Audit of the Workplace Wellness Strategy

Presented to the Departmental Audit Committee (DAC)

February 24, 2026

On this page

Executive summary

Introduction

Workplace wellness involves having a psychologically healthy and safe workplace, defined by the Canadian Standards Association as: “a workplace that promotes employees’ psychological well-being and actively works to prevent harm to worker psychological health, including in negligent, reckless, or intentional ways.”Footnote 1 The federal public service’s approach to workplace wellness is governed by a suite of legislative and policy instruments that guide departments in supporting mental health, safety, and wellness in the workplace. The Canada Labour Code (amended by Bill C-65), which requires departments to proactively identify, assess, and mitigate risks that contribute to harassment, violence, and psychological harm in the workplace. Complementing this is the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act, which emphasizes the importance of constructive labour relations and collaborative problem-solving to foster a productive and respectful public service environment. In addition, the Government of Canada launched the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Strategy (the Federal Strategy), mandating all departments and agencies to develop their own strategies to promote psychological health and safety.

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) responded to federal direction with its 2020-2023 Mental Health and Workplace Wellness Strategy, followed by the renewed 2024–2026 Mental Health and Wellness Strategy (the MH&W Strategy). The MH&W Strategy is intended to reflect an integrated approach to promote mental health and foster an inclusive, safe, and respectful workplace. The MH&W strategy outlines key risk drivers that significantly impact the psychological well-being of employees within the workplace. Based on these risk drivers, the MH&W Strategy identifies three key areas of prioritization for the Department: awareness and engagement, strengthening support, and monitoring and reporting. To address key risks, the MH&W strategy outlines an implementation plan aimed at addressing organizational challenges and improving overall workplace well-being. In support of the MH&W Strategy, NRCan has created a “One Wellness System”, which is intended to build alignment between the Workplace Risk Assessment, mandated by Bill C-65, and the MH&W Strategy to better support NRCan in identifying its wellness-related risks, to build capacity to lead Workplace Risk Assessments internally, and to ensure senior leadership awareness and departmental accountability.

The Workplace Culture and Wellness Office, part of the People and Culture Branch (PCB) within the Corporate Management Services Sector (CMSS), leads the Department’s workplace wellness initiatives and consists of four key teams: the Wellness Office, the Values, Ethics, and Respect Office (VERO), the Accessibility Centre of Expertise (ACE), and the departmental Occupational Health and Safety Office (OHS). These teams work in collaboration with key departmental wellness stakeholders such as Labour Relations, the Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and AccessibilityFootnote 2 (O-IDEA), the Safety, Security and Emergency Management Branch (SSEMB), departmental networks, and other sector senior leadership. In addition, NRCan has appointed a departmental Mental Health Champion (MHC) who plays a key role in promoting psychological health and safety. The Department has also established the Ombuds Office, which offers an independent, informal, confidential and impartial space to address workplace concerns for all employees.

All departmental sectors, managers and employees play an integral role in supporting workplace wellness. This is particularly important in the current context of hybrid workFootnote 3 and an environment with less resources. Implementing strong workplace wellness practices and measuring their success supports employees in feeling psychologically safe at work and permits them to better achieve their career objectives. This in turn supports the Department in delivering on its mandate and its obligations to Canadians. The 2024 Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) highlights that NRCan’s scores are comparable to the overall public service in the area of workplace wellness. It is acknowledged that results for this important area can be improved across the public service. For the topic of workplace mental health, results showed that:

  • 64% of NRCan employees feel that the Department does a good job of raising awareness of mental health in the workplace, compared to 65% for the public service overall.
  • 83% of NRCan employees feel that their immediate supervisor supports my mental health and well-being, compared to 81% for the public service overall.
  • 74% of NRCan employees feel comfortable sharing concerns with my immediate supervisor about my mental health, compared to 72% for the public service overall.

Focus of the audit

The objective of this audit was to assess the adequacy of NRCan’s practices related to workplace wellness, including roles, responsibilities and communication processes as they relate to the Mental Health and Wellness Strategy.

Specifically, the audit assessed whether:

  • Adequately defined roles and responsibilities and effective communication processes are in place to enable the Department to foster a psychologically healthy and safe workplace; and
  • The Mental Health and Wellness Strategy is adequately designed, communicated to employees, and is effectively implemented and monitored to enable the Department to foster a psychologically healthy and safe workplace.

