Impact

Supporting Mental Health in the workplace isn’t just good practice, in Canada, there are legal expectations tied to human rights and accommodation. One important concept employers should understand is the duty to inquire.

What Is the Duty to Inquire?

In Canadian workplace law, the duty to inquire is part of an employer’s broader duty to accommodate employees with disabilities, including Mental Health conditions. It means that when an employer knows or reasonably ought to know an employee might be experiencing a Mental Health issue that affects their work, the employer must initiate a respectful conversation about whether accommodation is needed before taking any negative action. (Canadian Human Rights Commission, Developing a Workplace Accommodation Policy)

For example, a long-standing high performer who suddenly starts struggling with deadlines or a team member showing consistent absenteeism or behaviour changes may trigger the employer’s duty to inquire and explore support options. (HRD Canada, Accommodating Mental Disabilities: Key Considerations for Employers)

Importantly, this does not mean employers diagnose mental illnesses or collect sensitive health details. Instead, they should ask open, supportive questions and focus on understanding functional needs; what assistance or changes might help the person do their job effectively. (Perlaw.ca, Navigating Mental Health Concerns in the Workplace)

Why This Matters in Canada

Under the Ontario Human Rights Code and similar human rights laws across Canada, Mental Health conditions, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and others, are protected as disabilities. Employers are required to accommodate these to the point of undue hardship. (Ontario Government, Mental Health in the Workplace)

The Ontario Human Rights Commission clearly outlines that when an employer notices signs that someone may be experiencing significant difficulty at work due to a disability, the employer must inquire and offer assistance or accommodation options. This obligation applies even if the employee has not directly asked for help. (OHRC, Preventing Discrimination Based on Mental Health and Addiction Disabilities)

Failure to inquire before taking punitive action, such as termination or disciplinary measures, may be considered discriminatory under human rights law. Legal cases and tribunal decisions have repeatedly reinforced this procedural obligation. (OHRC, Policy on the Duty to Accommodate)

How Employers Should Respond

When an employer identifies potential concerns, they should:

• Ask open, respectful questions focused on how the employee is doing and whether there are barriers affecting their performance.
• Respect privacy and dignity by not demanding medical diagnoses or invasive details, only what is needed to understand accommodation needs.
• Explore accommodation options together with the employee, discussing reasonable workplace adjustments.
• Document discussions and check in regularly.

These practices are not just legal “tick-boxes.” They reflect best practices for supportive workplaces that respect rights and promote psychological safety.

Beyond Legal Compliance: Building a Mentally Healthy Workplace

Understanding the duty to inquire is important, but it is only one piece of a psychologically healthy and safe culture. Many employers struggle with knowing what to say and do when mental health concerns come up. Training and mental health literacy help organizations respond with confidence and care.

How can you equip your team to support this process?

The Working Mind (TWM) is Canada’s evidence-based mental health training program that helps workplaces:

• Recognize early signs of mental health challenges
• Reduce stigma and increase confidence in having supportive conversations
• Understand how to respond and connect people with resources
• Build psychologically healthy and safe spaces

Equipping managers and employees with the right skills makes it easier to fulfill the duty to inquire with empathy and confidence, creating workplaces where people are supported before issues escalate.

Learn more about The Working Mind and how it can support your organization today.

—Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice—

Today, people across the country are talking about Mental Health. Whether they are reaching out to a friend or becoming in tune with their own Mental Health baseline, days like this are a reminder that support is out there and that even small words can make a difference. 

For me, these moments are powerful because I’ve seen first-hand what it’s like when someone feels truly heard. I’m a Mental Health First Aider, and part of my training was learning how to listen, ask the right questions, and connect people with the support they need. Training doesn’t give me all the answers, but it gives me the confidence to show up, to ask, and to be present. 

Awareness is the first step. It opens the door. But it’s the skills, the practice, and the courage to speak and listen is what keeps that door open. That’s what Mental Health First Aid teaches. It’s why I feel capable of engaging in conversations that might feel scary or awkward and why I know the small words I choose matter. 

Sometimes it’s as simple as asking, “Are you okay?” or noticing when someone seems quieter than usual. Other times, it’s about gently exploring what or who someone leans on when things feel heavy. The training gives me the tools, but moments like today remind me why they matter. They remind me that words have power and that conversations can be the start of something real. 

