The goals of Canada's Healthy Workplace Month® (CHWM) are to:
· increase awareness of a comprehensive approach to workplace health in Canada that involves three elements of a healthy workplace:
- health and lifestyle practices
- workplace culture and a supportive environment
- physical environment and occupational health and safety
· provide healthy workplace tools, resources and best practice examples, through www.healthyworkplacemonth.ca, to help organizations create healthy workplaces with benefits for employees and themselves
· increase the number of healthy workplaces in Canada
CHWM was set in motion in 2001 with the introduction of Canada's Healthy Workplace Week. The web-based initiative increased awareness of the importance of workplace health for the short- and long-term success of organizations and for the well-being of their employees. The week was eventually extended to become Canada's Healthy WorkplaceMonth®. The extended program duration gave workplaces more time to plan, promote and execute programs and activities for their employees.
Today, CHWM is a year round program that encourages workplaces to promote healthy workplace practices throughout the year. Its website serves as a central hub where organizations of all sizes showcase their successes.
Excellence Canada (formerly the National Quality Institute), manages CHWM.