Strengths

The Department has developed, communicated and implemented a Mental Health and Wellness Strategy that is clearly aligned with the requirements of the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Strategy (MH&W) and incorporates key findings from the Department’s Workplace Risk Assessment. In addition, NRCan has made efforts at the departmental and sector levels to offer wellness-related initiatives, resources and services to employees that are perceived to be relevant and impactful.

Areas for improvement

There is a need for the Department to define and clarify roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders within the MH&W Strategy to reduce overlap and ambiguities. Doing so would be expected to improve coordination and collaboration between stakeholders in implementing the MH&W Strategy and enhance planning, implementation of and access to wellness-related initiatives, resources and services. Additionally, there is an opportunity for the Department to integrate existing tools and processes in implementing the Strategy to improve efficiencies, and to develop a performance measurement framework to effectively monitor and track progress against strategic goals.

Internal audit conclusion and opinion

In my opinion, the Department has taken meaningful steps to develop and implement practices related to workplace wellness.

Progress has been made to align with federal direction and improve coordination, communication and collaboration between key corporate stakeholders to support workplace wellness. There is a need to better define and clarify wellness-related roles and responsibilities, to better integrate departmental processes to promote efficient resource use, and to implement performance measurement tools to track progress toward wellness goals. Implementing the recommendations contained in this audit will help address the identified gaps and support NRCan in monitoring progress and making sustained improvements to wellness in the workplace.

Statement of conformance

In my professional judgement as Chief Audit and Evaluation Executive, the audit conforms with the Institute of Internal Auditors' Global Internal Audit Standards and the Government of Canada’s Policy on Internal Audit, as supported by the results of engagement supervision and the Quality Assurance and Improvement Program.

Michel Gould, MBA, CPA, CIA
Chief Audit and Evaluation Executive
February 24, 2026

Acknowledgements

The audit team would like to thank those individuals who contributed to this project, and particularly employees who provided insights and comments as part of this audit.

Findings and recommendations

Roles and responsibilities

Summary finding

Overall, roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of some key departmental wellness stakeholders are clearly defined and documented; however, ambiguity and overlap exist between the roles and responsibilities of certain key wellness stakeholders.

Supporting observations

The audit expected that roles and responsibilities would be adequately defined and communicated to enable the Department to foster a psychologically healthy and safe workplace. The audit examined whether roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of key wellness stakeholders are clearly defined, documented and understood.

Definition and clarity of roles and responsibilities

Roles and responsibilities relating to wellness are clearly defined and documented for some key departmental stakeholders, including for the Accessibility Centre of Expertise (ACE), the Ombuds, the Values, Ethics and Respect Office (VERO), Labour Relations and departmental networks. These roles and responsibilities are defined through the MH&W Strategy, the Source Intranet page, and internal directives. The Wellness team’s roles and responsibilities are defined and documented through their individual work objectives and the MH&W Strategy. However, details of their roles and responsibilities are not clearly communicated to the Department’s sectors. Generally, OHS, O-IDEA, as well as sector management roles, responsibilities and accountabilities pertaining to wellness are not clearly, comprehensively, and consistently defined and communicated within available departmental guidance.

In addition, the roles and responsibilities of the Mental Health Champion (MHC) are not clearly defined and articulated within the MH&W Strategy or other departmental guidance. The MH&W Strategy identifies the role of the MHC as an integral component of wellness within the Department and outlines that one of its key commitments to employees is to increase the visibility of the MHC. The audit found that there is a lack of clarity within the MH&W Strategy and the One Wellness system regarding the role of the MHC.

Stakeholders’ understanding and clarity of roles and responsibilities

Some key departmental stakeholders expressed a lack of clarity in their understanding of their roles relating to workplace wellness. For example, OHS indicated that it would be helpful if there was greater clarity regarding their wellness-related responsibilities.

