CUPE Launches Mental Health Toolkit to Strengthen Worker Safety and Well-Being
Canada’s largest public employees’ union introduces a new resource to address psychosocial hazards, reduce workplace stress, and promote mental health as a core part of occupational safety.
- By Stasia DeMarco
- Oct 09, 2025
Canada’s largest union for public employees is putting a renewed focus on psychological safety with the launch of a new mental health toolkit designed to reduce stress, stigma, and other psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
The announcement came during CUPE’s biannual Health and Safety Forum, where National Health and Safety Officer Troy Winters declared 2026 the “Year of Health and Safety.” The campaign will expand the union’s commitment to workplace safety beyond physical risks to include mental and emotional well-being.
The new toolkit provides model collective bargaining language, practical tools for addressing workplace stress, and strategies to reduce stigma around mental health. It is intended to help health and safety advocates identify and mitigate the root causes of psychological strain at work.
“Workers stop bending and start to break — no matter how much resiliency they’ve built,” said CUPE Health and Safety Representative Paul Sylvestre. “We need to look at the systems that create unsafe conditions, not just the individuals who experience them.”
CUPE leaders emphasized that mental health is a workplace issue requiring systemic solutions. The toolkit promotes a proactive approach, encouraging members to identify psychosocial hazards, implement preventative measures, and strengthen overall workplace culture.
The union’s upcoming Year of Health and Safety will include expanded education sessions, policy initiatives, and outreach to locals nationwide to support healthier, safer workplaces for all members.
About the Author
Stasia DeMarco brings a strong and varied journalism background to her role at Occupational Health & Safety, having previously served as a multimedia editor, broadcast journalist, professor and reviewer across major news organizations. As Content Editor, she writes news and feature articles, hosts sponsor and editorial webinars, co-hosts the SafetyPod worker health and safety podcast, and manages the brand’s digital and social media presence. She is committed to informing and engaging the safety community through compelling reporting and conversations that support safer, healthier workplaces.