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Events, Initiatives and Training

Healthy us. Healthy campus. Rise and thrive at Ontario Tech.

Your Human Resources health and wellness supports and services, including the Healthy Workplace Committee are committed to providing the university community with opportunities to engage in activities that promote employee optimal health and well-being. Check out this web page often for updates on offerings that support a holistic approach to building a healthier workplace. 

Do you have an idea for an event, speaker or initiative? The Healthy Workplace Committee welcomes your input, email wellnessatwork@ontariotechu.ca.

Current and Upcoming

  • Puzzle Lending Program Available as of November 1st

    We’ve heard that puzzles bring teams together, to socially connect and work toward a common, fun goal, so we are launching Ontario Tech Puzzles, a puzzle lending program!  Images that represent Ontario Tech have been turned into puzzles and are now available for you/your colleagues to borrow and complete.

    Please visit the Puzzle Lending Program web page to view the available puzzles and request a puzzle today!

  • Fuel Your Defenses: Put up a Fight During Flu Season! November 24

    What can you do to help keep your immune system strong and healthy? Food and lifestyle play a play a critical role in how well your immune system functions.

    In this workshop, Dr. Bardin, Healthy Workplace Committee member, will explore the complexities of your immune system and help you to discover how foods and lifestyle choices can make an impact - both positively and negatively. Dr. Bardin will also dive into the vital role your gut and microbiome play in the overall health of your immune system and highlight the key nutrients that can help you stay strong and resilient throughout the flu season. 

    Fuel Your Defenses: Put up a Fight During Flu Season!Boost your Immune System

    • Facilitator: Dr. Sylvie Bardin, Associate Teaching Professor, Faculty of Science and Certified Nutritionist
    • Date: November 24, 2025
    • Time: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
    • Location: Virtual
    • Target Audience: Employees

    Boost your immune system!

    Register

     

  • Mindful Mondays: November 24, 2025

    The program is designed to attract participants who are interested in developing a regular practice, grounded in mindfulness, that supports wellness and resilience. The program will also be helpful to participants who are interested in specific topics and wish to attend select sessions rather than the entire series. Everyone is welcome.

    Session Structure:

    Occurs from Noon to 1 p.m. and will consist of the following structure:

    1. Opening with a settling practice
    2. Followed by approximately 10 minutes of introduction to the session theme 
    3. The Primary Practice for about 15 minutes
    4. Reflection about the practice experience 
    5. Remaining time for open group discussion  
    6. Closure with a brief practice

    Working with Difficult Emotions – November 24, 2025

    Mindfulness of difficult emotions involves approaching them with acceptance, curiosity and non-judgment rather than trying to suppress or avoid them.

    REGISTER

  • Learning to Recharge: Thursday, November 27 – Please register by Friday, Nov. 21

    Let’s find time to recharge.  It may seem like a good work strategy to just do one more thing or push through. But, in fact, our focus and productivity go down when our energy is depleted. This means that we have to work harder and longer to get the same results than we would have had if we took the time to recharge. Attend this session to explore techniques to energize, calm your mind or relax your body and discover what you most need to recharge.

    Give-away and Draw: Participants will receive a Break Kit to support recharging after this workshop (while quantities last) and everyone will be entered into a random draw to receive a 1-year subscription to Calm.

    Date: Thursday, November 27, 2025
    Time: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
    Location: In-person, SHA-037
    Target Audience: All faculty and staff

    Please REGISTER by Friday, November 21

  • Crucial Conversations for Employees: December 8-12

    When it comes to the health of relationships, teams, and organizations, one thing affects everything: communication. Backed by 30 years of social science, Crucial Conversation skills represent the standard in effective communication. Improve your skills and get better outcomes by attending a training course.

    The communication skills taught in this training focus on a specific kind of interaction: those when stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. This is not a course on winning friends or winning people to your way of thinking; it’s about strengthening relationships and securing results in the moments that matter most.

    This course teaches nine powerful skills for working through disagreement to achieve better resources: Get unstuck, Master my stories, Start with heart, State my path, Make it safe, Learn to look, Seek mutual purpose, Explore others’ paths, and Move to action.

    Crucial Conversations: Employees

      • Date: Monday, December 8, 2025 to Friday, December 12, 2025 (2.5 hours x 5 days)
      • Time: 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
      • Location: Virtual
      • Target Audience: Employees

    REGISTER

  • Door Decorating Contest: Enter by Friday, December 12

    Celebrate the holiday & winter season with Ontario Tech’s annual Door Decorating Contest!

    How it works:

    1.  Gather your colleagues and select a door to decorate* for the holiday/winter season.
           *Please abide by the Guidelines for Office Decorations from the Office of Risk Management.

    2. Decorate your door in celebration of the holiday and/or winter season.  Please be mindful that any decorations used do not damage the door upon removal.   

    3. By Friday, December 12, email wellnessatwork@ontariotechu.ca the following:
      • A photo of your door
      • Names of decorating participants
      • Your Department/Faculty

    4. Dec. 17-19 view photos of contest submissions on the Door Decorating webpage and vote for your favourite!

    5. Please remove your decorations no later than Tuesday, December 23.

    6. Winners will be announced in January 2026 and prizes distributed (yes, there are prizes!).

Reoccurring

Learning and Development

Please contact Julie Day, Health and Disability Management Specialist, with questions or if you should require an accommodation in order to participate in any of the events.