Moreover, areas of overlap and ambiguity were cited between the Wellness team and other key wellness stakeholders, as well as between corporate stakeholders, including the VERO, OHS and ACE. It was indicated that there are intersecting and overlapping roles and responsibilities between the Wellness team and these stakeholders. The audit identified duplication of efforts between corporate stakeholders, employee networks and sectors in developing and offering wellness activities to staff, resulting in inefficiencies within the Department. The audit also found an overlap of responsibilities in relation to triaging and directing employees to appropriate wellness services and contacts, largely attributed to a lack of clarity on who should be contacted in different situations in which employees need wellness-related resources and services.

Risk and impact

Without clearly defined roles and responsibilities, there is a risk of duplication of efforts and of gaps in the wellness-related services offered by key departmental wellness stakeholders, which may hinder the quality of and employee access to these services, and ultimately impact employees’ morale and NRCan’s ability to achieve its departmental priority related to workplace wellness. In addition, this could result in process inefficiencies, less efficient use of available resources, and missed opportunities for cost savings through leveraging existing resources and sharing information between key wellness stakeholders.

Recommendation

Recommendation 1: It is recommended that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Management and Services Sector ensure that roles and responsibilities of all key departmental wellness stakeholders, including corporate stakeholders, departmental networks, sectors, managers and employees, are clearly defined, documented and communicated, and that mechanisms for coordination and collaboration are established to better understand and address wellness needs and enable departmental initiatives to be effectively implemented in a cost-efficient manner.

Management response and action plan

Management Response to Recommendation 1:

Management agrees with the recommendation.

The following initiatives have been implemented or are underway since the completion of the audit.

1) Organizational Changes

Over the past several months, a number of organizational changes were implemented within the Human Resources Branch (HRB), now the People and Culture Branch (PCB). The changes were designed to bring wellness stakeholders closer together, reduce duplication of efforts, achieve efficiencies, and ensure greater coherence in the delivery of wellness services. These changes include:

  • The integration of the IDEA office (now known as Partnership, Ally, Community and Equity Directorate) and the Departmental Occupational Health and Safety Office (DOHS) under the same Branch (PCB);
  • The centralization of key wellness-related services under a single directorate [Wellness, Integrity, Security and Ethics (WISE)];
  • The consolidation of the Wellness, Accessibility, and Accommodation services under one office.

Position responsible: Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and Director responsible for WISE, PCB, Corporate Management and Services Sector (CMSS)

Timing : Completed (throughout 2025)

2) Clarification of mental health service lines under the new WISE directorate

The new WISE Directorate, which now encompasses most key wellness services, is updating its Intranet pages to clarify service lines and ensure employees are directed to the appropriate supports. Particular attention will be given to areas where there are intersections or potential duplication in roles and responsibilities between the Wellness team and key stakeholders, including processes related to reporting domestic violence incidents, accommodation and ergonomic requests, Injury-on-Duty Leave, and other key services. This work will enhance a shared understanding of roles and responsibilities among key wellness stakeholders, improve clients’ understanding of service accountabilities, facilitate employee navigation, and promote an integrated service delivery model.

Position responsible: Director General, PCB, CMSS

Timing: March 31, 2026

3) Reducing duplication of efforts among wellness stakeholders, employee networks, and sectors

Several initiatives are underway to clarify roles and responsibilities among departmental wellness stakeholders, employee networks, and sectors as described below:

3.1) Risk assessment and action plans:

The Department is updating its action plans in response to the Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) results. This work aims to:

  • Identify common wellness and mental health risks that require department-wide initiatives, while supporting sectors in understanding that shared risks will be addressed at the departmental level; and
  • Support sectors in developing targeted action plans to address sector-specific challenges.

This approach will improve coordination and collaboration and strengthen alignment of mental health initiatives across the Department.

Position responsible: Director of WISE, PCB, CMSS

Timing: June 30, 2026

3.2) Guide for employee networks:

A guidance framework for employee networks is being developed and will be shared with departmental stakeholders to support a common understanding of networks’ roles and responsibilities in promoting awareness and advocating for member needs. This initiative will:

  • Further clarify the respective roles and responsibilities of employee networks and departmental stakeholders;
  • Harmonize awareness and communication efforts across the Department; and
  • Maximize the impact, coherence, and alignment of wellness initiatives.

