Employees are slowly returning to the office and, for many companies, this marks a return to normal.

But according to those in charge of the well-being of talent at two of Canada’s biggest media agencies, that shouldn’t include forgetting the mental health supports introduced during the pandemic.

In Ontario, the provincial government has planned an 85% cut to funding of the online therapy program introduced in the spring of 2020.

This is despite the fact that recent surveys and data show that Canadians are still in survival mode from the tsunami of crisis and anxiety-inducing news: inflation, climate change, the pandemic and the struggle of balancing work and personal lives. According to the World Health Organization, around 450 million people currently struggle with mental illness, making it the leading cause of disability worldwide. Here in Canada, it affects more than 6.7 million people and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) says that one in two Canadians have or have had a mental illness by the time they are 40 years old.

Mental illness prevents nearly 500,000 employed Canadians from attending work each week, according to CAMH. The cost of disability leave as a result of mental illness is about double the cost of leave due to physical illness. The economic burden of mental illness in Canada is an estimated $51 billion per year including health care costs, lost productivity, and reductions in health-related quality of life.

Stephanie McRae, head of diversity and inclusion at Publicis Groupe Canada, says that, given statistics like these, rather than cutting support, companies need to continue providing mental health benefits and ensure they help provide solutions and support for employees. The pandemic has been a true wake-up call and has led Publicis Groupe Canada to increase its funding in this area.

“We’ve increased mental health coverage in our benefits plan, up to $5000 a year for mental health services for each of our employees,” McRae says. “We have also increased the type of mental health services they can access. It’s not just the typical psychologist and psychotherapy, psycho educators, clinical counselors, social workers. They get access to that. We’ve also increased awareness of our offerings. We have created a tool kit in one place, so employees have easy access when they need it.”

As part of the tool kit, the agency pays for every employee to have access to the Headspace meditation app. Publicis Groupe Canada has also extended its partnership with the Mental Health Commission of Canada for the second year in a row to provide Mental Health First Aid training to agency employees. A Mental Health Business resource group has been created for employees and will continue to provide a flexible work environment so employees can work with their teams to best manage their work and help with their work-life balance.

IPG Mediabrands has also made sure its staff continue to have access to mental health supports. That takes the form of formal partnerships with CAMH and League, but also company policies like flexible work, encouraging work-life balance and a peer-to-peer “Mental Health First Aider” program.

“Supporting our people in their pursuit of healthy balance and mental wellness continues to be a critical focus area for our organization,” says Leith Mellors, chief people officer at IPG Mediabrands. “We also have ongoing dialogues and resources available to help address stigma and promote conversations around mental health; supporting our teams where and when they most need it.”

Part of the proof that these supports are still needed is a simple one: people are using them.

“Since we’ve done those things, usage has increased, and it’s great that people are taking advantage of it,” McRae says. “The more we invest in it and give people access to the tools, it’s going to help in the long run, going to make people happier and more productive at work. It’s more of a win-win every time you invest in it.”