Are workplaces safer? Harassment and violence persist, Western survey finds
A second national survey from Western researchers found 69.4 per cent of respondents faced workplace harassment or violence, with online harassment down and third-party harassment up.
Western’s Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children, working with the Canadian Labour Congress and funded by Employment and Social Development Canada, ran a second national survey on workplace harassment and violence. It drew more than 5,600 responses between September and December 2025.
Adriana Berlingieri, a Faculty of Education professor and the report’s principal investigator, says the rates have not meaningfully decreased in almost five years. In the two years before the survey, 69.4 per cent of respondents experienced at least one form of harassment or violence, including sexual harassment.
Online harassment fell 7.4 percentage points from 2022, likely partly because more people returned to in-person or hybrid work. Harassment from third parties such as customers, patients or students rose, from 30.7 to 36.2 per cent.
Indigenous respondents reported the highest overall rate, at 73.7 per cent. Berlingieri says zero-tolerance statements are not enough without actions, processes and support to back them up.
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