Position responsible: Director of Employee Experience (EE), PCB, CMSS

Timing: January 31, 2026

4) Clarification of the mental health champion role

The Wellness team will also work to further clarify the Mental Health Champion’s (MHC) role and enhance visibility by:

  • Clarifying the role description and responsibilities of the MHC;
  • Strengthening collaboration mechanisms with employee networks and sectors;
  • Developing a communication plan to increase awareness of the Champion’s role among employees and managers and promote further the Mental Health Strategy and the progress made.

Position responsible: Director of WISE, PCB, CMSS

Timing: June 30, 2026

Communication, coordination, and collaboration processes

Summary finding

The audit found that processes exist to communicate the MH&W Strategy, and that coordination and collaboration processes exist for wellness-related initiatives, resources and services. There is an opportunity to improve communication, coordination, and collaboration between some key wellness stakeholders in relation to the MH&W Strategy and when planning and implementing wellness initiatives.

Supporting observations

Given the various groups working on wellness, the audit expected that adequate communication, coordination, and collaboration between key stakeholders would be occurring to enable the Department to offer wellness initiatives that support a psychologically healthy and safe workplace. The audit examined whether adequate coordination and collaboration processes with key stakeholders involved in wellness initiatives are in place. In addition, the audit examined whether effective communication processes have been established to ensure employees are aware of departmental wellness-related initiatives, resources and services, and are able to fully benefit from these offerings. In addition, the audit examined how key wellness stakeholders, employees, and network representatives were consulted during the development, design, and alignment of the MH&W Strategy, as well as how its objectives, priorities, actions, and accountabilities were communicated to employees and network representatives.

Communication of initiatives, resources and services

Mental health and wellness-related initiatives, resources, and services are offered at both the departmental level, through the Wellness team and employee networks, and at the sector level. Departmental initiatives include events, training, and presentations, such as the Mental Health Week Challenge; resources include internal and external guidance and support, such as the Employee Assistance Program; and services include the processes in place to guide and support employees with wellness-related needs and conflicts, accessed primarily through various Intranet pages. Initiatives, resources and services are communicated through Department-wide emails, all-staff email invitations to events, the Source Intranet pages, divisional meetings, NRCan TV Monitor advertisements, screen savers, and through word-of-mouth. The Wellness team indicated that they are making a concerted effort to intentionally select speakers and topics for wellness events that are directly relevant to high-risk areas, based on information obtained through the Workplace Risk Assessment (WRA). Several sector interviewees provided positive comments related to the Wellness team’s events that addressed complex subject matter and appreciated the variety of initiatives offered. They also recognized that as participants’ wellness-related needs vary, the level of employee satisfaction with wellness initiatives will also differ. The audit found a few instances of sectors and individual teams organizing mental health training, such as Mental Health First Aid, but sector-level wellness-related initiatives were largely found to be informal, employee-centred, and focused on staff recognition, appreciation, and team connection.

The communication processes to share information on wellness initiatives were found to be clear and effective, with information largely disseminated through Department-wide publications, such as the Source and other internal corporate repositories. While wellness-related resources and services are largely communicated through similar mechanisms, audit interviewees indicated that they were sometimes redirected between wellness stakeholders before they were referred to the appropriate corporate service providers.

The audit found that key wellness stakeholders and networks provide hyperlinks on their Intranet pages and platforms promoting existing and upcoming initiatives, available resources, and contact information for available wellness service providers.

In terms of collecting employee feedback on wellness-related initiatives, resources and services, processes are in place. For example, hyperlinks are available for employees to complete surveys, emails are sent to follow-ups on services used, and general inquiries on resources and services can be made. However, the audit found that requests for feedback are not consistently performed, resulting in missed opportunities to incorporate feedback to improve wellness-related initiatives and services.

Coordination and collaboration for wellness-related initiatives, resources and services

Overall, coordination and collaboration between the Wellness team and most corporate stakeholders is occurring adequately in support of wellness-related initiatives, resources and services. The Wellness team, with the MHC, is responsible for coordinating and collaborating with both internal and external stakeholders in support of departmental wellness initiatives. The Wellness team also coordinates with other government departments and external organizations to offer NRCan employees access to additional wellness events and training, creating inter-departmental efficiencies. It should be noted that the MH&W Strategy states that improved collaboration between the Wellness team, OHS and NRCan leadership is necessary to address mental health-related risks, identified through the WRA, and champion actions that promote psychological safety.

