Mental Health Leadership for Alberta Construction Supervisors
Description
Hard Hats, Heavy Loads, and Heavy Minds:
Mental Health Leadership for Alberta Construction Supervisors
Construction workers are significantly more likely to experience depression, addiction, and suicide than workers in most other industries. Long hours, physically demanding work, economic uncertainty, transient job sites, and a culture that often discourages vulnerability can place enormous pressure on workers and leaders alike.
Supervisors, project managers, and contractors are often the first to notice when something isn’t right — a worker who becomes withdrawn, increasingly irritable, misses shifts or begins making unsafe decisions. Yet many leaders feel uncertain about how to respond. They worry about saying the wrong thing, overstepping boundaries, or exposing the company to legal or HR risk.
Taught by a corporate lawyer, this practical and engaging half-day workshop equips construction leaders with the knowledge and confidence to recognize early warning signs of mental distress, approach difficult conversations with empathy and professionalism, and connect workers with appropriate support resources.
Strong construction teams are built not only on skill and safety — but on leaders who understand how to support the wellbeing of their crews.
Key Learning Objectives
• Recognize early warning signs of mental stress, burnout, addiction, and suicidal thinking
• Approach workers with empathy and confidence when concerns arise
• Have supportive conversations without becoming a counsellor
• Understand employer responsibilities under key Alberta workplace legislation, including the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Human Rights Code
• Know when and how to engage HR, safety leaders, or external support resources
• Help build worksites where mental health conversations are safer and stigma is reduced
Delivery Method: Virtual with Zoom Meeting (In-Person/Classroom delivery available upon request)
Course Fee Includes: Access to the course, course materials, and a digital certificate upon completion.
This course is delivered in partnership with local and provincial construction associations across Canada. You may be participating with a group of industry peers from multiple regions.
Sharing a single registration between two or more individuals is not permitted. Please register each person that will be in attendance.
Facilitator Bio
Paul Pelletier is a workplace culture expert, conflict management specialist, and former corporate lawyer who now works with organizations across Canada to help leaders address difficult behaviour, manage conflict, and build respectful high‑performance workplaces. See Paul’s website.
Paul has more than 30 years of experience dealing with high‑stakes conflict, investigations, and leadership challenges. He previously served as Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program for the Attorney General of British Columbia and is the recipient of the Premier’s Award for Outstanding Contribution.
Through his consulting practice, Paul works extensively with leaders in the construction and infrastructure sectors, helping superintendents, project managers, safety leaders, and executives navigate difficult conversations, resolve conflict between teams and trades, and strengthen workplace culture on projects. He is a certified TKI Assessment trainer, a PMP and CPS (certified professional speaker) represented by the National Speakers Bureau.
Paul is also the author of The Workplace Bullying Handbook and a sought‑after international speaker who has delivered more than 500 presentations and workshops around the world on leadership, conflict management, workplace respect, and organizational culture.