Flight Centre Travel Group’s creative and integrated approach to employee wellness isn’t simply a benefit, it’s part of the infrastructure, says Anna Fisher, Flight Centre’s health and wellness director. “By equipping leaders with real skills, offering personalized mental-health access, fostering connection and creating psychologically safe communities, we’ve built a workplace where employees recover, grow and thrive.”
Read:Flight Centre wins award for holistic employee mental-health strategy
In a new addition to its wellness program, the organization hosted its first ever ‘Wellness Week’ this year, highlighting physical, mental and financial health topics through different webinars and presentations. “We had the Mood Disorders Society of Canada come [for a mental-health] presentation on insomnia in the workplace. They actually contacted me last year [after we previously won] this award.”
The idea behind Flight Centre’s program is to shift mental-health capability from avoidance, stigma and escalation to early conversations, leader confidence and normalized support, notes Fisher. The progress was measured through leadership surveys, employee testimonials and observable behaviour changes in meetings.
Some of the measurable outcomes included just 3.2 sick days per employee in 2025, which is significantly below the Canadian average of 8-10 days, an estimated $1.1-$1.4 million in avoided productivity loss and 88 per cent retention versus the 70 per cent industry benchmark.
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“Mental-health support consistently appears in retention interviews as a reason employees stay,” she adds. “Our measurable reductions in absenteeism, exceptional retention and employee testimonials describing our programs as ‘lifesaving’ demonstrate that investing in mental health delivers both human and business outcomes. This isn’t a temporary initiative; it’s a sustained cultural transformation and a competitive advantage.”
Flight Centre also runs an eight-week mental-health challenge for employees, which is an annual holistic program intentionally linking mental resilience, confidence, stress regulation and purpose with physical health. Participants reported restored hope and confidence, reduced anxiety and mental fatigue and renewed motivation to live fully and be present for family.
Moving forward, the travel organization plans to bring back the wellness week after its success this year, says Fisher, while also putting more focus into making the content from live education sessions accessible for employees who can’t attend in person.
Visit Benefits Canada to learn more about the2026 Workplace Benefits Awards.
