Vale Canada funded a groundbreaking study that surveyed workers at its Ontario operations about their mental health. More than 2,000 workers participated in the voluntary study. Photo: Shutterstock

In April 2019, Michel Larivière, a clinical psychologist and a full professor at Laurentian University in Sudbury, presented the findings of a three-year study funded by Vale Canada called Mining Mental Health during the Mining Health and Safety Conference in Sudbury.  The study surveyed 2,224 people working at Vale’s Ontario operations (Sudbury and Port Colborne)—which represented 56 per cent of Vale Canada’s workforce at that time—about their mental well-being. In 2015, when the study was announced, about a quarter of disability claims at Vale’s Ontario operations were related to mental health issues.