Mental health of Canadians who work from home no better or worse than those working outside the home

Work-from-home arrangements became increasingly common during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as did mental health problems in adults. For employees, working from home may offer benefits like less time spent commuting and improved work-life balance. But it may also reduce social interactions found in an office setting and blur boundaries between work and personal life. There is limited evidence, however, about the effects of working from home on mental health. This study set out to investigate whether work location was linked to self-rated mental health, life satisfaction, and life and work stress among Canadian adults.

To conduct this study, the researchers analyzed survey answers from 24,614 adults who responded to the 2022 Canadian Community Health Survey. The survey asked whether participants’ primary work location was at a fixed location outside the home (e.g., office building, factory); outside the home with no fixed location (e.g., driving, making sales calls); or at home. It also asked participants to rate their general mental health, life satisfaction and stress levels related to life and work.

When asked about work location, 63 per cent reported working at a fixed location outside the home, 12 per cent reported working outside the home with no fixed location and 25 per cent reported working at home. Work location was not significantly associated with mental health, life satisfaction, or life or work stress.

This study suggests that work location—at home, at an office or other physical location, or on the road with no fixed location—is not necessarily linked to self-rated mental health, life satisfaction or stress for Canadian workers. As the survey was conducted two years after the COVID-19 pandemic started, workers may have had time to adapt to any mental stressors related to work-from-home arrangements.

This study used a large sample that is representative of the Canadian population. It also analyzed data from two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, making the findings relevant for post-COVID work-from-home policies.

Because of the questions asked in the survey, this study was not able to analyze hybrid work arrangements, where workers alternate between working at home and at a physical workplace. As many workers and workplaces have adopted these arrangements, it is possible that those workers reported their primary work location as home or at a workplace, wherever they spent most of their working time.