Some gaps in coordination and collaboration were found as part of the audit. Coordination and collaboration are occurring between the Wellness team and employee networks to organize wellness events; however, some communication-related challenges were noted. Specific challenges related to difficulty in scheduling regular meetings between parties, some initiatives being focused on the National Capital Region, in-person initiatives as opposed to hybrid ones, and initiatives without real-time sign language interpretation. In addition, coordination between the Wellness team and sectors for the purposes of planning and implementing wellness events, training and presentations is occurring infrequently, preventing the Wellness team from identifying departmental needs and ensuring corporate initiatives address these priorities. The Wellness team confirmed that the upcoming WRA exercise will be used as a mechanism to identify common wellness-related topics that are most relevant to sectors, with the intention to offer these initiatives at the departmental level to enable NRCan to respond to employees’ wellness needs while increasing cost efficiencies.

While some challenges pertaining to coordination and collaboration exist, the audit found effective regular and ad hoc coordination and collaboration occurring between employee networks, between corporate stakeholders, between sectors, and within sectors. For example, NRCan’s Ombuds participated as a guest speaker in the 2025 Black Employees Advisory Council’s Black History Month panel event, Supporting Black Mental Health Through the Lens of Intersectionality in the Public Service. All three sectors included in the audit, the Canadian Forest Services (CFS), Fuels Sector (FS) and Lands and Minerals Sector (LMS), have wellness-related employee-led networks and committees within their sectors or branches. FS also provided examples of ad hoc collaboration with CFS and the Energy Efficiency and Technology Sector to share wellness-related initiatives developed and offered within their sectors.

The current and previous departmental MHC indicated that that they have coordinated and collaborated with employee networks (including their Executive Champions) to develop and offer wellness-related initiatives and to provide a platform for network representatives to speak and share their thoughts. For example, the current MHC collaborated with the Women’s Network and the Women’s Network Champion to co-host the workshop on the intersections between mental wellness and menopause. Collaboration occurs on an event-driven basis.

Communication of the mental health and wellness strategy

The Wellness team developed a communication approach for the MH&W Strategy that included an all-staff email, articles posted on the Source, employee screen saver advertisements and TV monitor advertisements. The Wellness team also met with several departmental networks after the launch of the MH&W Strategy to communicate its launch. Despite all of these efforts, audit interviews with selected sector employees and departmental networks indicated a limited level of engagement and an overall lack of comprehension of the MH&W Strategy. This included generally being unaware of the Strategy, its objectives and priorities, planned actions, and their roles and responsibilities under the MH&W Strategy, as well as difficulty in reading, digesting and applying the Strategy to day-to-day activities.

Coordination and collaboration on the MH&W Strategy

For the purposes of developing the MH&W Strategy, key wellness stakeholders were consulted and directly contributed to the MH&W Strategy, including the VERO, OHS, ACE, Labour Relations, O-IDEA, and departmental networks. The Wellness team communicated and collaborated with the Operations Committee and the Human Resources Committee to obtain their feedback on the MH&W Strategy. No additional consultations occurred with employees and managers on the Strategy.

In terms of implementation of the MH&W Strategy, coordination and collaboration has taken place between the Wellness team and key corporate stakeholders. For example, VERO, ACE, OHS, Labour Relations, and the O-IDEA, were engaged by the Wellness team to provide input on the Learning Roadmaps for front-line responders, a Strategy initiative focused on equipping key departmental wellness service providers with relevant mental health and wellness-related training material. Additionally, the Wellness team indicated that they met with the O-IDEA, the Ombuds Office and sector executives to provide a preliminary introduction of the upcoming Peer Support Program and to obtain initial feedback.

With the clarification of stakeholder roles and responsibilities under Recommendation 1, the audit team expects that findings in this section relating to communication, collaboration and coordination processes for the MH&W Strategy and wellness-related initiatives, resources and services will be addressed.

Federal alignment and performance measurement

Summary finding

Overall, the Department has aligned the MH&W Strategy with the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Strategy. Opportunities remain to better integrate existing departmental tools and processes into the Strategy to enhance alignment with departmental direction and improve process efficiencies. Additionally, a formal performance measurement framework has not yet been established to monitor the implementation of the MH&W Strategy, track progress against its planned outcomes, and regularly report to key wellness stakeholders. The MH&W Strategy specifies that monitoring progress is critical to ensuring that the strategies being implemented are having a positive impact on employees and the organization.

