Plain-language summaries

A new evidence-based resource has been developed to provide practical guidance to first responder organizations that are looking to deliver programs to support their workers and to reduce work disability related to PTSI. The resource provides considerations along the various stages of planning, delivering and maintaining such a program.

Published: July 2026

First responder organizations are developing programs to support members with work-related post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI). But implementation of such programs can be a challenge. An IWH study, conducted in Alberta, examined the implementation barriers and facilitators, as part of an effort to produce a practical implementation resource.

Published: July 2026

During the pandemic, workers who contracted COVID-19 from work had better return-to-work rates 18 months later than those with other conditions. Most traditional return-to-work factors, however, did not explain the difference in rates.

Published: July 2026

According to a new report, the annual cost of mental health challenges in Canada is estimated to be $180 billion. Most of these costs are borne by employers and businesses, and are directed toward reactive responses to mental health conditions, rather than proactive approaches or treatment.

Published: June 2026

Work-related psychological injuries are associated with longer durations, higher costs, and more complex return-to-work processes than physical injuries. While governments and system partners are investing in prevention and management strategies, approaches vary considerably. This project looked at how different jurisdictions in Canada and Australia prevent workplace psychosocial hazards, define and compensate psychological injuries, and support workers through recovery and return to work.

Published: May 2026

The third annual IWH Connects meeting brought together health and safety leaders to share and discuss findings in three areas of IWH research. They included: the ways new businesses start managing health and safety, the challenges faced by those providing workplace disability supports, and the research landscape on substance use and work. The discussions had during the day will help stakeholders use and share these research insights and inform future IWH work in these areas.

Published: May 2026

When it comes to protecting workers’ health and wellbeing, enacting a measure into law is only part of the story. A legislation's potential impact still depends on existing power dynamics within workplaces. A study by IWH research award recipient shows how regulatory effectiveness is shaped by the industrial relations landscape already in place, including the strength of trade unions, employment standards, regulatory enforcement, and worker involvement at the organizational level. 

Published: May 2026

The built environments around where we work and live can play an important role in shaping our decision to walk, bike or take public transit to work. That's according to a joint study that examines Canadians' active commuting habits based on the social and built characteristics of their neighbourhoods.

Published: April 2026

Workers in small businesses have higher rates of work-related injuries and fatalities than those in larger businesses, even within the same sector. To best prevent injuries, OHS management in these businesses should start early in their life cycle. But according to a new IWH study, few programs or policies are specifically aimed at helping new businesses start managing OHS.

Published: April 2026

An IWH study looked at how sociodemographic factors measured by the Canadian census were linked with drug overdose deaths. The researchers found that deaths were highest among those with the lowest income, those who were unemployed or out of the labour force, and those without a high school degree.

Published: March 2026

First responders face high rates of post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) due to the nature of their jobs. In response, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board commissioned an intensive, 14-week treatment program tailored to these workers. A multi-part evaluation of the program, conducted in part by IWH, has found that participants did not show improvements in return-to-work rates. However, most participants stuck with the program for the full duration, and a quarter saw symptom improvements.

Published: March 2026

Workers who feel their workplaces are not committed to their mental wellbeing have more than twice the risk of work-related physical or mental health injuries compared to workers who feel the opposite. That’s according to an IWH study that asked workers about the psychosocial safety of their workplace—that is, whether an organization prioritizes mental health and wellbeing, and takes action to prevent psychosocial hazards. The study found that poor psychosocial safety and poor physical safety both increase the risk of work-related mental and physical injuries.

Published: February 2026

What challenges may face occupational health and safety (OHS) practitioners and policy-makers in the next 15 years? A strategic foresight report led by IWH recruited OHS practitioners from across Canada and Europe to help answer this question. It offers seven future scenarios that may face OHS practitioners by 2040. It also lays out important questions about each scenario that OHS practitioners may need to confront in the years to come.

Published: February 2026

Job quality is increasingly recognized as an important factor for workers’ health, safety and wellbeing. As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more integrated into workplaces, a new project, the Partnership on AI and Quality of work (PAIQ), wants to ensure that job quality—and the health and safety of workers—remains a top priority. The team recently came together to kick off the next seven years of work.

Published: January 2026

Within a given occupation, men and women often face different risks of experiencing a work-related injury. But are those trends the same when it comes to the risks of work-related infectious diseases? According to an IWH systematic review of studies published between 2016 and 2021, women and men in the same jobs have similar risks of getting an infectious disease from work—with a few exceptions.

Published: December 2025

Death rates are higher for workers in lower-quality jobs. That’s according to an IWH study that explored whether job quality was linked to rates of death. It analyzed workers’ risk of dying over a 13-year period—comparing not just workers in standard and precarious jobs but those in other types of job quality in between.

Published: November 2025

At a two-day event symposium hosted by Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA), stakeholders had an opportunity to share and learn about new programs, research, and resources aimed at helping employers build their disability confidence.

Published: November 2025

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 found that about a quarter of firms surveyed across Ontario and British Columbia were using AI for occupational health and safety (OHS). Those that were more likely to use the technology for OHS were larger organizations and those where workers were more frequently exposed to hazards.

Published: October 2025

Canadian adults who work from home report the same levels of mental health, life satisfaction and stress as those who work on-site at a workplace, or at no fixed location (on the road). That’s according to a study of survey data from almost 25,000 Canadians in 2022, after work-from-home arrangements became more common.

Published: October 2025

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.

Published: September 2025