The challenge
The LCBO is one of Canada's largest retailers and wholesalers, with more than 8,000 employees working at their retail stores, distribution centres, and offices across Ontario. Given that over a third of working-age adults are grieving a recent loss at any given time, the LCBO’s leadership team recognized that they had thousands of grieving employees, who were all at increased risk for anxiety, depression, illness, substance use, workplace accidents, and lost work.
While bereavement leave may end after a few days or weeks, LCBO’s team knew that grief can last a long time. They also knew that many of their grieving employees weren't receiving support outside of work due to barriers like cost, language, stigma, and availability.
For Lilian Riad-Allen, the LCBO's Senior Director for Workplace Health, Safety & Wellness, the problem was personal. When her mom died in 2021, she knew she needed help but quickly discovered that grief support is hard to find. Luckily she discovered and signed up for grief support from Help Texts, a company offering tailored, gentle bereavement care via text. Lilian found the personalized messages genuinely helpful.
Help Texts gave me practical ways to ground back into myself and process my loss in a supportive and loving way.
— Lilian Riad-Allen, Senior Director, Workplace Health, Safety & Wellness
When Lilian started sharing her experience with grief openly at work, colleagues started sharing too, and she realized how many people around her were quietly managing loss. She began advocating for grief support for every LCBO employee.
The solution
In 2023, the LCBO started working with Help Texts to offer a full year of personalized grief support to all 8,000 of their employees. Messages are expert-written and tailored to each person's loss, including their relationship, cause of death, age, and time since loss, and support is available in English, French, and dozens of other languages.
Better yet, when grieving employees sign up for text support, they can also invite their colleagues, friends, and family members to receive tips and date reminders to help them know what to say and how to help. Kayla Smith, who worked alongside Lilian to launch the program, had used the supporter texts herself:
It can be difficult knowing what the 'right' thing is to say or how to show up. To say that I learned a lot from Help Texts would be an understatement. I was given so many new tools and new language to help me be there for my friend.
— Kayla Smith, Senior Manager, Health, Safety & Wellness Programs
The results
Three years of steady enrollment, with no signs of slowing.
Since launching in 2023, employee enrollment has grown consistently every year. Enrollment climbs steadily as new losses happen and awareness of the benefit spreads across the organization.
On average employees stay subscribed for more than 6 months.
Enrolled employees receive support for more than 6 months, a sign that the messages keep earning their place on people’s phones long after the first weeks of loss.
Here's what one LCBO employee said about receiving text support
When my father passed unexpectedly it was the hardest experience I had ever encountered. I personally didn't feel grief counseling or therapy was helpful to me, but when I was made aware of Help Texts I said yes to signing up and have been finding it very helpful. Twice a week I get messages that resonate with how I feel with losing someone so close to me and I look forward to each new message. Help Texts is a tool I highly recommend for anyone who has lost someone close to them.
— Thomas Georgakopoulos, Director of Retail Strategy and Analytics
Why it works
The science behind text-based grief support
Help Texts is built on a simple insight: grief support works best when it's easy to receive. For employees already managing the weight of loss alongside shifts, deadlines, and daily life, low friction is everything.
Our published research shows a 95% satisfaction rate, with even higher ratings among men and people over 65, two populations historically less likely to seek out traditional grief support.
For the LCBO, Help Texts delivers consistent, personalized support to grieving employees wherever they work, without adding administrative load for the wellness team. It's a model other Canadian employers are starting to notice.