Benefits Canada — How employers can support women’s mental health across their working lives

Across Canadian workplaces, as return-to-office mandates collide with caregiving pressures, hormonal transitions and shifting mental-health needs, many women are discovering the supports that once made work sustainable are more fragile than they realized. 

Caregivers in Canada provide an average of 4.5 hours of unpaid care per day (roughly 30 hours per week), according to a May 2024 report from the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence. 

The same report found one in four caregivers rated their mental health as fair or poor, while nearly half reported feeling tired. Forty-four per cent said they felt worried or anxious and 37 per cent said they felt overwhelmed by their caregiving responsibilities. Despite these pressures, many caregivers didn’t self-identify until they were already experiencing burnout, says Christa Haanstra, working caregiver initiative lead at the CCCE.