Work precarity and vulnerability
“Precarious” is a word often used to describe work that is characterized by low pay, low job security and little protection. “Vulnerable” is a word often used in the health and safety world to describe those who are at an increased risk of work injury or disease. At the Institute for Work & Health (IWH), an evidence-based framework has been developed that defines OHS vulnerability as being exposed to hazards without having adequate protection. This page pulls together research on OHS vulnerability and work precarity.
Featured
Research Highlights
Fatal drug overdoses more common among lower-income and unemployed Canadians
A new IWH study looked at how sociodemographic factors measured by the Canadian census were linked with drug overdose deaths.
Published: March 11, 2026
Research Highlights
Death rates are higher for workers in precarious and lower quality jobs
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.
Published: November 12, 2025
Research Highlights
Fatal drug overdoses more common among lower-income and unemployed Canadians
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
IWH in the media
When job quality drops, death rates rise: new Canadian study
A new IWH study reinforces the importance of examining the health effects of job quality. It also underscores the need to look beyond the standard-versus-precarious-job binary and explore the other types of job quality in between.
Published: Workers Health & Safety Centre, December 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Calling it like they see it? Young adults' discourses of employment and labour market inequalities
Published: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, December 2025
Research Highlights
Death rates are higher for workers in precarious and lower quality jobs
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
Journal article
Journal article
Promoting job quality and career advancement among persons with disabilities during critical career transitions: a scoping review of published evidence
Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, October 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Employment quality and mortality in Canada
Published: Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, October 2025
IWH in the media
The link between job quality and "deaths of despair"
In recent years, Canada has seen troubling increases in what researchers call “deaths of despair,” fatalities caused by suicide, drug poisoning, and alcohol use. An ongoing study from the Institute for Work and Health (IWH) explores the connection between these deaths and job quality. To date, the findings have revealed that workers in low-quality, unstable work situations face much higher risks of dying from these causes than those in well-paid, stable jobs.
Published: Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety , September 2025
At Work article
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.
Published: September 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Parental employment quality during childhood and mental health in adolescence: a 10-year longitudinal study
Published: Social Science & Medicine, August 2025
Project
Project
Job quality before and after work injury
This project will examine the job quality of injured workers in Canada. Its overarching goal is to provide a comprehensive and dynamic portrait of working life before and after work injury.
Status: Ongoing