Mr. Speaker, one in five Canadians experience a psychological health problem or illness in any given year. Only 23 percent of Canadian workers feel comfortable talking to their employer about a psychological health issue. Today I want to share how the Government of the Northwest Territories is recognizing the importance of our employees' psychological health and safety.
As an employer, the Government of the Northwest Territories is responsible for safeguarding the health, safety, and well-being of territorial public servants to ensure we have a strong workforce. Traditionally, eliminating occupational and physical hazards in the workplace has been guided by an occupational health and safety policy and efforts to create and maintain the psychologically healthy workplace have, until now, focused on training. Designed to address and promote mental health and reduce the stigma around mental health in the workplace, the Working Mind Program is available to all GNWT employees and is mandatory for all managers and supervisors. While training is a good start, it is only one part of supporting employee wellness.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has taken steps to incorporate the national standard on psychological health and safety in the workplace into how we do business. Published by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, this standard provides a systemic approach to developing a psychologically healthy and safe workplace with the aim of improving recruitment, retention, productivity, financial performance and risk management. To this end, the Department of Finance has enacted a new corporate health, safety and wellness policy that allows the GNWT to give equal consideration to both physical and psychological hazards by creating training and resources that supports employees.
By covering occupational and psychological safety of our employees and guests in the workplace, this new policy reflects the GNWT's commitment to implementing the national standard. Broadening our efforts to include psychological health allows for the GNWT to better understand the psychological risks of our work environments and how they impact employee mental health.
Mr. Speaker, the 2021 GNWT Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Survey showed that only 52 percent of GNWT employees felt they worked in a psychologically healthy workplace. As an employer, we must do better. By replacing the existing occupational health and safety policy with one that includes employee wellness, we are making a statement that the GNWT supports a psychologically healthy and safe workplace and that our approach must support the well-being of our employees. In the coming months, we will be engaging with employees to assess where we need to focus our work to meet their needs.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage all employees, managers, and senior leaders to participate in these engagement sessions. Establishing and maintaining a psychologically healthy and safe workplace is a shared responsibility and cannot be accomplished by the employer alone. Collective and intentional action is crucial to actively promote, prevent, and mitigate both physical and psychological hazards in the workplace.
Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that this new health, safety and wellness policy sets us on a path towards creating and maintaining a workplace culture across the territory that is genuinely supportive of employee well-being, ensuring a resilient and thriving workforce for generations to come. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.