Burnout isn’t just a buzzword used for office workers and think pieces. It’s showing up on job sites, in work trucks and at the end of long shifts across the country. A report of more than 1,000 Canadian skilled trades workers found that half of those experiencing mental health issues specifically suffered from burnout.
Which makes sense. This kind of work is demanding, and its culture of pushing through is real. In a lot of ways it’s part of what makes a good tradesman. However, there’s a line between a hard day’s work and something more serious. The symptoms are easier to miss than you’d think.
To get a better look at the issue, I spoke to CMHF’s Trevor Botkin, a working carpenter turned mental health advocate, and Jessie MacAlpine Shearer, a Registered Psychotherapist. Here’s what the two of them have to say about burnout in tradeworkers and men.
The tricky thing about burnout is that it doesn’t suddenly announce itself. It creeps in quietly, usually disguised as something else.
Where burnout begins
Trevor lived through this shift firsthand. He describes himself as going from someone thrown into his work (proactive, driven, finding real fulfilment in the job) to eventually landing in a place where everything that used to drive him turned grey.
“I remember putting on my work boots each day felt almost impossible to do.”
Jessie expands on these feelings. She works with a lot of skilled trades guys who work physically demanding roles and sees this pattern regularly. She defines burnout as a state of chronic physical and emotional decline paired with loss of interest and lower productivity.
The key distinction from ordinary tiredness and burnout is that burnout lingers and changes how you see yourself.
“You’ll hear the guys say things like ‘it’s not just ‘I’m tired, it’s ‘I don’t feel like myself anymore,’ while they’re trying to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders,” Jessie explains.
She sees burnout show up in a few areas of a person’s life:
- Irritability or anger that feels out of character
- Emotional numbness or withdrawal
- Increased substance use
- Trouble sleeping, even when exhausted
- Loss of motivation or pride in work
- Strained relationships
The guys who sit down with Jessie rarely label these combined feelings as burnout. More often it looks like irritability that feels out of character, emotional numbness, trouble sleeping even when exhausted, a loss of pride in the work or strained relationships at home. For tradesmen specifically, it often hides behind physical fatigue. Since it’s so expected in these roles the mental side of it goes unnoticed far longer.
How trades workers end up here
The risk factors for burnout in the trades aren’t hard to spot once you know where to look, and they stack up quickly. Physical strain without enough recovery. Long hours. Financial pressure. High performance expectations. And on top of all that, the pressure to try and handle it alone.
For Trevor, a lot of it came down to identity. He describes being locked into a rigid idea that being a man and being a construction worker meant there were things he simply didn’t do. Rest. Ask for help. Admit something was wrong. He calls this former self “a professional at self-destruction.”
Jessie sees this dynamic constantly. According to her, identity for tradesmen is often tied to being reliable, tough and capable. This is what makes it genuinely hard for them to recognize limits, let alone act on them. What clients think is causing their burnout is often just the surface, she says. Underneath is usually a mix of unexamined pressure, identity and a lack of recovery methods.
The data backs this up. According to research, despite 84% of Canadian tradespeople believing their union offers mental health support, only 10% have actually used those resources. Stigma was listed as a major barrier to these supports.
Some of the major causes of burnout include:
- Chronic physical strain without adequate recovery
- High performance expectations and long hours
- Financial or job insecurity
- Lack of emotional outlets or support
- Internalized pressure to “handle it” alone
Jessie underlines burnout isn’t a character flaw.
“It simply indicates a broken system, an overstimulating environment, or a lack of support in managing chronic stress.”
Why getting help feels so uncomfortable
Knowing something is wrong and doing something about it are two very different things. Bridging the gap between them, for a lot of tradesmen, can be harder than what they’re used to building.
Trevor resisted for a long time. The turning point came, but getting there meant overcoming years of believing that asking for help was a failure. Something he really emphasizes now when working the site with other men is that counselling is not what you think it is. The version you’ve imagined in your head — whatever that looks like — is rarely the reality.
Jessie says she regularly hears the same doubt from clients. She says the most common reasons men give for waiting are “I thought I could handle it,” “It’s not bad enough yet.” “I didn’t think therapy was for someone like me.” Underneath all of it seems to be a belief that struggling means failure which can keep people stuck in life.
She’s also clear about what tipping points people reach that get them into therapy. A relationship under serious strain or ending. A noticeable drop in performance. Physical or emotional exhaustion that can’t be pushed through anymore. Or someone they trust telling them it’s time.
For trades workers specifically, virtual therapy removes a lot of the practical friction. No commute after a long shift. More privacy. Flexible scheduling. As Jessie puts it, you can start a session from a parked car if you’ve got a phone with internet access. The entry bar is lower than most people expect.
It won’t fix itself but it will get better
Recovery from burnout isn’t an overhaul. It takes time and outside help. Slowly reframing your life is what can help create positive change for guys who are already running on empty.
Botkin found his footing through the basics. Coming back to fundamental needs (healthier foods, creating sleep routines), a simple meditation practice and finding something to believe in that made life feel better which he calls spirituality. To him, the importance of just believing in anything, whether it be religious or not, offers a profound sense of wholeness to a person. The belief doesn’t have to be complicated, but simply a value you believe brings meaning and morals to the world.
Jessie’s early suggestions follow alongside some of this. Start with stabilizing sleep and energy. Build small moments of recovery (like meditation) into the day. Create awareness around stress patterns. Reduce all-or-nothing thinking. Structured routines, clear action-based strategies and tracking progress in concrete ways tend to resonate most with men in physically demanding work.
For those who want or need more structured support we’re launching a new eight-week Alli x CMHF program for exactly that. It’s a workshop called Running on Empty hosted by Jessie’s colleagues, Joel Carlton and Bree Grieg. It’s built around education on burnout and stress, practical tools for managing thoughts, mood and energy, strategies for better sleep and recovery, as well as a community of men working through the same thing. It’s designed to be straightforward and actionable, not clinical or overwhelming.
Progress can start subtly. Feeling slightly more patient. Sleeping better. Having a bit more energy at the end of the day. Getting back into things you’d stopped doing.
It’s a signal not a sentence
Both Trevor and Jessie land on the same idea. Recognizing something is off is already doing something. Burnout won’t resolve overnight but it’s absolutely reversible with the right support and consistent small changes.
So if the job that used to drive you is starting to feel like something you’re just getting through, that’s worth paying attention to. Self check-ins, expert advice and access to counselling can be the foundation to building a more durable you.
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