Healthy Workplace Month and Mental Illness Awareness Week: ideas for Canadian teams
October is Canada's Healthy Workplace Month, with Mental Illness Awareness Week from 4 to 10 October and World Mental Health Day on Saturday 10 October. The idea that works best is not another poster or challenge. It is time: a live half hour in the workday where your team slows down together, with nothing to prepare and nobody asked to share.
Pause + Expand · Updated September 2026
The Canadian October, in one place
- Healthy Workplace Month, all of October
- Run by Excellence Canada, now in its 26th year. The 2026 theme is Wellness. Your Way., putting personal choice first.
- Mental Illness Awareness Week, 4 to 10 October
- Run by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health. Not to be confused with CMHA's Mental Health Week, which is in May.
- World Mental Health Day, Saturday 10 October
- It falls on a Saturday this year, and the Monday after is Thanksgiving. Most workplaces will mark it on Thursday 8 or Friday 9 October, going into the long weekend.
One in five of your people is carrying high stress
Statistics Canada found that 21.2% of Canadian workers, just over 4.1 million people, reported high or very high work stress. The most common reason was simply a heavy workload. In health care and social services, one in three said the same.
What helps is time, not another poster
When Mental Health Research Canada asked employees what actually helps, the top answers were paid time off (69%), personal days (58%) and flexible schedules (52%). Awareness programmes came near the bottom, at 22%.
So the best October idea gives people time back, inside the workday, instead of adding one more thing to read or join. A live session on the calendar, with nothing to prepare, is time given.
Source: Mental Health Research Canada, Mental Health in the Workplace 2025
Often it starts with HR getting comfortable
A lot of the teams we meet come to us in October for an introduction. Often it is the HR team itself that wants to get comfortable with programming mental wellness for the first time, and wants it to land well.
So we come in with a plan that feels safe, and that fits your team and your culture. Nobody is asked to share anything or believe anything. Over Zoom, cameras stay off.
"We want a sound bath" is where the conversation begins
Most requests start the same way: we want a sound bath for Mental Health Month. Then we dig a little deeper. What is going on at work right now? What would you feel comfortable having us focus on? A tired team, a team coming out of a hard quarter and a team that just grew fast each need something different.
From that conversation we shape the theme, the length and the time of day, so the session fits the people in it.
Start with one session, then listen
You do not need a programme to begin. A single session in October, followed by listening to what your people say, is a good way to start.
The comments we hear most afterwards: I wish we had this on an ongoing basis. And: it is refreshing to have time at work to actually slow down. For some teams, October turns into something regular. Adobe has had a standing weekly session with us since 2022.
Short on time, or on budget?
We can turn things around quickly, even this close to October. A session over Zoom starts at $500, whatever the size of your team, and reaches every city at once. In your office, it starts at $1,000.
If your budget is tight, tell us what it is. We would rather find something that works than have you skip the month.
Also asked
- When is Healthy Workplace Month 2026?
- All of October. Mental Illness Awareness Week runs 4 to 10 October, and World Mental Health Day is Saturday 10 October.
- Is Mental Illness Awareness Week the same as Mental Health Week?
- No. Mental Illness Awareness Week is the first week of October. CMHA's Mental Health Week is in May.
- World Mental Health Day is a Saturday this year. When should we mark it?
- Thursday 8 or Friday 9 October, before the Thanksgiving long weekend.
- Does anyone have to talk about their mental health?
- No. Nobody is asked to share anything. People can simply rest, and over Zoom cameras stay off.