As the blue Dalhousie University research van pulled into the remote logging camp outside Thunder Bay last month, I watched workers eye us with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. Many had spent fourteen days straight felling trees in sub-zero temperatures, and our team of health researchers wasn’t exactly a common sight.
“Most days I’m too tired to even think about how this job is changing my body,” confided Sam, a 47-year-old forester who requested I use only his first name. His calloused hands wrapped around a coffee mug as he described the chronic back pain he’s developed over 22 years in the industry. “You just keep going until you can’t.”
Sam is one of hundreds of Canadian workers participating in a groundbreaking five-year study led by Dalhousie University’s Occupational Health Research Centre. The national research project, which launched in October, examines how different working conditions across industries affect long-term physical and mental health outcomes.
“We know employment is a social determinant of health, but we have significant gaps in understanding exactly how different types of work impact Canadians differently,” explains Dr. Marlene Chen, principal investigator and epidemiologist at Dalhousie University. “This study tracks workers across fifteen occupational categories to identify which workplace factors most strongly predict health outcomes.”
What makes this research unique is its scope and methodology. Rather than relying solely on self-reported surveys, researchers are collecting biometric data, conducting workplace environmental assessments, and following participants through Canada’s healthcare system over time. Workers from northern resource industries to urban office towers are being studied, with particular attention to populations often underrepresented in occupational health research.
I visited three of the study’s rural sites across Northern Ontario last month, where researchers were documenting the physical demands of resource-based occupations. In Timmins, I observed as mining company employees volunteered for baseline health assessments, including cardiovascular testing and musculoskeletal evaluations.
“There’s increasing recognition that work doesn’t just affect your body during your career—it shapes your health trajectory for life,” says occupational therapist Jeanne Beaudry, who coordinates the Northern Ontario research sites. “We’re finding even young workers showing early signs of occupational health impacts that could manifest as serious conditions decades later.”
The Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey indicates approximately 18.7 million Canadians are currently employed, with dramatically different workplace environments depending on sector, geography, and socioeconomic factors. Previous research from the Canadian Institute for Work & Health suggests occupational factors contribute to approximately 16% of Canada’s total disease burden, yet workplace interventions remain inconsistently implemented.
For Indigenous communities, the relationship between work and wellbeing carries additional complexities. In Sioux Lookout, I met with members of the Lac Seul First Nation who are participating in a community-directed component of the research examining how traditional employment paths interact with cultural wellbeing and health outcomes.
“Our concept of work has always integrated purpose, community contribution, and connection to land,” explains Elder Martha Kejick, who serves on the study’s Indigenous advisory committee. “When our people work in ways that honor those values, we see positive health outcomes. When employment disconnects us from those foundations, we often see impacts on both physical and spiritual health.”
The research aims to inform policy at multiple levels—from individual workplace interventions to provincial occupational health frameworks and federal labor standards. For Dr. Priya Sudarshan, health economist with the Public Health Agency of Canada, the financial implications are significant.
“Work-related injuries and illnesses cost our healthcare system approximately $19 billion annually,” Sudarshan notes. “By identifying which workplace factors most strongly influence health outcomes, we can target preventive investments more effectively.”
Back in Thunder Bay, I spoke with nursing student Aisha Tariq, who works weekends at a local hospital while completing her degree. She enrolled in the study after developing repetitive strain injuries from patient lifting techniques.
“Healthcare workers experience some of the highest workplace injury rates, yet we’re supposed to be the ones promoting health,” Tariq said, adjusting the wrist brace she now wears during shifts. “This research recognizes that irony and hopefully will lead to better systems.”
The study incorporates diversity across age, gender, newcomer status, and ability level—recognizing that workplace health impacts aren’t uniform across demographic groups. Women in male-dominated industries, for instance, often report different ergonomic challenges than their male counterparts due to equipment and workspaces designed primarily for male bodies.
As remote work continues reshaping employment patterns post-pandemic, researchers have added specific protocols to assess home office environments. Dr. Chen notes that while some workers report improved wellbeing with flexible arrangements, others experience new health challenges, including increased sedentary behavior and ergonomic issues.
“The boundaries between work and home have fundamentally shifted,” says Dr. Chen. “Our research needs to capture these evolving realities.”
Initial findings from the study’s first phase are expected in late 2024, though the complete longitudinal data will take years to fully analyze. For workers like Sam, the logger I met outside Thunder Bay, participation offers hope that future generations might benefit from healthier workplaces.
“My father was broken by this work by sixty,” he told me as we watched younger crew members load equipment onto trucks. “If sharing my experience helps these guys have better options, then it’s worth doing.”
As workplace environments continue evolving and Canada’s workforce grows increasingly diverse, this research represents an important step toward understanding—and ultimately improving—how our working lives shape our health.