Supporting observations

The audit expected that the MH&W Strategy would be adequately designed, communicated to employees, and effectively implemented and monitored to enable the Department to foster a psychologically healthy and safe workplace. The audit team examined whether the MH&W Strategy was designed in alignment with federal and departmental direction on workplace wellness and whether performance measurement practices, including indicators, have been established to monitor the implementation of the MH&W Strategy and track progress against its goals. Further, the audit team assessed whether regular reporting and reviews are conducted to assess the effectiveness of the MH&W Strategy, and if adjustments are made where necessary based on feedback and monitoring results.

Alignment with the federal strategy & departmental direction

Overall, NRCan’s MH&W Strategy aligns with the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Strategy (the Federal Strategy). Within the Federal Strategy and Bill C-65, there is a requirement to report and align with the Workplace Risk Assessment (WRA). The WRA in accordance with the regulations, must be carried out to identify risks of harassment and violence in the workplace and to protect the workplace from these risks jointly with the Employer and the Applicable Partner. The WRA must include performing joint monitoring and updating of changes to risk factors that compromises the effectiveness of the measures. There is also an expectation to incorporate the 13 psychosocial factors influencing psychological health and safety, as defined by the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standards), into the Department’s approach to mental health and wellness. The audit found that the MH&W Strategy incorporated and utilized the Standards in the overall design of its framework and leveraged the Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) data to identify six out of 13 applicable psychosocial factors. Further, the MH&W Strategy is aligned with the WRA through its inclusion of several of its risk factors and key risk drivers. For example, the WRA identifies the lack of civility, respect, clear leadership and expectations as National/Branch specific risk factors, which are also captured under the MH&W Strategy’s key risk driver Civility, Trust and Relationships.

The Federal Strategy outlines a requirement to align departmental policy instruments and leverage existing resources to further measure and understand factors related to mental health in the workplace. There are various departmental initiatives, instruments, and processes operating independently of the MH&W Strategy with the potential to be leveraged in support of mental health and wellness-related initiatives. Potential initiatives include: the Employment Equity and Accessibility Action Plan (EEAAP) and the related Natural Resources Canada’s Accessibility Action Plan (NAAP), the departmental Corporate Risk Profile (CRP). Tools developed and implemented in support of monitoring risks, tracking overall progress, and reporting on the achievement of EEAAP/NAAP goals could be leveraged in support of the MH&W Strategy’s overall monitoring and reporting processes. For a number of years, the CRP has identified risk areas relating to workplace wellness. These processes used in support of the departmental CRP could also be leveraged to identify, monitor and report on departmental risks related to workplace wellness in conjunction with both the WRA and MH&W Strategy.

Performance monitoring and reporting

Monitoring and reporting are key elements of the MH&W StrategyFootnote 4 and are critical to ensuring that actions implemented by the Department are having a positive impact on NRCan employees and the overall organization. At the time of the audit, the Wellness team had not established a performance measurement framework, including key performance indicators (KPIs) to facilitate monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Strategy. To date, the Wellness team has been monitoring progress through their implementation plan, which focuses on activities completed as opposed to longer term outcomes. Implementation plan activities fall under the three main strategic objectives of the MH&W Strategy. Various sub-activities have been defined and assigned an Office of Primary Interest, with progress towards completion dates actively tracked. Expected dates of completion range from 2024 to 2026. As of August 2025, the majority of activities were underway, with 78% of activities listed as completed, well underway or progressing. The MH&W Strategy also outlines that regular progress reports to the Policy Committee on Occupational Health and Safety (PCOHS) and the Senior Management Committee (SMC) were to begin in 2025. The Wellness team provided updates on the development of the MH&W Strategy to the Human Resources Committee, Operations Committee and to the Senior Management committee in December 2023, February 2024, and April 2024 respectively. The Wellness team also provided an implementation update to the Operations Committee in May 2025. However, the process for providing updates to PCOHS and SMC have not been formalized.

Risk and impact

A lack of integration between the MH&W Strategy and key departmental initiatives may result in missed opportunities for procedural efficiencies and limited internal alignment in areas of shared responsibilities or interests.

