With ICBA Wellness entering its third year, we have kept a close eye on the demand for mental health help. Study after study – and story after story – has shown the desperate need for more counsellors, psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, funding, hospital beds, and treatment options.

Our Wellness ambassador Corey Hirsch – about as unpolitical guy as you’ll ever meet – has co-authored newspaper op-eds with ICBA President Chris Gardner, beseeching government to invest more in mental health.

But we’re falling further and further behind.

CBC looks at this shortage in a story HERE – and it’s bleak.

We’re doing all we can as an association and benefits provider – ICBA Wellness is offered free of charge to our clients and members – but we need the healthcare system, and governments of all political stripes, to step up too with funding for the care needed by so many.

Each week, ICBA’s Jordan Bateman reflects on what we’ve learned as we participate in ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program. ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program is helping more than 90 companies and nearly 10,000 construction professionals better understand mental health. This program is free for all ICBA members – check out icba.ca/wellness for details.