Work-related stress continues to impact a significant portion of the employed Canadian population, with more than 4.1 million people affected, representing 21.2% of all employed people experiencing high or very high levels of work-related stress, according to a report released today by Statistics Canada.

A heavy workload and balancing work and personal life were identified as the most common causes of work-related stress, affecting 23.7% and 15.7% of employed people, respectively.

The report also found 22.7% of women were likely to experience high or very high levels of work-related stress, compared with 19.7% of men.

Among industries, “healthcare and social assistance” emerged as the most affected, with 27.3% of the employees experiencing high or very high levels of work-related stress.

Statistics Canada noted the findings align with previous research indicating that the Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to increased stress levels among health workers due to prolonged work hours, reduced vacation time and changes in care delivery methods.

Furthermore, the survey found that employees in healthcare and social assistance were more likely than the average worker to cite a heavy workload (32.3%) and emotional load (21.4%) as causes of work-related stress, compared to the average rates of 23.7% and 11.7%, respectively.

Across age groups, “core-aged workers” (aged 25 to 54 years) experienced higher stress levels than other age groups. Among this age cohort, management professionals reported the highest stress levels at 37.3%, followed by those in occupations usually requiring a bachelor’s degree or above at 29.5%. Conversely, occupations requiring a high school diploma or less exhibited lower levels of work-related stress at 13.5%.