'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
More than half of Canadian parents say their children are still experiencing "negative impacts" of the pandemic, more than two years after COVID-19 disrupted lives around the world.
According to the LifeWorks' monthly Mental Health Index, released Wednesday, 56 per cent of parents are noticing their children's mental health and development worsening.
"When it comes to the disruption and isolations of the pandemic, children's mental health has been heavily impacted. Understandably, this is having a major impact on parents and families as a result," Stephen Liptrap, president and chief executive officer of LifeWorks, said in a release.
The report found that 27 per cent of parents have noticed their children having anxiety about the future, 24 per cent noticed a decline in social development and 23 reported a decline in academic development.
Only 39 per cent of Canadian parents reported no significant impact on their kids after the pandemic. This group also had the "most favourable mental health," ranking a mental health score seven points higher than the national average of 65.
According to the report, the anxiety level among children aged 15 and older is higher than the national average in Canada, and children between the ages of 10 and 14 are experiencing the worst effects on their mental health.
The impact on social development has been more universal, the report found, with parents of children between the ages of two and 18 all reporting detrimental effects.
A similar percentage of children between the ages of six and 18 are experiencing negative impacts on their academic development, the report said.
"As organizations consider the wellbeing support provided to employees, emphasis on parental needs and employee and family assistance programs is crucial," Liptrap said.
"These resources are critical to ensuring that employees and their families can thrive, which benefits those families, their employers and society in general."
The report also looked into the pandemic's impacts on Canadians' buying and investing decisions, and found that the way a company or brand treats its employees is considered more important than how the firm treats the environment.
Thirty-three per cent of Canadians are influenced by how a company treats their employees, as opposed to 13 per cent of those who are influenced by how a company behaves environmentally.
"We rightfully are concerned about organizations' impact on the environment, but many organizations underestimate how important their impact on employees is to customers and investors," Paula Allen, global leader and senior vice president of research and total well-being at LifeWorks, said in a release.
"The link between an organization's support for employee well-being and organizational productivity, innovation, and customer service is crystal clear, and now so is the link to consumer buying and investing preferences."
LifeWorks' overall Mental Health Index for July 2022 improved by nearly a point from the previous month, from 64.1 to 65 out of 100 points. LifeWorks also reports that there has been improvement in all mental health sub-scores since June.
The sub-scores against pre-pandemic benchmarks include financial risk, psychological health, isolation, work productivity, anxiety, depression and optimism.
According to the report, mental health scores declined in British Columbia, Alberta and the Maritimes, although improvements were seen in every other province. Quebec showed the highest improvement.
LifeWorks' latest monthly index is based on an online English and French survey with 3,000 responses collected between July 7 and 13, 2022. All respondents reside in Canada and are currently employed or were employed within the last six months, according to the index.
The HR company, formerly known as Morneau Shepell, says that individual responses are converted into point values using a response scoring system to produce the Mental Health Index. Better mental health and a lower risk of mental health are related to higher point values.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.