Without a performance measurement framework to monitor the implementation of the MH&W Strategy including tracking progress against its goals and regular progress reporting, there is a risk that the MH&W Strategy may not achieve its intended outcomes, critical issues may go unaddressed, and decision-makers will lack the necessary KPI’s to make informed decisions.

Recommendations

Recommendation 2: It is recommended that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Management and Services Sector ensure that the Mental Health and Wellness Strategy is aligned with related departmental initiatives in areas of shared responsibilities or interests.

Recommendation 3: It is recommended that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Management and Services Sector develop and implement a performance measurement framework, including key performance indicators and regular progress reporting on the Mental Health and Wellness Strategy.

Management response and action plan

Management Response to Recommendation 2:

Management agrees with the recommendation.

Aligning the Mental Health Strategy with other key departmental initiatives is challenging because plans are developed and updated at different times, and priorities evolve rapidly.

Progress made to date includes:

1) Integration with workplace risk assessment:

The second Workplace Risk Assessment, conducted under the Regulations on the Prevention of Harassment and Violence in the Workplace, will inform updates to the Mental Health Strategy and Action Plan, ensuring alignment with identified risks and key corporate initiatives taken up to date to reduce these risks.

To support this work, the Harassment and Violence Prevention team is collaborating with key wellness partners (the Ombuds, the HR Data Analytics team, Occupational Health and Safety, Wellness, and other partners) to collect data and identify key risk areas at both the departmental and sector levels. Once these risks have been identified, this team will work jointly with employer and employee representatives to update the Mental Health Strategy Action Plan and to develop sector-specific action plans where elevated risks are identified.

Position responsible: Director of WISE, PCB, CMSS

Timing: June 30, 2026

2) Alignment with Pathways to Reconciliation Strategy:

The Mental Health Strategy is being aligned with key initiatives under the Pathways to Reconciliation Strategy. This includes developing a dedicated page on the Wellness Program site to promote support services offered by and for Indigenous elders and other support groups.

Position responsible: Director of WISE, PCB, CMSS

Timing: March 31, 2026

3) Strategic alignment across plans:

Continued collaborative efforts will be undertaken to strengthen alignment between the Mental Health Strategy and other key departmental plans, including the Natural Resources Canada’s Accessibility Action Plan (NAAP), the Employment Equity and Accessibility Action Plan (EEAP), and the departmental Corporate Risk Profile (CRP). These efforts will include:

  • Establishing regular coordination discussions among plan owners to share priorities, emerging risks, and planned initiatives;
  • Identifying overlapping objectives, target populations, and risk areas to ensure complementary and mutually reinforcing actions;
  • Aligning performance indicators, where feasible, to support consistent monitoring and reporting across plans;
  • Leveraging shared data, findings, and lessons learned to inform adjustments to action plans and improve overall impact.

These collaborative efforts will support a more integrated, coherent, and efficient approach to advancing mental health, equity, accessibility, and workplace compliance across the Department.

Position responsible: Director of WISE, PCB, CMSS

Timing: June 30, 2026

Management Response to Recommendation 3:

Management agrees with the recommendation.

Following completion of the Department’s second Workplace Risk Assessment, the results will be integrated into the Mental Health Strategy and Action Plan, with a more comprehensive action plan developed, including key performance indicators. A communication strategy will be implemented to keep departmental employees informed of progress. Bi-annual progress reports will be provided to the Operations Committee (OPS) through the Policy Committee on Occupational Health and Safety (PCOHS).

Position responsible: Director of WISE, PCB, CMSS

Timing: March 31, 2026 (completion of the Mental Health Action Plan) / Ongoing (bi-annual progress reports)

Appendix A – About the audit

A risk-based approach was used in establishing the objectives, scope, and approach for this audit engagement.

Audit purpose and objectives

The objective of this audit was to assess the adequacy of NRCan’s practices related to workplace wellness, including roles, responsibilities and communication processes as they relate to the Mental Health and Wellness Strategy.

Specifically, the audit assessed whether:

  • Adequately defined roles and responsibilities and effective communication processes are in place to enable the Department to foster a psychologically healthy and safe workplace; and
  • The Mental Health and Wellness Strategy is adequately designed, communicated to employees, and is effectively implemented and monitored to enable the Department to foster a psychologically healthy and safe workplace.

