Building a Resilience Ecosystem to Improve Employee Mental Health and Wellbeing in Canadian High-Stress Low-Control Occupations

In response to inherent occupational and operational stress in public safety personnel (PSP), multiple policies and interventions have been implemented, often with sparse or low-quality research. The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard) is a comprehensive framework aimed at promoting mental health and preventing psychological harm in Canadian workplaces. This longitudinal multiple-cohort implementation science project describes mental health strategies implemented and associated organizational outcomes across five PSP organizations implementing change within the standard framework. Data were collected at two levels over a three-year span from the five public safety organizations that identified priority areas for improvement within the Standard based on local data and consultations. The organization selected and implemented a range of proactive mental health interventions, including resiliency training. Individual pre-post surveys assessed a variety of mental health disorders and work-related items. Annual organizational data included sick leave hours and extended health benefits for psychological services. Survey responses were aggregated at the organizational level. Rank-based correlation analyses (Kendall’s tau) described associations among occupational stress, work engagement, stigma, and organizational indicators. Organizations demonstrated multiple indicators of progress in meeting the Standard. Post-mental health symptom scores were positively correlated with extended health costs. Higher organizational stress scores were associated with higher extended health costs (psychological) (τ = 1.0 at pre-intervention; 0.67 post-intervention). Positive changes in organizational stress scores and higher engagement scores over the implementation process were both associated with lower average extended health costs (τ = 1.0/−1.0 respectively). Resilience scores were inversely related to health costs (τ = −0.67), consistent with the protective role of resilience. The Standard can serve as a framework for improving workplace health and safety when integrated with multi-modal action plans and structured resilience programs.