Morneau Shepell released its monthly Mental Health Index™ report, showing a consistent negative mental health score in Canada for the third consecutive month. The findings show that while most of the country is entering new phases of reopening, Canadians continue to struggle with uncertainty brought on by the pandemic and need employer support now more than ever.

The Mental Health Index™ score is -11. The score measures the improvement or decline in mental health from the pre-2020 benchmark of 75. This month’s overall score is one point higher than the score last month. The Mental Health Index™ also tracks sub-scores against the benchmark, measuring the risk of anxiety (-12.9), depression (-12.7), work productivity (-12.1), optimism (-12.0) and isolation (-11.6). While the sub-scores remain low, there has been a modest improvement across these areas when compared to the prior month.

The level of mental health support an employer provides to employees is impacting Canadians’ mental wellbeing. More than one third (34 per cent) of respondents indicated that their employer has been supporting employee mental health inconsistently, poorly or very poorly during the pandemic. Mental Health Index™ scores for this group were -17.2 for those who indicated that mental health was supported inconsistently, -17.7 for those who indicated poor support and -26.3 for very poor support. This compares to -10.4 for those who stated mental health was supported somewhat well and -1.0 for very well.

These results demonstrate that employer support is of utmost importance, as an individual’s perception of how well their employer has addressed the mental health of employees has a strong link to their mental health. As the country continues to reopen, respondents that felt unsupported cited areas that employers could provide support, including clear guidance on how to prevent spreading or getting the virus (27 per cent) and support to deal with anxiety (23 per cent).