Canada's Healthy Workplace Month® Celebrates Healthy Minds at Work

www.healthyworkplacemonth.ca

The theme for the 13^th annual Canada's Healthy Workplace Month^® (CHWM) 2013 is:
Healthy Minds at Work…the mental health connection.

TORONTO, July 9, 2013 /CNW/ - October is the month to begin, carry on, and be recognized for initiatives that support a psychologically safe and healthy workplace.

In Canada, 21.4% of the working-age population (20-64 years of age) was living with a mental health problem or illness in 2011.¹

Due to overwhelming evidence of the high cost of mental illness to employees, organizations, and society, employers are taking action to reduce the stigma and the lost time associated with mental illness and to implement strategies that foster healthy minds at work.

The CHWM website is now a year-round resource for administrators looking for activities, strategies, tips, and tools to help make their organizations physically and psychologically safe and healthy. At www.healthyworkplacemonth.ca you will find a full month of initiatives that you can do at any time. Then apply in October 2013 to be included in the on-line CHWM Showcase as a best practice. Successful submissions will receive a Certificate of Merit and are featured on the website for a whole year. CHWM is presented by Great-West Life through their national corporate citizenship program, and is managed by Excellence Canada.

"A safe and healthy workplace is the product of committed leadership and strategic planning," says Allan Ebedes, President and CEO at Excellence Canada. "In every organization, people are our most valuable resource and it is the joint responsibility of employers and employees to foster healthy minds and to safeguard them."

"As Presenting Sponsor of Canada's Healthy Workplace Month, we're pleased to promote the link between workplace wellness and organizational performance," says Jan Belanger, Assistant Vice-President, Community Affairs, Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life. "Mental health is fundamental to a healthy workplace.  "Engaging in and promoting activities that benefit the mental health and well-being of staff throughout the year - not only during Canada's Healthy Workplace Month - is key to business and economic success."

Excellence Canada's mission is to help organizations improve performance and to recognize them for achieving excellence. Canada's Healthy Workplace Month^® helps accomplish this mission as it recognizes the best practices of organizations from across Canada and shares them online at www.healthyworkplacemonth.ca. This inspires all organizations to improve their performance by learning from the experiences of others.

Excellence Canada's Mental Health at Work^® breaks down the journey to a psychologically safe and healthy workplace into four milestones, complete with metrics, education, coaching, certification, and celebration as each milestone is achieved. Hundreds of organizations endorse this proven implementation methodology, so you can be confident of success when following the Mental Health at Work^® framework, which is also fully aligned with the National Standard on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.

CHWM is funded with great appreciation through the generous support of the following sponsoring organizations:

Presenter: Great-West Life
Champions of Excellence: Great-West Life, Sun Life Financial
Benefactors: Bell, Ricoh Canada
Advocate Sponsor: Manulife Financial
Supporter Sponsors: Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Industry: Calian, OTIP RAEO, Power Stream, and VIA Rail
Media Sponsor: Postmedia Network and YourWorkplace

We hope your organization will join in the 13^th Annual Canada's Healthy Workplace Month^® celebration. For ideas, activities, and strategies for the Month and beyond, visit www.healthyworkplacemonth.ca. Let's value our people so our people will value their workplace!

1. Smetanin, P., Stiff, D., Briante, C., Adair, C.E., Ahmad, S. & Khan, M. (2011). The life and economic impact of major mental illnesses in Canada: 2011 to 2041. RiskAnalytica on behalf of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

About Excellence Canada
Excellence Canada is an independent, not-for-profit organization that is committed to advancing organizational excellence across Canada. Since 1992, Excellence Canada has helped thousands of organizations become cultures of continuous quality improvement and world-class role models, through its four-level Progressive Excellence Program.

As a national authority on Quality and Healthy Workplace^®, it provides excellence frameworks, standards, and independent verification and certification to organizations of all sizes and in all sectors. It is also the custodian and adjudicator of the Canada Awards for Excellence program, of which the patron is His Excellency, the Right Honourable David Johnston, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., Governor General of Canada.

SOURCE: Excellence Canada

Karen Jackson
Advisor, Healthy Workplace Strategies
Excellence Canada
[phone] or 1(800) 263-9648
[email protected]

Marlene Klassen
Great-West Life, Media and Public Relations
[phone]
[email protected]

Pour plus d'information, s.v.p. contactez:

Bonita Savard
Excellence Canada
[phone] ext 233 or 1(800) 263-9648 ext 233
[email protected]