The State of Safety in Canada, 2025

Significant Strides in the 2nd Annual State of Safety Survey Overshadowed by Looming Economic Uncertainty

The 2nd annual national State of Safety survey conducted by Threads of Life found notable decreases in the challenges that hinder workplaces from improving health and safety, with most barriers showing significant decreases. Although encouraged by the findings, the non-profit organization is concerned about the global economic uncertainty as health and safety is historically among the first areas to face cutbacks, and with less staff, tends to fall by the wayside.

“This survey happened before the tariff talk, and respondents were reflecting back on the last 12 months when it was a pretty good economic climate,” explains Eugene Gutierrez, Executive Director of Threads of Life which supports families dealing with workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths.  “But present day, we are concerned, and caution about being overly excited about these findings. We are moving in the right direction, however progress may be stunted in this climate.”

Below are key findings of the State of Safety survey that examined changes between 2024 and 2025 across multiple topics including beliefs and attitudes about health and safety, and the prevalence of basic health and safety programs and policies. This year’s study also takes a closer look at mental health challenges in the workplace.

• Despite the positive momentum around workplace health and safety, small organizations are behind larger companies. There are lower rates of health and safety programs among the smallest businesses and more negative views of implementing protocols.

• Over the last 12 months, 42% of Decision Makers/Influencers have seen increases in mental health challenges in their workplaces; what will happen moving forward if the Canadian workforce faces layoffs, is short staffed, unemployment rises, and psychological safety of workers is not addressed?

• 74% of understaffed workplaces reported difficulty reducing employee stress, up from 68% in 2024; overall, understaffing remains a significant concern with nearly three in four understaffed Canadian workplaces struggling to reduce employee stress and two in three reporting that it negatively affects their ability to hire qualified workers

• Significant declines were reported in challenges such as lack of time for training and cost of health and safety training compared to last year

• Some negative views of health and safety declined while positive views remained stable.  Only 18% of Decision Makers/Influencers agreed that accidents are just a cost of doing business.  However, negative views are much more prevalent among the smallest businesses

“We take the results of this survey as an opportunity to shine a light on the importance of health and safety as well as to remind businesses that there are organizations available to assist with setting up preventative protocols along with support systems when workplace tragedies occur,” says Gutierrez, who lost his own father in an underground mining accident. “We don’t want to see this progress slip away. At Threads of Life, we always believe that one death, one injury, one illness is one too many.”

Read a summary of the State of Safety Survey HERE.

These findings are from a survey conducted by Threads of Life from February 27th to March 9th, 2025, among a representative sample of 1059 online Canadians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The survey was conducted in English and French. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/-3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

About the Angus Reid Forum:

The Angus Reid Forum is Canada’s most well-known and trusted online public opinion community consisting of engaged residents across the country who answer surveys on topical issues that matter to all Canadians