Four Day Work Week and the Mental Well Being of the Canadian Labour Force
Author: Shelby Prokop-Millar
As of April 2025, the current work week in Canada sits at 40-hours per week over 5-days, with the average Canadian putting in 37.5-hours with breaks. In 1985, the Canada Labour Code (Part III, Section 169) mandated the 40-hour work week for federal employees, with popularity originally growing back in the 1960’s as a result of the unionized labour force.
It has been over 50 years since the 40-hour, 5-day work week was popularized. While companies and governments admire the potential productivity benefits of a 4-day work week, many overlook the well-being of the labour force — the very reason we adopted the 40-hour, 5-day work week in the first place.
This brief piece will examine the often-under-appreciated aspects of the 4-day work week, highlighting the potential benefits it could have on the wellbeing of the Canadian worker.
Over the past 5 years the prospect of a 4-day work week has gained popularity around the world. With companies from Brazil to Australia conducting pilot trials in collaboration with 4 Day Work Week Global, as well as governmental bodies, in both Canada and the U.S., attempting to establish legislation for a 4-day work week.
Though, it is important to understand that there are two philosophies to the 4-day work week, one which involves employees working 10-hour days, maintaining the 40-hour work week, and another, that only requires a 32-hour work week, with no loss of pay. Though differing philosophies, both have shown to improve the mental well-being of workers.
A North American pilot program, consisting of 41 different companies, showed promising results to the benefits of worker well-being when establishing a 32-hour work week, with no loss of pay or benefits. Here, workers saw a 17% increase in their mental health, a 16% increase in life satisfaction, and a 35% increase in work-life balance. Furthermore, 60% of workers reported less work conflict, within both life and family, as a result of their shortened work week, with 74% claiming they were “more satisfied with their time while working four days a week” (Christopher Liew, CTV News).
In general, the 40-hour work week itself has been associated with negative mental health outcomes like burnout, among the labour force. According to Joe O’Connor, a key figure in the North American pilot program and the co-founder/CEO of the Work Time Reduction Centre of Excellence, 64% of companies worldwide saw a reduction in employee burnout when taking on a 4-day work week. Specifically regarding a 32-hour work week, 71% of U.K. workers felt less burnt out, while North American workers saw a 17% reduction in burnout when working shorter hours.
Such research is quite promising towards the implementation of a 4-day work week in respect to the well-being of the Canadian labour force and there are arguments for it moving forward legislatively. In general, the well being of the labour force is often an under-appreciated and overlooked aspect to the contribution of a healthy and robust economy. Rather than looking at productivity as a single data point, in the argument for a 4-day work week, we should also consider examining productivity from the well-being perspective of the labourers. Perhaps, productivity increases would occur as a result of the labourers being less stressed and/or burned out, with potential benefits for Canadian institutions and Canadians.