Four in Ten (40%) working Canadians Say They’ve Experienced A Decline in Their Physical Health Throughout the Pandemic

Toronto, ON — As vaccination rates have ramped up across the country, and businesses are starting to prepare for a post-pandemic future, working Canadians continue to face a number of health-related challenges. Four in ten (40%) working Canadians say they’ve experienced a decline in their physical health throughout the pandemic, according to a recent Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of RBC Insurance. The inability to socialize with family, friends or co-workers (72%) and work-related stress (58%) were also cited as factors impacting overall health.

Barriers Remain for Some Workers

Throughout the pandemic, working Canadians with chronic health issues have faced increased barriers receiving the care they need, with over six in ten (63%) noting the inability to visit a doctor or healthcare clinic has negatively impacted their health. Those with a chronic health issue are more likely to cite this compared to those without a chronic health issue (47%).

Although a majority (58%) of working Canadians with a chronic health issue or disability say their condition would deteriorate further without their workplace benefits plan, four in ten (40%) say they have also experienced challenges accessing their employees benefits due to their unique needs.

Half (49%) of younger working Canadians say that their employer’s benefit plans have not adequately met their heath and wellness needs in the past year.

Virtual Care Solutions Useful for Employees with Disabilities or Health Issues

Among those who have group benefits or private coverage, Canadian employees with a disability or a chronic heath issue are more likely to have access to virtual care tools (48% and 51% respectively) compared to those who do not. As well, those with a chronic health issue are more likely to agree that using virtual tools to connect with mental health support has been useful (64% vs 50% with no chronic health issue).

High Expectations on Employer Benefits

A majority (68%) of working Canadians say they have positive feelings towards their employer. Though, a majority (68%) of Canadians say they would take a job with a good benefits plan over another job that pays more but does not have a benefits plan.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between April 10-13, on behalf RBC Insurance. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Working Canadians ages 18 and over were interviewed. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±/- 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all working Canadians been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. For more information about RBC Insurance, please visit rbcinsurance.com.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Vice President, Canada, Public Affairs
+1 416 324-2002
[email protected]

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