'Sleep is becoming one of the most underestimated risks to workplace health'

Nearly half of Canada's workforce isn't getting enough sleep, and it's starting to cost employers far more than they think.

That's the central finding from Sun Life Health's latest report on sleep and workplace performance, which paints a stark picture of a health issue hiding in plain sight. According to the data, 43 per cent of Canadian employees aren't consistently hitting the minimum recommended seven to nine hours of sleep, and one in five is living with clinical insomnia.

Erin Crump, VP of market development at Sun Life Health, believes the numbers should force a reckoning for plan sponsors.

"Sleep is becoming one of the most underestimated risks to workplace health and performance across Canada,” said Crump, noting that 33 per cent of employees cited poor sleep is already impacting their performance.

And for those with insomnia, that number jumps to 72 per cent of employees.

“In other words, sleep challenges aren't just happening in isolation. They're directly influencing productivity, attendance, and overall workforce well being. And while most employees recognize that sleep is fundamental to good health, the reality is that not everyone is experiencing it in the same way,” said Crump.

According to Crump, women face more obstacles to quality sleep than men, with financial stress and mental health challenges hitting them harder. Women going through perimenopause and menopause also show clinical insomnia rates of 33 per cent.

Employees managing chronic conditions such as migraines and diabetes also carry a heavier burden, often caught in a cycle where their condition disrupts sleep and poor sleep makes the condition harder to manage.

"This shows that the relationship between sleep and chronic condition management is often bi-directional, meaning chronic conditions impact sleep quality and vice versa," Crump noted.

Despite 71 per cent citing they strongly agree that sleep is a cornerstone of good health, that awareness collapses when ambition enters the picture. Notably, more than a third of employees treat sacrificing sleep to get ahead as "a badge on honour", and that figure rises to 43 per cent among younger workers. It's Gen Z employees — those aged 18 to 34 - who report the highest rates of sleep difficulty of any age group and are more likely to suffer from clinical insomnia.

Crump believes the issue isn't hard work itself but the way hustle culture can make self-destructive habits look like dedication. So what ultimately feels like a short-term trade-off can quietly erode productivity, concentration, and long-term performance, turning a personal choice into a workplace problem.

“Employees report being an average of 7 hours less productive per week due to poor sleep. That's almost a full day's work for most employees and that increased to 912 hours of productivity for those with insomnia,” noted Crump. “We also saw employees with sleep challenges report lower levels of concentration, motivation and work quality. It’s really impacting productivity in the workplace.”

The obstacles to getting good rest are wide-ranging, from financial stress, job anxiety, screen time, mental health struggles, family stress and they tend to stack up. Even when employees recognize they need help, getting it is another matter. Competing priorities, lack of time, and family commitments top the list of barriers, followed by skepticism that sleep can actually improve, affordability, and simply not knowing where to look. For those with severe insomnia, the access problem sharpens: 36% say they can't afford the resources and 31% don't know where to find them.

But Crump ultimately emphasized the path forward doesn't require employers to build something new, particularly as employee assistance programs cover many of the root causes of sleep deprivation, from mental health and family challenges to financial stress and legal issues and are all available around the clock.

Most plans also fund licensed mental health professionals, and employers have been steadily increasing those coverage levels in recent years — a move that matters because treating underlying conditions like anxiety, depression, and burnout is often the most direct route to better sleep.

Virtual care adds another layer, giving employees access to nurses and doctors who can assess sleep disorders, review medications that may be disrupting rest, or refer them to sleep clinics.

For example, Sun Life introduced a menopause care journey through its virtual care platform earlier this year, aimed at addressing sleep-related symptoms like night sweats and insomnia during the menopause transition.

The starting point for leadership and plan sponsors is being willing to talk openly about health challenges and how they show up at work. From there, employers should audit what their benefits plans already cover, identify any gaps, and — most importantly — communicate what's available.

While the report found that employees already believe their benefits are critical to supporting sleep, many aren't sure what's actually in their plan or how to use it. That disconnect is the clearest opportunity for plan sponsors, Crump said.

"The opportunity here isn’t necessarily about a new benefit, but really to help close that gap between access and awareness," she said.

The challenge is “making sure people know those tools exist within their benefits plan to help improve their sleep and in turn their overall health and workplace performance,” said Crump.

“It's not a niche issue. It's truly a workplace health, productivity and health issue. But the good news is we're not starting from scratch here. Employers already have a wide variety of supports available within their benefits plan and there's an opportunity here to continue the dialogue, raise awareness and hopefully over the longer term, improve access for employees to get the support they need."