{"id":706048,"date":"2026-06-15T19:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/706048\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T19:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:55:11","slug":"mental-health-challenges-cost-employers-billions-yet-few-resources-go-toward-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/706048\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental health challenges cost employers billions, yet few resources go toward prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interested in more careers-related content? Check out our new weekly Work Life newsletter<\/a>. Sent every Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Mental health challenges are costing the Canadian economy hundreds of billions of dollars a year \u2013 most of which is paid by businesses \u2013 but there are small steps employers can take to lower their bills. <\/p>\n

According to a new study<\/a> conducted by the CSA Public Policy Centre, mental health challenges cost the Canadian economy $180-billion annually, up from an inflation-adjusted $67-billion in 2011. The report also projects costs ballooning to $600-billion by 2050, at which point it would represent 20 per cent of Canada\u2019s projected GDP. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a conservative estimate,\u201d says Dr. Olga Morawcynski, CSA Public Policy fellow and chief executive officer of Heal-3 Inc., a Toronto-based company that provides employee mental health programs. <\/p>\n

Researchers arrived at that number by tabulating the direct costs of mental health supports and the indirect costs paid by employers, the health care system, emergency services, homelessness supports and the criminal justice system. <\/p>\n

Of the estimated $180-billion annual mental health bill that Canadians pay collectively, the study suggests 61 per cent, or $110-billion, is paid by employers in the form of disability leave, workplace accommodations, legal, compliance and other related costs. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think that number alone should really get us to question what role workplaces should play moving forward in supporting mental health and well-being, because there\u2019s quite a clear business case,\u201d Dr. Morawcynski says. \u201cThat role should be far more significant than it is right now for many employers.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the study, 86 per cent of what employers spend on workplace mental health challenges is allocated to managing problems after they arise, with the remaining 14 per cent put toward prevention. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we included in this bucket is things like mental health training, psychological health and safety programs, EAP [employee assistance programs] and benefits,\u201d Dr. Morawcynski says. \u201cThese are the types of supports that could decrease the risk of mental harm or provide the supports necessary for employees not to have to go on leave.\u201d <\/p>\n

A 2019 Deloitte study<\/a> on the preventative mental health supports of seven companies found each dollar invested had an average return of $1.62. A 2016 World Health Organization study<\/a> showed that employers saw a $4 return for every $1 invested in anxiety and depression treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we account for inflation in [mental health care] costs, it\u2019s probably higher now,\u201d says Alex Boross-Harmer, manager of mental health promotion and training for the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Toronto branch, which administers preventative mental health training programs at Canadian workplaces. \u201cTrauma-informed cultures of care, building more compassionate workplaces, those are some of the workshops that we provide at CMHA Toronto.\u201d <\/p>\n

Employers have always had to bear at least some of the burden of mental health challenges among their staff, but Mx. Boross-Harmer says those costs are skyrocketing because of inflation. They explain that rising costs are creating more of a mental health strain on individuals, while creating more financial barriers to accessing care. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you can\u2019t afford diapers, eggs, milk, feeding your kids, you\u2019re going to have more stress, and that\u2019s not necessarily showing up in a therapy bill, but that might show up in absenteeism, presenteeism, disability leave, disability claims and employee retention,\u201d Mx. Boross-Harmer says.<\/p>\n

A growing number of Canadian employers are offering support to staff experiencing mental health challenges, but the data suggests those programs seek to address existing problems rather than prevent them in the first place. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am seeing an increase in employers having employment access programs or disability supports,\u201d Mx. Boross-Harmer says. \u201cWhat that ultimately looks like is a Band-Aid for a gaping wound, where employees are being told to go seek their EAP or access mental health services, when instead what we would love to see as a mental health organization is more cultural changes.\u201d <\/p>\n

Instead, the research suggests employers stand to save in the long run by investing in more preventative measures. <\/p>\n

\u201cMany organizations still view mental health supports as a \u2018nice-to-have\u2019 thing and a perk rather than a necessity,\u201d Mx. Boross-Harmer says. \u201cThe reality is it\u2019s a core business and workforce sustainability issue \u2013 not nice to have, but essential.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Interested in more careers-related content? Check out our new weekly Work Life newsletter. Sent every Monday afternoon. Mental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,259,260,24296,47151],"class_list":["post-706048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-noastack","tag-ordid20000"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}