I’m grateful for initiatives like Bell Let’s Talk, initiatives that create space for people to have these important conversations and help push Mental Health forward in our communities. Raising awareness about Mental Health should span more than just a single day. Safe language, support, and unlearning should become vital parts of our daily routines. Today may spark the conversation, but the real impact happens when we continue to listen, act, and show up for each other. That’s what builds understanding, reduces stigma, and makes mental health a shared responsibility, one conversation at a time. 

Most workplaces already pay for poor mental health at work. The payment shows up in ways leaders rarely label as “mental health.” A project drifts. Quality slips. Conflict spreads. A strong performer goes quiet, then exits. Those moments look like management problems. Yet mental health often sits underneath the surface, shaping attention, energy, and trust.

That tension ran through Opening Minds’ webinar on the ROI of workplace mental health. The main message stayed blunt: ROI starts long before a spreadsheet shows “savings.” Leaders who chase a single metric too early miss the real drivers of cost, risk, and performance.

Your finance team wants a number.

Your team wants proof.

You want a decision you can defend six months from now.

The webinar grounded the conversation with Canada-wide context many executives recognize: hundreds of thousands of people miss work each week due to poor mental health, and mental health issues make up a major share of disability claims. Those are not niche problems. Those are operational realities.

Here’s where leaders get stuck.

Absenteeism, turnover, and disability claims feel measurable, so those metrics become the scoreboard. Yet those metrics lag. They tell you what already happened. They do not tell you what started the slide.

A more useful ROI conversation starts with “leading indicators.” Not fluffy vibes. Observable work signals.

Think about a team where deadlines start slipping by a day, then two. Meetings run longer. People stop disagreeing in the room and start venting after. Managers spend more time chasing updates than coaching work. Nobody files a claim on day one. Still, productivity drops. Customer experience drops. Risk rises.

Those patterns usually show up before your “big three” metrics move.

That timing matters for ROI. If you measure too late, you only see damage. If you measure too early, you label the work “ineffective” and stop before results arrive.

So what should leaders track first?

Start with conditions. The webinar emphasized a simple logic: recognition comes before measurement. If your managers lack a shared language for early signs of distress, the workplace stays reactive. People wait until trouble turns into absence, resignation, or a crisis event.

A shared language changes the game. People name issues earlier. Managers respond faster. Teams stop guessing what to do.

This aligns with global guidance. The World Health Organization’s guidelines on mental health at work highlight organization-level actions and manager training as key levers, not add-ons.

Evidence also supports financial outcomes in the right settings. For example, a JAMA Network Open study reported positive financial ROI tied to a workplace mental health program, alongside strong clinical outcomes.

ROI still matters. Leaders still need numbers. The webinar’s point was about sequence.

Conditions first. Outcomes later.

If you want a practical way to start, use two tracks at once.

Track one: pick a small set of outcome metrics you already trust. For many workplaces, that list includes absenteeism rate, turnover rate, disability claims volume, safety incidents, error rates, or customer escalations. Keep the list short. Three metrics beats ten.

Track two: add one or two “work experience” signals that move faster. Examples include manager confidence responding to distress, team comfort raising concerns early, clarity of role expectations, workload predictability, and meeting load.

This second track answers a hard question: are you building a workplace where people speak up before problems explode?

Move from measurement to action.

Opening Minds offers three training pathways that map cleanly to common workplace needs.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) builds practical skills to support someone facing a decline in mental well-being or a mental health or substance use crisis, until professional help becomes available.

The Working Mind focuses on how people think, feel, and act about mental health at work, with a strong emphasis on day-to-day conversations and stigma reduction.

Psychological Health and Safety (PHS) targets systems. Work design. Leadership practices. The environment people work inside, not only the people inside the environment.

A simple rule helps with selection.

• If your workplace sees frequent “in the moment” support needs, start with MHFA.
• If your workplace struggles with silence, stigma, or poor conversations, start with The Working Mind.
• If your workplace needs structural change across policies, roles, and leadership practices, start with PHS.

Now the part leaders skip: pick one operational pain point and tie training to that pain.

Not “improve wellness.”

Something concrete: Reduce preventable rework in a high-pressure team.

Shorten time-to-resolution for conflict between two departments.

Lower error rates during peak season.

Raise manager confidence in early intervention.

Once you pick the pain point, you get a clearer ROI story. Leaders stop arguing about abstract benefits. Teams start solving a real problem with a defined baseline.

Webinar Resources:

• Webinar Slide deck
• Webinar Recording