More young Canadians got sick with mental illness and diabetes

100 years after Canada developed insulin, we’re among worst countries for diabetes cases per capita. Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting people living in Canada, and continues to be on the rise.

Today, 11 million Canadians – nearly 1 in 3 – live with pre-diabetes or diabetes, a figure that has doubled since 2000.

New findings from Manulife show an alarming trend – the number of young Canadian workers aged 18-34 suffering with mental illness and diabetes has increased by 13-27% only for the last year or two.

“We’re seeing concerning trends among young Canadians, particularly in cases of mental illness and diabetes,” says Ashesh Desai, Head of Group Benefits for Manulife Canada. “To help employers, we’re giving them new insights into their benefit plans, so they have better data to design their future employee health programs. Companies can use these insights to ensure their benefits are structured adequately to support employees’ increasing needs. Equally important, we’re very focused on deploying digital experiences that help our customers leverage their benefit plans, and get the right care, at the right time.”

According to Manulife data:

• Canadians (18-34) on long-term disability for mental illness have increased 22% since 2019
• Canadians (18-34) submitting claims for mental health reasons has increased 27% since 2021
• Canadians under the age of 44, made up 19% of workers who submitted diabetes claims in 2022, up from 13% in 2019

According to Manulife Group Benefits claims data, the number of Canadian employees between ages 18 and 34 going on long-term disability for mental illness has increased by 22% since 2019. Overall, the number of workers in this age group submitting claims for mental health reasons, including therapy, medication, and disability, is up 27% in just the past year.

Manulife provides Health Insight reports to help employers tailor benefit plans

As one of the largest and longest-serving providers of Group Benefits in Canada, Manulife has powerful insights from millions of claims transactions each year, to help organizations identify, track, and manage the growth of health issues facing Canadians and their families.

Providing health insight information on an aggregate basis allows Manulife’s experts to help employers tailor their benefit and wellness programs to the specific needs of their employees.

“Employers play a significant role in the wellness of their workforces and it’s more important than ever they be aware of emerging health trends,” says Michael Lanteigne, VP Life & Disability, Manulife Group Benefits. “We’ve developed an innovative program that gives employers insights into key health trends, so they can deliver the right wellness support, at the right time, in the right way.”

The program is currently available to select Manulife Group Benefits clients and will be rolled out to other large companies in 2023.

“It’s time to take the guesswork out of workforce wellness and to deliver employee health solutions—by design,” says Desai. “The benefits industry needs to innovate alongside employers, and with other partners in the healthcare space to find new ways to help make workforces healthier.”