New, free guide to help Ontario businesses address mental health in the workplace

A new, free resource is now available to help Ontario businesses looking for ways to address mental health in the workplace.

Mental Health Works – a national social enterprise led by Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario Division – has launched Mental Health in the Workplace: An Accommodation Guide for Managers and Staff to help employers and managers understand how to assist a colleague with a mental health concern and appropriately accommodate them in the workplace.

This new guide outlines key skills employers and managers in Ontario workplaces should have when an employee presents a mental health concern. It’s divided into three parts that are intended to build awareness around mental health concerns and mental illnesses, teach appropriate responding skills, and inform organizations on ways to collaborate with employees to make the workplace more accessible.

“As public awareness of mental health increases, more and more employers have a desire to provide mental health support to their employees,” said Jim Harris of CMHA Ontario. “By looking at accommodation specifically through a mental health lens with our guide, employers are starting to prioritize mental health on the same level as physical health.”

This new resource was developed as part of the EnAbling Change program, an initiative of the Accessibility Outreach & Education Unit, in partnership with the Ontario government.