The Business Case for a Comprehensive Workplace Mental Health
Promotion Program: Quick Fact Sheet
The Financial Costs
Every Year the Canadian Economy Loses Billions to Mental Health Issues
 Workplace mental health disorders cost Canadian companies nearly 14% of their net
annual profits and up to $16 billion annually.1
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More recent calculations, which include indirect costs (i.e., presenteeism), suggest that
upwards of $51 billion is lost to the Canadian economy annually due to mental health
and addiction issues (i.e., depression, anxiety, burnout, substance misuse).2
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Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and Canada for ages 1544.3
In 2005, mental disabilities such as stress and depression were the leading cause of
disability in the labour force, which accounted for over $8 billion in productivity losses
2006.4
Mental health (primarily depression and anxiety) has passed cardiovascular disease as
the fastest growing category of cost for disability claims in Canada.5
75% if all short-term disability claims and 82% of long-term disability claims in Canada
are related to mental illness.6
The amount an employer will save, per employee per year, for those who get treatment:
from $5000 - $10, 000 in average in wage replacement, sick leave and prescription drug
costs.7
A study, released in 2004 by the Public Health Agency of Canada, identified that 58% of
employees report having work-life conflict; being overwhelmed by their jobs, families or
finances.8
PriceWaterhouseCoopers 1999 International Student Survey found 57% of graduating
business students rated work life balance as their primary career goal and therefore
influential in choosing an employer.9
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1
Mental health and substance use at work: Perspectives from research and implications for leaders. 2002. Scientific Advisory
Committee to the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health.
http://mentalhealthroundtable.ca/jan_2003/mentalhealth2_nov11_021.pdf (accessed February 12, 2010).
2 Ibid.
3 The World Health Organization. 2004. The World Health Report 2004: Changing History, Annex Table 3: Burden of disease in DALYs
by cause, sex, and mortality stratum in WHO regions, estimates for 2002. Geneva: WHO.
http://www.who.int/whr/2004/annex/en/index.html. (accessed February 12, 2010).
4 Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health. Business and Economic Plan For Mental Health and
Productivity, (2006) http://www.mentalhealthroundtable.ca/ (accessed February 12, 2010).
5 M. Wilson, R. Joffe, & B. Wilkerson, The unheralded business crisis in Canada: Depression at work. Global Business and Economic
Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, (2002). p. 4, 18.
http://www.mentalhealthroundtable.ca/aug_round_pdfs/Roundtable%20report_Jul20.pdf.
6 Watson Wyatt, “Mental Health claims on the rise in Canada,” Staying @Work Survey, (2005)
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/news/press.asp?ID=14547 (accessed January 6, 2010).
7 Mental Health Works. “Mental Health Fact Sheet.” Canadian Mental Health Association.
www.mentalhealthworks.ca/facts/index.asp (accessed February 12, 2010).
8 C. Higgins, L. Duxbury and K. Johnson, “Exploring the Link Between Work-Life Conflict and Demands on Canada’s Health Care
System,” Public Health Agency of Canada, (2004) http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/work-travail/report3/index-eng.php.
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Fifteen million Canadians spend one-half of their waking hours at work.10
The Legal Costs
Legislature is evolving to find employers increasingly responsible for their employees’ mental
and physical health and so employers can be found liable for psychological injury to employees.
Claims against organizations hurt the defending organization both by tarnishing their reputation
and by forcing them to pay for large legal fees.11
The Health Costs

500,000 Canadians miss work every day because of psychiatric problems. Mental Health
accounts for nearly 30% of disability claims and 70% of the total costs.12
 In the past two years, 21% of all workers have experienced physical health problems caused
by stress, anxiety or depression. Approximately one in five of these workers experienced
fatigue, sleeping problems, anxiety or depression.13
 People experiencing stress are more likely to report hypertension, anxiety or depression and
obesity.14
 62% of workers who suffered from physical problems caused by stress, anxiety or
depression tried their best to maintain their usual work schedule. However, when outside of
work, most (59%) could not keep up their usual pace and needed more rest.15
 Close to four in 10 workers (37%) who reported experiencing physical problems, but did not
take time off work, said they continued to work because they need the income (called
“presenteeism”).16
Reducing the amount of stress facing an employee can allow them to protect and promote their
own mental and physical health. Early detection is important; when issues are identified early
the person experiencing the mental health issue has a higher likelihood of recovery. Addressing
mental health problems in the workplace is a financially sound idea. The Job Accommodation
Network, a service of the Office of Disability Employment Policy of the United States
Department of Labour, found that more than half of all accommodations cost less than $500
9
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, “The business case for work-life balance,” (2005),
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/lp/spila/wlb/16benefits_costs_businesscase.shtml (accessed November 30, 2009).
10
Public Health Agency of Canada, “Why Active Living at Work?” (2004) http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/alw-vat/why-pourquoi/indexeng.php (accessed February 17, 2010).
11 Martin Shain, “What Do We Know? Best Advice on Stress Management in the Workplace,” Health Canada, (2000) http://www.hcsc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/occup-travail/index-eng.php (accessed January 6, 2010).
12 Insurance Journal 2003 as cited by the Government of Canada in The Human Face of Mental Health and Mental Illness in Canada,
2006, pg. 41.
13 Desjardins Financial Security. “Health is Cool! 2006 Survey on Canadian Attitudes towards Physical and Mental Health at Work and
Play.” (2006) http://www.dsf-dfs.com/en-CA/_Utilitaires/Prmtns/HlthCl.htm (accessed December 2, 2009).
14
American Psychological Association. “Americans engage in unhealthy behaviours to manage stress.” (2006)
http://www.apa.org/releases/stresssurvey0206.html (accessed December 2, 2009).
15 Desjardins Financial Security. “Health is Cool! 2006 Survey on Canadian Attitudes towards Physical and Mental Health at Work and
Play.” (2006) http://www.dsf-dfs.com/en-CA/_Utilitaires/Prmtns/HlthCl.htm (accessed December 2, 2009).
16
Ibid
and that most employers report benefits in excess of $5,000.17 Employees who were diagnosed
with depression and who took the appropriate medication saved their employer an average of
11 days a year in prevented absenteeism
US Department of Labor. “Accommodation and Compliance Series: Employees with Mental Health Impairments”. Job
Accommodation Network.” (2009). http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/Psychiatric.html (accessed February 12, 2010).
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