Worker diversity and inclusion

The labour market in Ontario and across Canada is becoming more diverse. Greater attention to the labour market experiences of newcomers and recent immigrants to Canada is needed, as is greater attention to the ways race, age, gender and health status affect occupational health and safety (OHS) and disability management outcomes. Our research examines how our increasingly diverse workforce—racially, culturally and linguistically—affects OHS awareness, training and health outcomes. It also seeks to better understand the varied health and work experiences of workers with diverse health conditions and identities, and how workplaces can best support these workers.

Latest findings

A masked young woman works at a hotel reception desk

Education, type of work lessen pandemic job loss in youths with rheumatic diseases

Young adults with rheumatic diseases have generally faced greater challenges in the job market than their healthy peers. That was why an IWH research team set out to examine their work experiences during the pandemic.
The back of a male worker, hauling a load in a warehouse setting

Examining the link between leisure-time exercise and physically demanding work on diabetes risk

We've known of the health benefits of doing at least 150 minutes of exercise a week. Is exercise beneficial in lowering one's risks of diabetes, no matter how much one moves on the job? That's the question this study sets out to answer.
An illustration of young people helping each other climb out of a mountain crevice

Nine trends that will likely shape future of work for groups of vulnerable workers

Climate change, artificial intelligence, robotics and automation. The world of work will look very different in the next two decades as a result of major system-wide changes. What might it hold for vulnerable workers?