Employee Wellness

Positive mental health allows us to cope with changes and difficult challenges in our day-to-day lives, personally as well as professionally. The pandemic blurred this boundary as employees worked from home, many simultaneously caring for children and other loved ones while living a more isolated lifestyle.

Commentary  |  3-min read
May 4, 2022
Focus Area—Human Resources

Transitioning to a hybrid workplace model will provide organizations with an opportunity to redefine their workplace culture. Transparency and clear communication when redefining workplace values and culture can give employees a sense of excitement and a renewed purpose. To encourage employee engagement, it is imperative that leaders collaborate with their employees on how to build and contribute toward a new workplace culture.

Online experience  |  8-min read
May 2, 2022
Focus Area—Human Resources

How can workers be sure they have the skills they will need to succeed? How we learn and demonstrate skills through qualifications is also changing. For example, while there is much uncertainty around the future of microcredentials, these new, short-term offerings are becoming increasingly common.

Impact paper  |  16-min read
March 10, 2022
Focus Area—Education & Skills
Partner—Future Skills Centre

Although the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many plans for the post-secondary space, it accelerated positive changes: streamlined virtual learning options made learning more inclusive to older students and those living in remote communities, experiential learning opportunities were expanded outside of major cities, and enrollment across post-secondary education (PSE) programs increased. For many education stakeholders, these pandemic developments are key elements of how to re-envision existing PSIs to ensure a brighter future for Canada.

Impact paper  |  21-min read
March 3, 2022
Focus Area—Education & Skills
Partner—Future Skills Centre

After more than a year of unprecedented challenges, Canada's economy is starting to recover. Employment has returned to pre-pandemic levels and wages are improving. But how will fiscal uncertainty, labour shortages, and growing unionization affect labour relations in 2022?

Online experience  |  8-min read
February 15, 2022
Focus Area—Human Resources

In early 2020, COVID-19 protocols imposed by governments and public health authorities required many organizations to shift all employees who were able to work from home to do so. While the transition to remote work was sudden for many, the adoption of remote work arrangements by knowledge workers (particularly those working in the technology sector) has been accelerating for years.

Impact paper  |  50-min read
December 13, 2021
Focus Area—Human Resources

In the fourth wave of the pandemic, here is what Canadian clinicians want you to know about how it has affected their work practices and personal well-being. COVID-19 has had a huge impact on those at the front lines of healthcare. Reports of physicians, nurses, and other essential healthcare workers experiencing fatigue, burnout, and mental health crises are becoming more frequent, as are stories of professionals thinking of leaving or who have already quit.

Summary for executives  |  4-min read
December 7, 2021
Focus Area—Health

How do first responders in Canada experience occupational stress? Together, The Conference Board of Canada and the Public Services Health and Safety Association (PSHSA) created a tool to assess first responders’ occupational stress injury risks. This tool’s development stemmed from PSHSA’s ongoing work to support employees and employers in preventing mental injury.

Issue briefing  |  8-min read
December 7, 2021
Focus Area—Health

Working Through COVID‑19

As provinces and territories move to vaccinate Canadians against COVID-19, employers are faced with an unprecedented challenge: how to fulfill their duty to ensure a safe work environment without the power to mandate vaccinations. The Conference Board of Canada asked employers across the country about their vaccination policy plans, and whether accommodations will be made for employees who won’t—or can’t—roll up their sleeves.

Online experience  |  8-min read
March 4, 2021
Focus Area—Human Resources

Working Through COVID‑19

COVID-19 has shed new light on the importance of mental health and wellness. Organizations, and the programs they provide, play a pivotal role in supporting employees’ wellness through these tough times. The Conference Board of Canada asked organizations across the country how they’re managing employee wellness through benefits for the largest group of their full-time workforce.

Online experience  |  8-min read
February 2, 2021
Focus Area—Human Resources

COVID-19 has shone a light on mental health in Canada and challenged employers to focus more on supporting employees’ through this challenging time. Organizations large and small often do not fully grasp how to support employees with their mental health needs.

Commentary  |  3-min read
December 8, 2020
Focus Area—Health

There have been changes in the Canadian workforce, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations across the country have shared changes they are seeing specifically around absences, turnovers, attraction, and retention. Here’s what we found.

Online experience  |  3-min read
October 8, 2020
Focus Area—Human Resources

Working Through COVID‑19

From family obligations to remote work, we’ve surveyed COVID-19’s effects on Canadian employers and workers. But how is the pandemic changing the ebbs, flows, and makeup of the workforce?

Online experience  |  8-min read
August 17, 2020
Focus Area—Human Resources

Canadian employers are using lessons learned from the recent lockdown to determine how to protect employees and keep their business running during a potential second wave of the virus.

Summary for executives  |  4-min read
August 13, 2020
Focus Area—Human Resources

With all the workplace disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, executives, managers, and human resources professionals will face challenges in determining salary increases and bonuses.

Commentary  |  3-min read
August 7, 2020
Focus Area—Human Resources

Working Through COVID‑19

Summer is typically prime vacation time. Will it be this year? With nowhere to go and travel restrictions still in effect, employees may be less motivated to use their vacation in the coming months.

Online experience  |  3-min read
June 1, 2020
Focus Area—Human Resources

Many changes and challenges have come about because of COVID-19. And while we are still discovering the considerable impact this virus can have on physical health, there is as much to learn about its impact on mental health—both in the short term as well as in the months and years to come.

Commentary  |  3-min read
May 26, 2020
Focus Area—Health

Working Through COVID‑19

As provinces move to ease restrictions, Canadian organizations must consider a return of their employees to physical workplaces. With COVID-19 still active, what will this shift look like, and how prepared are employers for the risks? How will this impact working arrangements in the long term?

Online experience  |  8-min read
May 19, 2020
Focus Area—Human Resources

There is a lot of advice right now about how to be an effective leader during the COVID-19 crisis. You are being encouraged, and you are trying, to be empathetic and supportive of your people, all while adjusting to new ways of working.

Commentary  |  5-min read
May 5, 2020
Focus Area—Leadership Development