Halifax man leading free health care program for Canadian entrepreneurs under 30 named champion of workplace mental health

Halifax resident Kyle Moore has been named the 2026 Champion of Workplace Mental Health for his work supporting the mental health of young entrepreneurs at League of Innovators, an accelerator program for business founders under 30.

The award, presented by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health, recognizes an employer who has contributed to creating a mentally healthy workplace for staff.

Moore has been a longtime mental health advocate through his podcast, Life’s a Wreck. He told The Chronicle Herald he is at a loss for words when trying to express gratitude for the award.

“I launched my mental health podcast back in 2019 at one of the lowest points of my life, and now to know that I’ve had the opportunity to not only stay in the game but help create a system that we believe will have the opportunity to help future workplaces and create mental wellness amongst a large portion of the population. I mean, it’s incredible, and I’m so unbelievably thankful.”

Moore is the director of the League of Innovators‘ mental health and high-performance programming. He implemented free therapy and educational programs around mental health for young founders who join the group.

When he started there in 2023, Moore said he found there were business problems that founders were facing that could be solved through better mental health care. These ideas were magnified by a recent independent study by WellIntel, a workplace wellness researcher founded by two league alumni.

The study found that 85 per cent of the League of Innovators’ young entrepreneurs were experiencing some level of burnout, and 63 per cent said that stress was affecting their ability to get work done. The study added that over half of them didn’t have access to any mental health supports.

“We realized that if we are trying to champion the next great generation of Canadian entrepreneurs, it’s largely going to start with making sure that we actually champion the healthiest generation of Canadian entrepreneurs that we’ve ever seen,” said Moore.

This realization kick-started the mental health programming, led by Moore, which includes workshops on implementing better communication systems, improving self-image and preventing burnout.

“Burnout is one of the leading indicators of entrepreneurial failure, and so if we can mitigate burnout and we can mitigate how stress is negatively affecting these entrepreneurs, our hypothesis is that it will create more competitive, healthier and longer entrepreneurial lifespans for these founders,” said Moore.

Programming is free for any entrepreneurs under 30 who join the League of Innovators. Moore encourages everyone to join and use the free resources provided.

Those resources include the Edge program, launched this fall in partnership with insurance company GreenShield, which gives the founders access to five free therapy sessions.

Another section focuses on high-performance stress management, and the league has invited Olympic athletes, business leaders and television producers to speak with founders about burnout and work-life balance.

This programming also has a trickle-down effect, with the entrepreneurs taking this knowledge with them when setting up their employee support systems.

Moore said his hope is that it will set a precedent for Canadian businesses to prioritize mental health and see the economic benefits of having a well-supported workplace.

“We’re arguing that this is actually going to create more high-performing workplaces that create better financial and entrepreneurial results,” said Moore.

“We believe that there is an opportunity for us to completely shift culture where every future workplace in Canada institutes these wellness benefits to avoid things like burnout and lost productivity and allow people to stay more mentally and physically well.”

Moore will be in Ottawa on Tuesday to receive his honour at the alliance’s Champions of Mental Health Awards. Alongside him will be six others receiving awards in categories such as media, community, parliamentary and research.

He said it will be an honour to stand beside his fellow recipients, many of whom he has admired.

“Some of the work the other champions have done just completely blows me out of the water,” said Moore.

“So having the opportunity to learn more about them and connect with them . . . I mean, I’m over the moon.”