Trusted research, with reach and impact
The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) is an independent, multidisciplinary, not-for-profit research organization located in Ontario, Canada. IWH conducts and mobilizes research that supports policy-makers, employers and workers in creating healthy, safe and inclusive work environments.
Latest news & findings
Word spreads about IWH tools, thanks to stakeholders' support
Since the release of two tools designed to support the sustained employment of people with chronic and episodic conditions, word has spread quickly to new audiences who have learned about and adopted them. That's thanks to organizations that promoted the tools and helped them reach the hands of workers, employers and post-secondary students who are about to move forward in the labour market.
Mental health of Canadians who work from home no better or worse than those working outside the home
Do Canadians who work from home have better mental health—potentially due to greater work-life balance and less commuting? Or does their mental health decline due to more social isolation and blurred boundaries between their work and personal lives? To find out, this study examined survey data of almost 25,000 Canadians in 2022, after work-from-home arrangements became more common.
Differences in firm-level AI use for health and safety
To what extent are Canadian workplaces using artificial intelligence (AI) to help support workers’ health and safety? And what do these workplaces have in common? An IWH study surveyed firms across Ontario and British Columbia to find out.
Parental job quality linked to children’s mental health, school performance
Children whose parents work low-quality, precarious jobs are more likely to experience mental health problems and perform poorly at school. That’s according to a pair of studies, co-led by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH), that drew on two large-scale surveys of children and parents from Ontario and across Canada.
Syme research training award recipients announced
IWH is pleased to announce the 2025/2026 S. Leonard Syme Research Training Award recipients. They are: Erene Stergiopoulos, Travis Van Belle, Rebecca Cairns and Emily Howe. Established in 2002, the awards are designed to support early-career researchers at the master's or doctoral level studying work and health issues.
IWH Speaker Series
Learn directly from IWH researchers themselves about their latest findings in health, safety and disability prevention. Coming up next:
Engaging employees in wellness: Insights from workplace champions
Presented by Aviroop Biswas.
Date: Tuesday, October 21, 2025, 11:00AM EST
Explore the site
Tools and guides
Integrate evidence-based policies and practices into your occupational health and safety, return-to-work and rehabilitation programs. IWH has created a number of tools and guides based on our research findings that can help improve program outcomes.
Impact case studies
Find out how IWH research is making a difference. Read our impact case studies, in which policy-makers, workplaces and other stakeholders in health, safety and disability prevention tell how IWH research helped improve their policies, programs and practices.
Research summaries
Whether it’s a policy briefing, a systematic review summary or the highlights of a specific research project, we’ve compiled a number of plain-language summaries to help you understand the research we’re doing, what we have found, and how we found it.