For many years, I was the educational consultant to the Canadian Mental Health Association in Toronto, Ontario. In that capacity, I promoted mental health and awareness around mental illness. One of my proudest accomplishments was in developing several mental illness awareness workshops for frontline workers, agencies and caregivers that brought understanding and support strategies to those that worked directly with those experiencing a mental health challenge.


Knowledge Equals Hope

Today through my own business, I still find that the most satisfying part of presenting my mental health and resiliency presentations is going into work with a group of participants who are fearful of mental illness, and opening their eyes to the realities. The proverbial light bulbs go off, stigma is lifted, and their minds are opened to how they can better the lives of those who are experiencing a mental illness, as well as build resiliency in their own lives.

Mental Illness Facts:

On any given week:

  • 500,000 Canadians will miss work due to a psychological health issue, according to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Howatt et al., 2022.

Over the course of a year:

  • 1 in 5 Canadians (7 million) will experience a mental illness annually (Smetanin et al., 2011), yet only half of those, 1 in 10 Canadians, use health services for mood and anxiety disorders each year (Mcrae et al., 2016).
  • Employees with fair or poor mental health are estimated to have nearly 12 days of unplanned absences annually compared to 2.5 days for other workers. (Gallup.com, 2022 The Economic Cost of Poor Employee Mental Health)

Over the course of their lives:

  • One out of every two people in the world will develop a mental health disorder in their lifetime. (The Lancet Psychiatry, Havard Medical School and the University of Queensland, 2023)

Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) is an annual national public education campaign designed to help open the eyes of Canadians to the reality of mental illness. The first full week in October was established in 1992 by the Canadian Psychiatric Association, and is now coordinated by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH).

Half a million Canadians missed work because of a mental health problem or illness. Just as many will miss work next week. Beverly Beuermann-King

Mental health is the number one cause of disability claims in Canada.(Stats Can, Government of Canada, 2016) Yet acknowledging the issue and taking subsequent action has presented a challenge to the business community. In a recent survey of Ontario Chamber of Commerce members, they discovered a “mental health action gap”: while a majority of businesses believe investing in mental health is important (80%), few organizations were taking concrete action (37%). (2023 Ontario Economic Report). It is estimated that 10-25% of these disability costs could be avoided by employers taking action.

Five Action Steps For HCM Professionals:

Mental Illness Awareness Week is a great time for individuals and companies alike to bring mental illness issues out into the open.

  • Educate yourself. Educate others. Taking the time to learn about mental illness could make all the difference to you or to someone you care about. During this month - open your eyes and find your own path to helping a family member, a friend, a co-worker or a person you meet sitting there on the street who may desperately need your understanding and compassion. Bring mental health and mental illness workshops into your organization. Dispel myths by educating all the staff about causes, treatment, and personal experiences of mental illness. Promote resiliency and stress management programs.
  • Examine policies and attitudes that prevent those experiencing a mental illness from getting the help that they need including access to benefits that support mental health. Discuss workload and mental health in annual performance interviews.
  • Develop guidelines around accommodation. Be flexible in enforcing traditional policies including flex hours and time away from work. Develop human resource principles that are positive and constructive.
  • Build a network of support and service providers that can be accessed by a team leader who may be concerned about an employee. Include a list of crisis response phone numbers such as distress hotlines, poison control, etc. Post these in workplace washrooms or other private spaces available to employees to allow for easy access by employees in crisis.
  • Develop a comprehensive workplace wellness program that addresses the top sources of stress and impact on employee health and promotes resiliency building.

Spread the word!

Go ahead and post links to on-line articles and tools, develop and disseminate educational materials and/or start a social media discussion. It may be as simple as sending out a reminder that MIAW and World Mental Health day (October 10) are just around the corner and encourage your teams to consciously plan to do some activities that will relax, re-energize and reconnect them to colleagues, friends and family.

This Mental Illness Awareness Week, it is important for Human Capital Management (HCM) professionals to lead by example and drive meaningful change. By educating ourselves and our teams, examining and adapting our internal policies, and by fostering supportive environments, we not only contribute to a more inclusive and resilient work environment but also help in lifting the stigma associated with mental illness, making it easier for those who need help to seek it. Together, through education, compassion, and actionable strategies, we can foster a culture where mental health is prioritized, and every individual feels valued and supported. 





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