Canada Life announced a $25,000 donation to the EdCan Network's forthcoming Well at Work K-12 Leadership Course, an online professional learning service that will support Canadian education leaders in creating healthy and resilient workplaces for teachers and staff during this challenging school year and beyond. The Well at Work K-12 Leadership Course gives school district senior executives and school principals transformative and comprehensive strategies to improve teacher and staff wellbeing that will in turn create more positive learning environments for students.
"Mental health issues can significantly impact overall wellbeing in the workplace and can lead to increased absences and disabilities, working while sick, and decreased productivity," said Brad Fedorchuk, Executive Vice-President, Group Customer, at Canada Life. "Educators have adapted quickly during these challenging times and that's why, at Canada Life, we're proud to support their psychological health and safety as they work with children and youth."
K-12 education stakeholders have been increasingly concerned about the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and staff as high rates of stress and burnout continue to be exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic. Studies have shown that increased teacher and staff wellbeing leads to more supportive teacher-student relationships, higher quality teaching, and increased student achievement and wellbeing.
"There is a wealth of research, tools, and practical strategies to support workplace wellbeing across a wide range of sectors," said Denise Andre, Chair of the EdCan Network. "Teacher and staff wellbeing is a high priority for school districts across Canada, and we look forward to providing education leaders with effective strategies specific to the needs of the K-12 sector."
Since 2019, EdCan has been leading an awareness-building platform called Well at Work to increase knowledge about the need to make teacher and staff wellbeing a top policy and investment priority. In 2021, EdCan will be implementing Well at Work 2.0: a set of solutions aimed at further building the capacity of education leaders to improve staff wellbeing on a national level through a range of professional learning opportunities. Canada Life's investment enables EdCan to expand the reach of its solutions while scaling its impact that will help reduce stress and burnout among more teachers and staff.
