Mental health complaints among City of Winnipeg employees have spiked in the last year, including emergency medical personnel struggling with mental health concerns.
The number of employee claims for mental health damages received by the Manitoba Workers' Compensation Board increased 31 per cent to 182 in 2023, up from 139 the previous year. These claims accounted for 34 per cent of all missed work time claimed by the Workers' Compensation Board, according to the Workplace Safety Report.
Michaela Mackenzie / Free Press
Mayor Scott Gillingham said the city's addition of new mental health supports could lead to more concerns being reported than in the past.
“That's a huge concern to me…. If you think about the impact that the pandemic has had on not only the City of Winnipeg but other sectors as well. It's really taken a toll on personal health and mental health…. For our emergency service personnel, the conditions that they're facing on a daily basis is very concerning,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.
Gillingham noted that while the city has added new mental health supports, unions have also successfully negotiated other supports, which could lead to more concerns being reported than before.
Winnipeg Fire Brigade president Tom Billous said his members are seeing “increasingly unnatural things” in the workplace.
“We're definitely seeing an uptick after seeing so many machete attacks and other things that people shouldn't see,” Bilous said.
Union officials said firefighters now tend to spend longer hours on the job and endure more traumatic experiences per shift.
Jessica Lee / Free Press Files
UFFW President Tom Billous said firefighters are spending more time on the job and tend to endure more traumatic experiences each shift.
“The psychological trauma often far surpasses the physical trauma, and this is especially relevant for those of us who work jobs that involve the risk of slipping and falling and getting burned. Especially with the introduction of opioids, methamphetamine and fentanyl, people are doing things that were unimaginable five years ago. Now it's almost commonplace. People are jumping on fire trucks and attacking our members,” Bilous said.
The findings reflect employees across all city departments, including WFPS and Winnipeg police, though the report did not provide exact figures by department. In 2021, WFPS created a behavioral health unit staffed by nurses and office staff, and in 2023 began working with a clinical psychologist to connect employees to mental health services.
Bilous believes claims would have skyrocketed even more without these additional services.
“We have more resources and people are willing to talk, and I think that's allowed people who would have otherwise been off work to continue working,” he said.
WFPS Chief Christian Schmidt said responding to emergencies can be extremely stressful, especially given the rise in drug use.
“We've certainly seen a significant increase related to the opioid (and narcotics) crisis in the city … and we've also seen at times some very erratic behavior related to methamphetamine use. And this has an impact on our staff, especially when people feel like their safety is at risk,” Schmidt said.
Jessica Lee / Free Press Files
WFPS Chief Christian Schmidt said responding to emergencies can be extremely stressful, especially given the rise in drug use.
He said dispatch procedures have been changed to not send WFPS officers to incidents involving violence or weapons until police have secured the scene.
Schmidt said the behavioral unit has also helped, noting that WFPS recently hired an additional part-time behavioral health nurse for a three-month term. The term is set to end this month but could be extended. He said the move was made following the death of firefighter Preston Heinbigner, who committed suicide in April.
Catherine Breward, an associate professor of business administration at the University of Winnipeg, said increased reports of psychological anxiety are also becoming more common in many workplaces.
“This is part of a larger trend of a dramatic increase in mental health complaints,” Breward said, adding that there is a greater understanding of seeking help when distressed.
“This means people seek help before they reach their full limits and are more likely to receive helpful interventions, so it's progress. But with so many more people now willing to seek help, there are often not enough resources to deal with it.”
She noted that waits for mental health help can drag on for months or even years, during which time problems can worsen.
Breward said external stressors and job-specific stressors often combine to create a compound problem that can be more difficult for employees to cope with.
“There are huge economic challenges. Many businesses are asking staff to return to the office, creating work-life balance issues for some. There are wider political divisions in society,” she said.
Workplace leaders should place more emphasis on reducing the stress of daily work, such as setting appropriate workloads, allowing remote work when possible and motivating employees through praise and encouragement, she said.
Meanwhile, the total number of claims for work-related injuries and illnesses received by the WCB for city employees in 2023 fell 1 percent to 1,246 from 1,254 the previous year.
Joyanne.parsaga@freepress.mb.ca
X: @joyanne_pursaga
Joyanne Parsaga
Reporter
Joyan is a city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she has covered politics exclusively since 2012, and wrote about City Hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyan.
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