A major Toronto-based employer is increasing its mental health coverage up to $10,000 for all employees and their dependants. 

Scotiabank announced on Tuesday that it will be expanding mental health benefits by an extra $7,000, with the previous amount being $3,000. 

 "Increasing our benefits coverage and support for mental health are necessary to help our team members to thrive for every future," said Dominic Cole-Morgan, Senior Vice President of Total Rewards, in a news release.

The additional funding comes after the company noticed an uptick in employees using their benefits, including more requests for support from employers, Cole-Morgan says.  

Scotiabank says it will also be providing training about mental health awareness and support for all managers that work for them in Canada. 

The workshops will begin as of November 17, with the goal of equipping leaders in the company with skills to reduce stigma around mental health in the workplace. 

The $10,000 will be provided to all employees and their dependants who are eligible under the Canadian Benefits Plan.

It will cover costs for clinical counselors, virtual cognitive behavioural therapy, and psychologists.

Employees will now have the option to allocate funds into a Wellbeing Account. With this, they can extend their coverage to family members such as parents, siblings and adult children living in Canada. 

On top of that, Scotiabank employees have 24/7 virtual access to healthcare providers who support mental health and wellbeing. 

Scotiabank is only the latest workplace in Toronto to announce more supports for employee mental health. 

In October, a four day work week was introduced at The Leadership Agency, as way to diminish the overworked lifestyle of employees. 

We may not see that happening at Scotiabank yet, but the big bank's actions toward increasing mental health benefits is a good start.