Pressure at work? Report says these are the most stressful jobs in Canada

As Canadians transition into post-COVID life, many employees are still struggling to cope with the pressures at work and to balance their jobs with personal time.

A survey by Statistics Canada released Monday showed that at least 20 per cent of the employed population – or 4 million people – experienced “high or very high levels of work-related stress” across the country.

The survey was conducted in April 2023 and included workers aged 15 to 69 years.

The most common cause of job-related stress was a heavy workload, which affected nearly a quarter of employees, according to StatCan.

Almost 16 per cent also found that work-life balance added to their stress, along with emotional load impacting 12 per cent of those surveyed.

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People working in health and social care were most likely to report high levels of stress (27.3 per cent) compared to others, the survey showed.

More than three years of COVID-19 have taken a mental and physical toll on health-care workers across the country.

As staffing shortages persist, there are escalating rates of burnout among hospital staff.

Heavy workload and emotional load were the primary reasons why those in health care and social services felt the strain, StatCan found.

Meanwhile, employees in public administration, professional, scientific and technical services, were second on the list — with 26.6 reporting high or very high levels of stress at work.

A quarter of people (25.3 per cent) working in finance, insurance and real estate also felt the heat.

Among all the industries listed, staff in accommodation and food services had the smallest proportion of workers reporting high levels of stress.

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Overall, women (22.7 per cent) were more likely than men (19.7 per cent) to report high work-related stress.

However, there were differences in industries, with men feeling more stress in construction than their female counterparts and women more often reporting work-related strains in the education sector.

People aged 25 to 54 years in management roles and occupations with more advanced educational qualifications, such as a bachelor’s degree or higher, also reported increased stress.

Many employed Canadians (7.5 per cent) have had to skip work because of stress or other mental health reasons, the survey showed.

In total, 2.4 days were lost on average among the working population over the past year.