Scope

The scope of the audit was targeted and examined processes, plans and procedures implemented to support the development and implementation of the MH&W Strategy, in support of psychologically healthy and safe workplace. The audit covered the period from August 2023 to July 2025 to include the most recent activities. The conduct phase for the audit was substantially completed in July 2025.

The scope of the audit did not examine Values and Ethics, as an audit of this area is already planned for fiscal year 2026–27 in accordance with the annual Internal Audit and Evaluation Plan. Specific operational processes [e.g. Accessibility Centre of Expertise (ACE), Harassment Violence and Prevention process (HVPP), Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), Values and Ethics (V&E), etc.] were also not assessed. However, these groups were engaged to discuss their roles and responsibilities to advance workplace wellness as well as in relation to the Mental Health and Wellness Strategy.

The results of other previous audits and evaluation projects on related topics, including the recently completed Audit on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) and the Joint Audit and Evaluation of Advancing Reconciliation, were considered in order to inform the audit and reduce duplication of efforts.

This audit was included in the 2024-2029 Integrated Audit and Evaluation Plan, approved by the Deputy Minister on May 9, 2024.

Approach and methodology

The approach and methodology followed the Institute of Internal Auditors' Global Internal Audit Standards (IIA GIAS) and the Government of Canada’s Policy on Internal Audit. These standards require that the audit be planned and performed in such a way as to obtain reasonable assurance that audit objectives are achieved. The audit included tests considered necessary to provide such assurance. Internal auditors performed the audit with objectivity as defined by the IIA GIAS.

The audit included the following key tasks:

  1. Interviews with People and Culture Branch (P&CB) personnel, and select employees, and managers from the Canadian Forest Service (CFS), Fuels Sector (FS) and the Lands and Mineral Sector (LMS), departmental network representatives (Administrative Professionals, Managers Community, Visible Minority Advisory Council, Black Employees Advisory Council, AccessAbility Network, and the NRCan Pride Network), the Ombuds Office, Labour Relations (LR), the Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (O-IDEA) and the Mental Health Champion (MHC); and
  2. Review of key documentation and select business processes in support of workplace wellness integration. This included documents related to the development and implementation of the MH&W Strategy, documentation on wellness-related events, initiatives and services, and information obtained from sectors on their wellness-related activities.

The following audit criteria guided the fieldwork and formed the basis for the overall audit conclusion. These criteria were developed primarily from key controls set out in the Treasury Board of Canada’s (TB) Audit Criteria related to the Management Accountability Framework – A Tool for Internal Auditors, in conjunction with the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Strategy.

The following audit criteria were used to conduct the audit:

Audit Sub-Objectives Audit Criteria

Sub-Objective 1:

To determine whether adequately defined roles and responsibilities and effective communication processes are in place to enable the Department to foster a psychologically healthy and safe workplace.

 1.1 It is expected that roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities for key wellness stakeholders (e.g., Wellness team, HVPP, OHS, MH Champion, etc.) are clearly defined, documented, and understood.
1.2 It is expected that effective communication processes have been established to ensure employees are aware of departmental wellness-related initiatives, resources and services, and are able to fully benefit from them.
1.3 It is expected that adequate coordination and collaboration processes with key stakeholders involved in wellness initiatives are in place.

Sub-Objective 2:

To assess whether the Mental Health and Wellness Strategy is adequately designed, communicated to employees, and is effectively implemented and monitored to enable the Department to foster a psychologically healthy and safe workplace.

 2.1 It is expected that the Mental Health & Wellness Strategy was designed in alignment with federal and departmental direction on workplace wellness, and includes consultation with key wellness stakeholders, employees and network representatives to effectively achieve the wellness objectives of the Department.
2.2 It is expected that the Mental Health & Wellness Strategy is communicated clearly to employees and network representatives, including the Strategy’s objectives, priorities, actions and accountabilities.
2.3 It is expected that performance measurement practices, including key performance indicators (KPIs), are established to monitor the implementation of the Mental Health & Wellness Strategy and track progress against its goals.
2.4 It is expected that regular reporting and reviews are conducted to assess the effectiveness of the MH&W Strategy, and adjustments are made where necessary based on feedback and monitoring results.
 
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