History

How We Evolved

What came first the chicken or the egg? Well one thing we do know is the OWHC has been in development since the beginning of 2005. What started with a spark become a flame thanks to the incredible workplace wellness visionaries the Coalition was ignited by.

We give special thanks to visionaries like Joan Burton, one of the founding members of the Coalition, a lead author of the World Health Organization’s Healthy Workplace Framework and recipient of the prestigious Canadian Workplace Wellness Pioneer Award in 2003 for her thought leadership in propelling this vision for Ontario workplaces. Tragically, cancer took Joan’s life too early passing away in 2014, 69 years young. To honour true change agents like Joan, we host an annual Joan Burton Day of Learning event each May to bring together like-minded professionals to share what’s trending in organizational health and how we can continue to influence stakeholders and government in making measurable changes towards our goal.

A copy of one of Joan’s insightful presentations “What in the World is a Healthy Workplace?” can be viewed here.

If you’re not familiar with us, many milestones have happened since 2005 and the OWHC continues to progress and grow as a provincial Coalition. To explore our evolution further peruse through our timeline.