Just 1 in 3 receive regular, actionable insights from their benefits or wellness provider: Which areas are their top concern for ROI?
Many Canadian HR professionals responsible for their organization's health benefits don't actually know whether those benefits are working.
Just 31 per cent of HR leaders say they receive regular, actionable insights from their benefits or wellness provider, finds a survey.
"The problem is that by the time a health issue becomes a missed workday or a disability claim, it's often been building for months," says Marc Robin, medical director at Dialogue which did the survey with Léger.
When it comes to the top areas where HR decision-makers are looking for metrics with benefits programs, productivity and retention come out on top, finds the survey.
Stress management support is the clearest gap between what Canadian employees want from their workplaces and what they're actually getting, according to a previous study.
Disconects between needs, offerings
Canadian employers may be investing in workplace health benefits but many employees who use them say they fail to satisfy their needs, according to the report. Sixty-seven per cent of employees with workplace benefits used them in the past year, but only 20 per cent said they were very satisfied with the experience.
"More doesn't necessarily mean better, and needs can vary considerably from one employee to another and evolve over time," said Taline Karagopian, HR advisor at Léger.
"The friction is nothing new: time constraints, cost, long wait times, and the difficulty of finding the right provider. So employees choose to delay care, try to manage on their own, or keep working while unwell," says the report.
The report also points to a portfolio mismatch. While 49 per cent of HR leaders rank engagement and retention as top priorities, only 28 per cent say employee well-being is a central strategic priority at their organization. Areas employees report struggling with most, including burnout, caregiving and cost of living, are among the least addressed by current benefits offerings, according to the report.
Well-being declines across the board
This comes as 35 per cent of employees say their mental health worsened over the past year, and 30 per cent report worsened physical health, according to the report, which surveyed 1,002 employed Canadians and 200 HR decision-makers in April and May 2026.
Another 38 per cent report worse sleep quality, and 35 per cent say their financial circumstances declined. All four figures rose compared with the 2025 report.
Only 21 per cent of employees say they feel energized most days, while about half report experiencing burnout. Seventy-four per cent say they worked at reduced capacity in the past year due to health or stress, costing an average of five workdays annually, the report says.
Three in 10 workers in Canada say the back-to-school season is increasing their stress at work, according to a previous survey.
