One in five workers say financial anxiety has directly impaired their ability to do their job.
Cost-of-living pressure is cutting into Canadian workers' productivity, according to the Q2 2026 TELUS Mental Health Index.
One in five workers say financial anxiety has directly impaired their ability to do their job.
The report surveyed 3,000 employed adults in Canada between June 5 and June 18, 2026. It finds 63 percent of workers name cost of living as their primary financial stressor. Retirement savings (12 percent) and emergency savings (8 percent) trail far behind.
Wellbeing and productivity
The financial wellbeing data tells a clear productivity story. Five percent of workers say they have missed work entirely because of financial stress. Those who report money worries affecting their performance score 24.4 points lower on the Index than unaffected peers (47.3 versus 71.7).
Emergency savings – or the absence of them – are a significant fault line. Twenty-eight percent of Canadian workers lack emergency funds for basic needs. That group scores 20.6 points lower than those with savings (49.1 versus 69.7). They are also nearly three times as likely to report that financial strain has hurt their work performance.
Understanding these patterns matters for HR leaders developing employee financial wellness strategies that actually move the needle.
Who carries the heaviest load
The report reveals a clear generational divide. Workers under 40 are three-and-a-half times more likely than those over 50 to say financial stress has affected their productivity. Parents fare worse still – they are 80 percent more likely to report financial strain-related productivity losses than workers without children.
Twenty-seven percent of Canadian workers are supporting adult children (15 percent) or aging parents (12 percent). This group – often called the sandwich generation – faces compounded financial and emotional pressure.
Among the sandwich generation, 37 percent report a negative impact on their finances and 32 percent on their mental health. A further 15 percent say caregiving has affected their productivity at work.
Retirement knowledge gap
Employers are investing in benefits that many workers cannot use effectively. Sixty percent of workers contributing to a workplace retirement or savings plan say they do not fully understand how it works.
Workers who report no understanding of their plan at all score 19.3 points lower on the TELUS Mental Health Index than those who understand it well. Despite this, 63 percent of employees want employer-provided support for retirement, pensions, and savings. It is the most requested category of financial help in the study.
"When 60 percent of employees contributing to a workplace pension or retirement plan do not fully understand how it works, employers lose the return on investment of their total rewards spend," said Paula Allen, global leader of research and insights at TELUS Health in Vancouver. "By offering accessible financial literacy resources and direct financial coaching, organizations can relieve financial anxiety, lower absenteeism, and improve workforce engagement."
Recent reporting on how human behaviour shapes retirement benefits usage points to similar patterns: employees want guidance but rarely know where to start.
Stigma compounds the challenge
The TELUS Mental Health Index also flags a broader psychological barrier. Just 49 percent of Canadian workers feel comfortable telling their manager about a mental health concern. Workers who would not disclose score 14 points lower than those who would (54.7 versus 68.7).
Among those affected by substance use, 24 percent say it negatively impacts their performance. Barriers to seeking help include stigma (27 percent), cost (23 percent), and privacy concerns (22 percent).
The implication for HR leaders is practical: disclosure rates do not improve without active culture work. Where managers are trained to respond to mental health conversations without triggering career consequences, workers are more likely to seek help early. That is a meaningful difference – one that shows up before absence or performance deterioration forces the issue.
The overall TELUS Mental Health Index score sits at 63.9 for Q2 2026, up nearly one point from the first quarter. Anxiety (56.1) and isolation (59.2) remain the lowest sub-scores in the report.
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