Dr. Peter Smith
Dr. Peter Smith is president and senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) in Toronto, and a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Prior to moving into the president's role in January 2022, Smith was IWH's scientific co-director.
Smith has a master's in public health from the University of New South Wales, Australia, and a PhD from the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto. He is a former recipient of a New Investigator Award (2008-2013) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR),a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council (2012-2014), and a five-year CIHR Research Chair in Gender, Work and Health (2014-2018).
Smith has extensive experience conducting research related to work injury and its consequences using large population-based surveys and administrative workers' compensation data. His key research interests include: gender and sex differences in the relationship between work and health; labour market inequalities and their health-related outcomes; labour market experiences of newcomers, older workers, younger workers and other vulnerable labour force subgroups; chronic illnesses and work injury; and trends in working conditions over time.
“I don’t understand how people can think about health without thinking about work. Between our early 20s and our 60s – and later for some people – we spend most of our waking hours at work. It makes sense, then, that aspects of work must have an impact on different aspects of our health, both positively and negatively. That drives me to better understand what good work and bad work look like from a health and return-to-work perspective.” – Dr. Peter Smith
Projects
- Ontario Life After Work Injury Study: Understanding the long-term recovery and labour market outcomes of injured workers in the shadow of COVID-19. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Ongoing.
- Partnership on AI and the Quality of work (PAIQ) . Funded by Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada. Ongoing.
- Toking 9 to 5: Workplace cannabis use and perceptions among Canadian workers. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Trends in the severity of work-related injury in Ontario. Funded by Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD). Ongoing.
- Understanding the injury experience of Ontario small businesses through workers’ compensation claims data. Funded by Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD). Ongoing.
Publications
- Havaei F, Smith PM, Oudyk J, Potter GG. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of nurses in British Columbia, Canada using trends analysis across three time points. Annals of Epidemiology. 2021;62:7-12. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2021.05.004.
- Mustard C, Nadalin V, Carnide N, Tompa E, Smith PM. Cohort profile: the Ontario Life After Workplace Injury Study (OLAWIS). BMJ Open. 2021;11(9):e048143. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048143.
- Somani R, Muntaner C, Hillan E, Velonis AJ, Smith PM. A systematic review: effectiveness of interventions to de-escalate workplace violence against nurses in healthcare settings. Safety and Health at Work. 2021;12(3):289-295. doi:10.1016/j.shaw.2021.04.004.
- Fan J, Sim M, Lilley R, Wong IS, Smith PM. Sleep disturbances and disability following work-related injury and illness: examining longitudinal relationships across three follow-up waves. Journal of Sleep Research. 2021;30(3):e13124. doi:10.1111/jsr.13124.
- Jetha A, Shamaee A, Bonaccio S, Gignac MA, Tucker LB, Tompa E, Bultmann U, Norman CD, Banks CG, Smith PM. Fragmentation in the future of work: a horizon scan examining the impact of the changing nature of work on workers experiencing vulnerability. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2021;64(8):649-666. doi:10.1002/ajim.23262.
Speaker Series presentations
- Reporting and consequences of workplace violence in six Ontario hospitals. IWH Speaker Series. May 22, 2018.
- Towards a better understanding of differences in the risk of workplace violence for men and women in Canada. IWH Speaker Series. March 27, 2018.
- Evaluating the impact of mandatory awareness training in Ontario. IWH Speaker Series. April 11, 2017.
- Understanding return to work in MSD claims versus psychological injuries, for younger workers versus older workers. IWH Speaker Series. September 29, 2015.
- Developing a measure of OHS vulnerability. IWH Speaker Series. January 20, 2015.
Research summaries
- IWH tool comes out ahead in Australian study of OHS leading indicator tools. At Work article: Institute for Work & Health, February 2023.
- Study of educators during pandemic found psychosocial conditions worse for those teaching online. At Work article: Institute for Work & Health, October 2022.
- What research can do: IWH input contributes to enhancement of WSIB’s Health and Safety Index. At Work article: Institute for Work & Health, May 2022.
- Widely used survey lacks ability to tell apart 13 distinct psychosocial work factors. At Work article: Institute for Work & Health, May 2022.
- In most sectors, workplaces saw lower COVID transmission rates than in the community. At Work article: Institute for Work & Health, November 2021.
Media coverage
- Prescription for pain: How standing takes its toll on pharmacists. Canadian Healthcare Network. June 17, 2025. Available from: https://canadianhealthcarenetwork.ca/prescription-pain-how-standing-takes-its-toll-pharmacists
- Why heat makes our jobs more dangerous. The Toronto Star. June 4, 2025. Available from: https://www.thestar.com/interactives/why-heat-makes-our-jobs-more-dangerous/article_75e85dd3-cd23-498c-9d25-f01156a43e3b.html
- New funding announced for worker safety in mining and forestry. Sudbury.com. May 13, 2025. Available from: https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/new-funding-announced-for-worker-safety-in-mining-and-forestry-10654782
- WSIB to spend $6.7M to protect workers in natural resources sectors. CTV News. April 30, 2025. Available from: https://www.ctvnews.ca/northern-ontario/article/wsib-to-spend-67m-to-protect-workers-in-natural-resources-sectors/
- Supervisor competence and support critical for safer, healthier workplaces. Workers Health & Safety Centre. March 19, 2025. Available from: https://www.whsc.on.ca/What-s-new/News-Archive/Supervisor-competence-and-support-critical-for-safer-healthier-workplaces