‘They are using more services or solutions than the generations before them,’ says Marie-Chantal Cote
Sun Life's latest claims data paints a troubling picture for Canada's youngest workers. According to recent report findings, Gen Z - those aged roughly 18 to 29 - is experiencing the fastest growth in both mental health and chronic disease claims of any generation in the workforce.
Sun Life’s Marie-Chantal Côté believes the findings raise urgent questions about how employers are preparing for a demographic shift that will reshape the Canadian workplace by the end of the decade.
"Between them and Millennials, they'll be the majority of our working population in 2030, and today they're about 20 [per cent] of the working population," she said, highlighting that with five generations now sharing the workplace, Sun Life wanted to understand what the newest entrants need most.
The claims data told a clear story across both mental and physical health for Cote. Notably, Gen Z is driving the fastest growth in claims of any generation in the workforce. The absolute numbers remain smaller than older cohorts for conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, and musculoskeletal issues but the rate of increase is what stands out, Côté said.
"This is the group where we saw the fastest growth in claims over the last few years. They are using more services or solutions than the generations before them," she said.
When it comes to mental health, the rate of increase in Gen Z claims is close to double what is being seen in the broader plan population, even though their absolute numbers remain smaller. According to Côté, the most pronounced rise is among Gen Z men, whose psychology claims are growing faster than those of women in the same cohort.
She sees this as a mixed bag. While it signals greater need, it could also indicate that younger men are more willing to seek help, which suggests that stigma around therapy and mental health support could be easing.
As for chronic disease, she notes that younger workers still have fewer diagnoses overall than older groups, simply because many of these conditions develop over time.
However, the pace of growth is again concentrated in Gen Z, particularly as diabetes drug claims among those under 30 are rising two to four times faster than among workers aged 30 to 60. Similar accelerated growth is showing up in claims related to asthma, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
While these trends point to a generation that is engaging with the health system earlier and more intensively than their predecessors, they also face a mounting burden of chronic disease much sooner in their working lives, said Côté.
“We know there's about four million people today living with diabetes in Canada, and we expect by 2033, five million will be living with diabetes. The data shows that if you look at somebody living with diabetes and you compare them with somebody not having diabetes, on average, they will take two to ten more days of sick days per year. And we know that if you look at our entire long-term disability block, there's about 20 per cent of the claims where there is a diabetes comorbidity,” Côté noted.
But long-term disability claims seldom come down to a single diagnosis as Côté acknowledged that diabetes often appears alongside other conditions, showing up as a comorbidity in about one in five cases.
That alone signals a significant drag on workplace productivity. Poorly managed blood sugar leads to fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and low energy, which erodes performance even before an employee reaches the point of going on leave.
Still, this is an area where employers can make a meaningful difference. Côté frames the employer response as a three-part effort. The foundation is benefit plan coverage, including medication, dietary support, compression socks, and other supplies that lower the cost of living with a chronic condition and help manage symptoms and side effects.
The second layer is health literacy, where she believes insurers and employers alike still have work to do. Too often, chronic diseases carry a stigma that frames the condition as a personal failing rather than a medical reality, and Côté argues that shifting that mindset requires sustained conversation and better education around disease management.
“We tend to stigmatize different types of diseases and attributing things, like ‘You're not doing enough of A, so you have B,’ as opposed to seeing it as a disease and supporting that,” said Côté.
The third, and in her view most innovative, piece is personalized one-on-one coaching driven by real-time data from continuous glucose monitors. Because the devices track glucose levels around the clock, a pharmacist can identify exactly what caused a spike on a given day and help the plan member adjust accordingly.
Since the program is free and available to all eligible members, Côté sees employer promotion of it as a critical next step.
Yet, she cautions against reading the data too broadly as very employee's health needs are distinct. Trends like men seeking more psychology support and younger workers driving chronic disease claims, require closer examination rather than surface-level takeaways, she noted.
"It's important to pause on that and understand what's happening and how that's happening but continue to support that," she said.
While Gen Z is ultimately set to become the backbone of the Canadian workforce, Côté underscored investing in the health of younger workers is no longer optional. With skills shortages already biting and employers competing for diverse, specialized talent, keeping Gen Z healthy and engaged is a workforce strategy as much as a wellness one.
"The solutions are evolving fast and are trying to be more specific and more personalized," she said. "So the more employers can find out and tell those stories, the better."
