Mental Health Index: May highlights

May 11, 2023

Kendall Blenkarn

The mental health and wellbeing of your workforce is critical when it comes to overall health – and productivity at work.

The Mental Health Index (MHI) surveys 16,000 workers from around the world. Published monthly, the index provides a measure of the current mental health status of employed adults. The increases and decreases in the MHI are intended to predict cost and productivity risks, and help governments and businesses understand how much they should be investing in supporting the mental health of their people.

Highlights: What do you need to know for May 2023?

With little to no change in three months – the mental health of workers in Canada has plateaued, and is in line with scores at the earliest stages of the pandemic.

At 64.6, the mental health of workers in Canada is unchanged from the month prior
33% of workers have a high mental health risk, 43% have a moderate mental health risk, and 24% have a low mental health risk
Anxiety and isolation have been the lowest (worst) mental health sub-scores for 13 consecutive months
Optimism, financial risk, and general psychological health sub-scores have declined (have poorer scores) compared to April 2023
Mental health scores have declined in Alberta, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador; scores have improved or remained unchanged in other provinces
Labourers have a lower mental health score than service and office workers
The mental health score of managers has improved while the mental health score of non managers has declined from April 2023