Canada's federal occupational health authority now identifies eco-anxiety as a workplace psychosocial hazard. For group benefits brokers advising small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a new Canadian study spells out what that designation could mean for claims exposure.
A 2025 study, conducted by the Université Laval's Research Chair in Mental Health, Self-Management and Work and supported by Beneva, is the first large-scale Canadian analysis focused specifically on SMEs. It surveyed 2,020 employees and managers to measure how environmental concern translates – or doesn't yet – into lost productivity.
The results reveal a gap that group benefits professionals should pay attention to.
Environmental concern among respondents scored 59.3 out of 100. But consequences on workplace performance registered just 28.7 out of 100, according to the study.
Workers are anxious about climate. It has not yet meaningfully affected output. But the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) now identifies eco-anxiety as a workplace psychosocial hazard linked to climate change.
Employers have a legal obligation to identify and control psychosocial hazards in the workplace. That means brokers advising SME clients on benefit plan design are on notice about a new exposure category most current plans have not accounted for.
The study draws on a clear definition. Eco-anxiety describes fear and worry caused by climate change and its effects. This ranges from concern about the future to psychological trauma from experiencing an extreme weather event.
The condition matters to insurers and plan sponsors because of where it sits on the claims curve. According to Sun Life's Designed for Health report, mental health is the most common diagnosis for long-term disability (LTD) claims in Canada. It represents almost 40 per cent of claims in 2024, with LTD mental disorder claims growing faster than other diagnoses.
The two diagnostic categories most associated with eco-anxiety – anxiety disorders and adjustment disorder – are the fastest-growing components of that trend. Together, adjustment disorder and anxiety-related claims made up over 40 per cent of LTD mental disorder claims in 2024, up sharply from 25 per cent in 2019, according to Sun Life.
Eco-anxiety presents clinically as both. The study's data – high concern, moderate performance impact – describes a workforce that has not yet converted anxiety into claims. As how mental health claims are redefining disability management shows, once they do, recovery is rarely linear. That window will not stay open.
The study argues the condition is not purely a liability. Christelle Lim-Severe, sustainability practice leader at Beneva, said eco-anxiety should be seen as a sign of employee commitment and awareness, not only as a risk. The sense of helplessness it generates is offset, in many workers, by hope – which the study describes as a protective factor.
But that buffer is not permanent. Worsening climate events and growing workplace obligations create conditions where passive concern deepens into something that drives disability claims and absenteeism.
Many employees remain reluctant to disclose mental health issues, often for fear of stigma or career repercussions. That hesitation means problems can go unaddressed until they result in prolonged absence or long-term disability claims. Eco-anxiety fits that pattern precisely.
Brokers advising SME clients on group benefits coverage and mental health plan design are well-placed to raise this issue proactively in renewals. Nearly half of plan members aged 18 to 34 reported high to extreme daily stress, according to the 2025 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. That age group is also the demographic most likely to experience eco-anxiety.
Beneva has published a guide for employers on the issue, available via the insurer's group insurance and mental health resources page. For brokers, the immediate action is assessing whether current plan structures account for emerging psychosocial hazards. The CCOHS classification creates obligations SME clients may not yet be aware of.
