Guarding Minds at Work

Learn what Guarding Minds is, why its free, what it measures and how to use it to take effective action on psychological health and safety in the workplace.

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What is Guarding Minds at Work?

Guarding Minds at Work1 (Guarding Minds) is a tool for employers to effectively assess and address the psychosocial factors known to have an impact on organizational health, the health of individual employees, and the financial bottom line. It was used as a reference for the National Standard of Canada on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. You can learn more about implementing the Standard and see how the use of Guarding Minds at Work can be a critical part of this process.

Guarding Minds is available to all employers – large or small, in the public or private sector – for free. The only cost organizations need to consider is in terms of your time, investment and effort to take action on the results. To help organizations manage costs, evidence-based actions for psychological health and safety includes many low-cost or no-cost strategies that help you take action, even on a limited budget. 

Set yourself up for success: Read all of Using Guarding Minds at Work effectively before you “rush to survey”.

Mental Health Research Canada provides an interactive online dashboard so you can explore the results of their 2023 survey of 5505 working Canadians using the Guarding Minds at Work assessment for psychological health and safety in the workplace.

What tools are included?

Guarding Minds includes 3 surveys and links to many free resources to help you measure and improve psychological health and safety at work: 

  • The employee survey. This 61-statement survey asks all employees about work situations and creates a detailed report which highlights the psychosocial factors, hazards and indicators of inclusion, stress and trauma. There are many tools and resources to help take action on the results.
  • The organizational review. This survey asks the same questions as the employee survey but is directed to the senior leadership and decision-making team. It is recommended to do this step before the employee survey to have the results available in the report for comparison.
  • The stress satisfaction scan. This 6-question scan is ideal for teams who don’t have the resources to do the full employee survey. It will provide insight to the levels of stress and satisfaction at work. For more information, visit Understanding the Stress satisfaction scan
  • Many tools and resources to help you take action on your results and measure outcomes.

Sample reports

  • Sample employee survey report (including organizational review comparison data). This example of a Guarding Minds at Work report shows you the information provided, including psychosocial factors, psychosocial hazards, indicators of workplace inclusion, stress and trauma.
  • Sample segmented employee survey report. This version of the sample employee survey report shows how results can be divided when the optional segmented demographic information is requested.
  • Sample stress satisfaction scan report | PDF. This is an example of the report that would be generated if you choose to use the Guarding Minds stress satisfaction scan.

What time and resources are required to implement Guarding Minds successfully?

Setting up the survey should take less than 30 minutes if you are familiar with your organization. The survey itself takes only 15 to 20 minutes for each employee to complete. When you’re ready to close the Guarding Minds employee survey and see the results, it can be done in 5 minutes.

Although Guarding Minds is designed to be quick and efficient, the work prior to administering the surveys, to analyze the results, and to effect sustainable change are part of an ongoing journey.

We strongly recommend you read Using Guarding Minds at Work effectively before you begin. Psychological health and safety is not a single project. It is an ongoing process of continual improvement, so allocating adequate time and resources should be part of your annual strategic planning.

Why is it free?

In the early 2000s, the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Mental Health and Addiction challenged the corporate executives who were members to make a commitment to support the mental health and well-being of all employees.

In 2007, Canada Life took on that challenge with the launch of Workplace Strategies for Mental Health. Many free resources related to workplace mental health and psychological safety were developed and provided for all Canadians for free. All of these resources are available to everyone and not connected to being a client or employee of Canada Life. This is a public service that is part of Canada Life’s contribution to employers and employees everywhere.

The question was posed to researchers at that time, “How do employers know where to start or where to invest limited resources when addressing psychological health and safety at work?” The answer was found in the development of an innovative resource, Guarding Minds at Work.

Over the years, there has been an ongoing commitment to continual improvement and investment by Canada Life’s Workplace Strategies for Mental Health and this includes tools like Guarding Minds at Work, the Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment, workshop materials and much more.

Are results confidential? 

Many steps are taken to protect confidentiality. Employee names are not collected when the survey is completed. Only aggregate results are available to the organizational administrator, not individual survey responses.

Organizational data is also protected. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety hosts Guarding Minds at Work and protects all data on their secure server.
For the sole purpose of improving this resource, Workplace Strategies for Mental Health will receive a monthly report of Guarding Minds usage without any identification of individual users or specific organizations. Analysis of Guarding Minds at Work employee survey data is intended only for quality improvement purposes in order to enhance the validity and utility of this survey for user organizations. Quality improvement activities are not defined as research. Any formal research study would require additional and specific permissions from users.

What does it measure?

Guarding Minds measures employee perception of psychological health and safety in your organization. You can read What is psychological health and safety to learn more about the legal, business, and health case for addressing this important issue.

What is the evidence for these resources?

Guarding Minds – Background includes the continual improvement, expert contributors and evidence for Guarding Minds.

How do I use it?

To find step-by-step guidance on how you might best leverage these resources to improve psychological health and safety in your workplace, see Using Guarding Minds at Work effectively.

How do I act on the results?

Once you’ve completed your Guarding Minds survey, there are many resources to help you take action.

The Guarding Minds employee survey report provides lots of insight towards the psychological health and safety in your workplace, though this information may seem overwhelming at first. Interpret your Guarding Minds at Work survey results helps you to understand your organization’s base-line that you can reflect on throughout your organization’s psychological health and safety journey, strengths and room for improvement. There are several tools and resources available to help you take effective action based on your results. 


1. © Samra, J., Gilbert, M., Shain, M., Bilsker, D. 2009-2020, with amendments by Stuart, H. 2022.   All rights reserved. Website development and data storage by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).

Guarding Minds at Work was commissioned by Canada Life and additional resources are supported by Workplace Strategies for Mental Health.

Contributors include.articlesDan BilskerDavid K. MacDonaldDr. Heather StuartDr. Joti SamraDr. Martin ShainMary Ann BayntonMerv GilbertPhilip PerczakSarah JennerSusan JakobsonWorkplace Strategies team 2007-2021Workplace Strategies team 2022 to present

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