Mental Illness and Addiction in Canada
Adopted from Quick Facts
- Percentage of Canadian employers who consider the continuous rise in employees’ mental health claims to be a top concern: 56%.
- Percentage of short term disability claims related to mental illness in Canada: 75%. 2007 figures report 72%.
- Percentage of long term disability claims related to mental illness in Canada: 79%. 2007 figures report 82%.
- Percentage increase in long term disability costs: 27%.
- Percentage of employers who track disability claims costs as a percentage of payroll: 28%.
- Percentage of employers who have plans to address mental health and mental illness in the workplace: 31%.
- Fastest growing category of disability costs to Canadian employers: Depression.
- Annual losses to the Canadian economy due to mental illness in the workplace: $33 billion.
- Amount employer will save, per employee per year, for those who get treatment: From $5000 – $10,000 in average wage replacement, sick leave and prescription drug costs.
- Percentage of people with serious mental illness who are unemployed: 70 – 90%.
- Percentage of people with serious mental illness who want to work: 80%.
- Percentage of Canadian organizations that have no structured process for supervisors to support employees’ return to work after any illness or disability: 64%.
- Percentage of organizations that have no process to address significant changes in employee productivity or behaviour: 84%.
- Percentage of organizations that identify addressing the stigma associated with mental illness as a priority: 20%.
- Level at which Canadians with depression report that they function at work: 62% of capacity.
- Percentage of Canadians with depression who have had to leave their work for short-term, long-term disability or permanently: 70%.
- Percentage of Canadians who have quit a job because of depression: 35% with 25% reporting they lost a job because of depression.
- Percentage of Canadians who are concerned that they will lose their job because of their depression: 78%.
- Proportion of Canadian employees who report they work in environments that are not psychologically safe or healthy: 3 in 10.
- Percentage increase in court awarded settlements due to mental injury in Canadian workplaces over the last 5 years: 700%.