The workplace environment drives many Canadians to drink heavily enough to threaten their own careers, a researcher told a conference in Fredericton.

Presenting her findings at a conference called Substance Abuse in the Workplace: Promoting Healthier Environments, Carleton University researcher Karen Garabedian said drinking, whether it's done on the job or off, costs Canadian companies billions in lost productivity every year.

Garabedian, who has been studying employee alcohol abuse in Alberta for the past two years, said the work environment often triggers the temptation to drink.

"The availability at work, near work and the social component of people going out for drinks together: those three things make up what I define as the work environment and that was a key predictor in increased drinking," she said.

Garabedian surveyed 1,900 employees in a range of professions to find out why people drink, how frequently, and how it impacts their work.

While the problem exists in a variety of workplaces, she said one group stands out.

"I found the waiters and wait staff to have a little bit more drinking on the job as compared to other occupations, which isn't too much of a surprise considering that if you're working at a bar, it's not rare for someone to offer to buy you a drink, in which case you're drinking at work," Garabedian said.

People who have more than nine drinks a week are jeopardizing their careers, Garabedian said. Being intoxicated or even hung over causes workplace injuries, lateness and bad decision-making.

More studies are needed, she said, to combat the problem.

Sgt. Luc Breton of the RCMP says he's hoping the conference will inspire employers to take more responsibility.

"I think this whole conference is to bring everyone together from all sides from A to Z and tell them that having a policy in place is a good thing for a company," Breton said. "It's also a good thing for the employees to have protection at the end of the day."

The conference, which is sponsored by the RCMP and the University of New Brunswick, wraps on Thursday.