Stress Surveys Results & Trends

The most recent Canadian Community Health Survey found¹:

• Almost one-quarter of Canadians age 18 and older report > quite a lot'of life stress
• Another 64% report some life stress
• Life stress rose among those aged 18-34 to a peak in those 45-54, then dropped in those over 55
• Women were slightly more likely to report a lot of life stress than men (25 vs 24%)

Statistics Canada's most recent General Social Survey found that the most common causes of workplace stress include:

• Too many demands or hours (cited by 34%)
• Poor interpersonal relations (15%)
• Risk of accident and injury (13%)
• Having to learn a new computer skill (10%)

Trends:

• About 16% of workers 45 and older felt that having to learn computer skills was a source of stress, compared with only 8% of those aged 15 to 24.
• Managers and professionals were significantly more likely than workers in primary industries to report stress from too many demands or hours.
• Men were less likely than women to feel stress because of too many hours or demands, but were 1.3 times more likely to feel stress from fear of accident or injury.
• Health workers were about seven times more likely than employees in management, business, finance or science occupations to cite fear of accident or injury.
• Twenty-six % of employees had access to employee assistance programs to deal with stress.

For more information on the many benefits of fostering active living at work, check out 'Trends & Impact - The Basis for Investment Decisions'.

Statistics Canada, Sources of Workplace Stress. The Daily, Wednesday June 25, 2003