Peer Support Program

Description of Program

In 2015, the Mental Health and Wellness Program (MHW) at Health Canada (HC) implemented the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard) based on the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s (MHCC) Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace Standard (2013). The Mental Health and Wellness Program’s Peer Support Program (PSP), delivered by Health Canada, is a pilot project for all Health Canada employees as a separate but complementary option to the departmental Employee Assistance Program (EAP).  The objective of the Peer Support Program is to help mitigate an individual’s mental health issue/illness by leveraging a trusting relationship between someone who has been living with a mental health problem, directly or indirectly, with a co-worker who has had a similar experience. 

Why was a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) completed?

The Peer Support Program has completed a privacy impact assessment as the implementation and management of the program are outsourced to a third party, and the personal information surrounding a peer support program will have an impact on an individual’s privacy.  The PIA examines the privacy-related risks of the Peer Support Program with respect to the collection, use, disclosure and retention of personal information.

More Information

This PIA focused on Health Canada’s collection, use, disclosure, retention and disposition of personal information involved in the pilot Peer Support Program’s business processes and the implementation and management by the third party contractor.  It did not include an assessment of the long-term implementation of the program.

The PIA identified risks pertaining to training, notice, consent, disclosure, retention and disposition and an absence of a threat and risk assessment and a Personal Information Bank.