Hour 1 of Ottawa Now for Mon. June 15th, 2026

Dating back to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rise in the number of Canadian workers going on short-term disability leave. Experts are saying an increase in mental health leave is largely responsible. Prior to COVID, Statistics Canada data showed that about 5 of 100 workers were taking a short-term medical leave each year, with each leave lasting between 1 week and 4 months. In 2022-23, that rate rose sharply, and reached levels that we hadn’t seen in a decade. Kristy Cameron digs deeper with Olga Morawczynski in Hour 1. She is the founder of Heal-3, a company that designs holistic mental health programs for organizations. But first, we bring you up to speed on today’s top headlines.