The Canadian Healthy Workplace Council

The Canadian Healthy Workplace Council (The Council) consists of a number of leading Canadian organizations and practitioners, whose members are dedicated to promoting a comprehensive and integrated approach to workplace health in order to improve and sustain the health of Canadian organizations, their work environments and their employees.

The Council works to accomplish its mission by:

• overseeing the annual Canada's Healthy Workplace Week campaign www.healthyworkplaceweek.ca,
• serving as an advisory body to the National Quality Institute (NQI) on workplace health issues,
• assisting in the selection process of the Canada Awards for Excellence (Healthy Workplace Category), presented annually by NQI
• adjudicating the Canadian Workplace Wellness Pioneer Award that is presented annually at the Health, Work & Wellness Conference.

The Council believes that creating healthy workplaces is more than just a good idea; there is a solid business case to be made. According to Dr. Graham Lowe, a well-known Canadian researcher, workplace health is an economic issue linked to the overall performance of the local economy. Unhealthy workforces are costing organizations in Canada billions of dollars every year. Statistics Canada indicates that the cost from all causes of employee absence alone is about $8.6 billion per annum.

Research consistently demonstrates that healthy employees are absent less often, have higher morale, are more productive, and have lower healthcare costs - resulting in a better bottom line for the business and a higher level of customer satisfaction. Moreover, the effects of the workplace environment are felt throughout society, on our families, our businesses and our healthcare system.

The Canadian Healthy Workplace Council has a vision that someday there will be a national coordinating structure in place to work closely with governments to ensure changes in and coordination of health, industrial, labour and social policies. In this regard, The Council is exploring strategies to collaborate with other supporting organizations, intermediaries and workplaces in meeting its objectives. Furthermore, the Council will seek to provide large and small Canadian organizations with access to the workplace health services and resources needed to integrate comprehensive workplace health into the way we do work in Canada.

Members of the Council include the following organizations:

• Affinitas Inc.
• AstraZeneca
• Brock University Workplace
  Health Research Unit
• Canada Post
• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety (CCOHS)
• Canadian Council on Integrated Healthcare
• Canadian Healthcare Manager Magazine, Rogers Media
• H3 Consulting
• Health, Work & Wellness Conference (HWW Conference Inc)
• HealthWorks Project, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia
• McMaster University
• National Quality Institute (NQI)
• Ottawa Public Health
• Standard Life
• The Society of Energy Professionals
• Toronto Public Health