Mental Health Services Coverage

Benefits and Employee Assistance Program Access and Use

ABOUT THE REPORT

The report presents data from MHRC's partnership with Pollara Strategic Insights during our national mental health polling initiative. The information in this report was collected in November 2023, for Poll 18 of our national population study. The data consists of responses from 3,217 Canadians from all provinces.

EAPs are vital resources for mental health support in the workplace, yet our analysis reveals significant gaps in coverage and understanding of their purpose and effectiveness.

In this report, we present findings regarding the coverage, awareness, and utilization of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) among Canadians.

While EAPs represent valuable resources for mental health support, our research reveals persistent challenges in coverage and awareness among Canadians. By addressing these issues and enhancing understanding of EAP benefits, organizations can better support the mental well-being of their employees.

Key findings:

  1. Low Coverage:

    • Only 33% of Canadians report having access to an EAP, either directly or through a household member.

    • Canadians aged 35 to 55 years old are twice as likely as younger adults (18 to 34) to have access to an EAP.

  2. Preference for EAP over Benefits:

    • When given the choice between EAP and benefits for mental health support, 57% would choose to reach out to their EAP first.

  3. Awareness and Understanding Challenges:

    • For those who would not go to their EAP first, lack of awareness and understanding of the role of an EAP is the major reason (35%).  

    • Indeed, only 60% correctly identified the purpose of an EAP in general terms.

  4. Other barriers to EAP access and use :

    • Concerns about the EAP’s effectiveness (25%) and confidentiality breaches (23%) are significant barriers to utilization.

    • Overall, the EAP is not perceived as the primary solution for mental health support, as only 10% of Canadians covered by an EAP would reach out to it in the first place.

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A collection of our previously released research briefs providing an in-depth investigation of our polling results can be found here.