equipped to respond when members of their team are struggling. 

Good mental health training for managers is simpler than you might think. It’s all about helping them to listen well, spot the signs of someone who’s struggling and know how to signpost professional support without trying to fix everything themselves. 

2. Modernize your workplace policies

In Canada, employers have legal obligations regarding health and safety that increasingly include psychological harm. Review your policies to ensure they clearly define:

• What mental health support is available.
• How employees can access it.
• How to request “reasonable accommodations.”
• Zero-tolerance for workplace harassment and bullying.

3. Embrace flexible work (Properly)

Flexibility isn’t just a perk; it’s a mental health tool. Whether it’s flexible start times to accommodate school drop-offs or remote options to reduce commute stress, giving employees autonomy over where and how they work significantly reduces anxiety and overwork.

4. Normalize the “Right to Disconnect”

With the rise of remote work in Canada, the lines between home and office have blurred. Follow the lead of provinces like Ontario by implementing a “Right to Disconnect” policy. Encourage leaders to stop sending late-night emails and respect “off-hours” to allow for genuine recovery.

5. Move to continuous check-ins

The annual performance review is too infrequent to catch a mental health slide. Move to a rhythm of monthly or bi-weekly 1:1s. Use this time not just for “KPI updates,” but to ask: “What’s one thing blocking your progress this week, and how can I help?”

6. Use data to spot red flags

You are likely sitting on data that tells a story. High turnover in a specific department? A sudden spike in overtime hours? Use your HR platform to spot these trends early. If engagement scores drop in one area, it’s a signal to investigate the workload or leadership style in that pocket of the business.

7. Lead by example

Workplace culture is set from the top down. If your senior leaders don’t talk openly about mental health, don’t model healthy boundaries and don’t hold themselves to the same standards they expect from employees, no amount of policy or training will change the culture.

Leadership behaviour includes the visible stuff, such as whether executives send emails at midnight and what message that sends, as well as the less visible stuff, like how leadership responds when someone raises a concern. When leaders get this right, it gives everyone else permission to do the same.

How Employment Hero supports a healthier workplace

Meaningful support requires time – and HR teams are often stretched thin by manual admin. When you’re buried in paperwork, you don’t have the capacity for the conversations that matter.

Employment Hero’s AI-powered Employment Operating System helps you automate the “heavy lifting” of HR so you can focus on your people. Our platform allows you to:

• Centralize wellbeing resources: Keep your policies and mental health guides in one easy-to-access hub.
• Track engagement: Use pulse surveys to get a real-time “temperature check” on your team’s morale.
• Manage flexibility: Easily coordinate hybrid schedules and leave requests to ensure your team isn’t reaching a breaking point.
• Give recognition: Use our “Shout Outs” feature to build a culture of appreciation and visibility.

Action builds better workplaces

Mental Health Awareness Month is a vital prompt, but it’s just the starting line. Building a mentally healthy workplace doesn’t require a massive budget; it requires consistency, accountability, and the willingness to treat people like humans first and employees second.

Book a demo with Employment Hero today to see how we can help you streamline your HR and build a more supportive Canadian workplace.