Disability management: The importance of a proactive approach
Disability-related absences are reshaping the way Canadian employers support their employees and manage their workforce.
Published on November 20, 2025
Last year, Canadians missed an average of 10.5 days per employee due to illness or disability1. In 2022, more than a quarter of the population (27%) had at least one health condition resulting in disability2.
As someone deeply involved in disability management, I believe these numbers illustrate the need for organizations to act. I’ve witnessed firsthand how a proactive approach to disability management can transform outcomes for both employees and employers.
Today, the organizations that thrive are those that anticipate risks, intervene early, and support their people throughout their journey, even when they are absent from work to recover from an illness or injury.
Our white paper Disability management: The importance of a proactive approach explores the data, strategies, and best practices that define effective, forward-thinking disability management.
Disability management: The importance of a proactive approach
Investing in people’s health to build a supportive, high-performing organization
Download our white paperDisability management as a competitive advantage
Proactive disability management provides valuable support to employees, but it is also a way for employers to control costs.
Our internal data show that mental health-related disabilities can cost a company of 1,000 employees up to $1 million per year in direct costs3.
This should pose a significant concern to employers: our disability claims portfolio shows that mental health conditions are the leading cause of disability for both short-term (STD) and long-term (LTD) absences. For the period 2022-2025, these claims represented on average 27% of STD and 41% of LTD cases. Musculoskeletal conditions ranked second, representing 13% of STD and 19% of LTD claims4.
| Incidence of disability by primary medical cause, iA Financial Group, 2022–2025 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental health conditions | Musculoskeletal conditions | ||
| 27% | 41% | 13% | 19% |
| Short-term disabilities | Long-term disabilities | Short-term disabilities | Long-term disabilities |
The good news is that these costs can be managed effectively.
Our experience shows that when a proactive approach to disability management is in place, absences are shortened by up to six weeks per case, resulting in about $252,000 in direct savings per 1,000 employees. We also find that an effective rehabilitation and return-to-work program that focuses on multidisciplinary interventions can achieve a sustainable return-to-work rate of 90% or more.
The importance of a proactive approach
To truly be proactive when managing disability, employers need to include it as a key pillar in their health and wellbeing programs. Here’s how that can look:
- Prevention is about offering resources that enable people to actively manage their physical, mental, social and financial health. Training, early detection tools and resources for all these dimensions of total wellbeing are important for employees to remain healthy and present in the workplace.
- Early intervention relies on proactive measures to address emerging health issues before they escalate in severity or lead to a disability. Rapid access to care and employee and family assistance programs are examples of such measures.
- Disability management is a coordinated approach between various stakeholders to manage an employee’s illness or injury that causes them to be disabled and unable to work. By using proactive strategies, programs and tools, an employee can recover sooner and prepare themselves to return to work.
- Rehabilitation and return to work programs are essential to supporting an employee’s successful reintegration into the workplace following a disability. Successful programs focus on restoring abilities with personalized interventions, gradual conditioning, workplace accommodations and close participation of key stakeholders.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and digital empathy
Much like many other aspects of our daily lives, AI is transforming disability management. By automating administrative tasks, AI frees case managers to focus on case management and interventions where their expertise and empathy are most needed.
But AI must enhance—not replace—the human connection. Filing a disability claim can be a deeply vulnerable moment for people: they need to feel heard, understood and supported by real people. While AI can bring great efficiencies, it cannot replace empathy, compassion and human qualities.
The most effective uses of AI are those that support case managers in building trust and rapport with employees, ensuring that technology serves people, not the other way around.
Disability management is an investment, not a cost
In our white paper, we demonstrate the importance of a holistic approach and customized strategies. The central role of the employer and insurer in a successful return to work is clear and the call to action simple: investing in proactive disability management improves both company performance and employee health—and even enhances employee experience.
In my experience, proactive disability management is a strategic investment. It supports employees, efficiently manages costs and strengthens competitiveness. For Canadian employers, embracing it is not just the right thing to do—it’s the smart thing to do.
1 Statistics Canada: Work absence of full-time employees by public and private sectors, annual
2 Statistics Canada: New data on disability in Canada, 2022
3 iA Financial Group, internal data, 2025
4 iA Financial Group, internal data on most frequent short-term and long-term disabilities, 2022–2025