Summit aims to change attitudes about people with disabilities in the workforce

The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW) is spearheading a national effort to raise awareness of the difficulties people with disabilities face while trying to find meaningful employment.

According to the recently released Trends Report, an estimated 27 per cent of Canadians aged fifteen and over (roughly 8 million people) report having at least one disability. The employment rate for persons with disabilities is 62 per cent. While the employment rate for people without disabilities is 78 per cent.

The organization is hosting a first-of-its-kind employment summit aiming to change the way employers think about people with disabilities and to highlight the untapped talent pool that is being underutilized.

Maureen Haan, CCRW President and CEO, told 570 NewsRadio the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is typically around 10 per cent higher than for people without a disability.

“We still have quite a gap for employment for people with disabilities, right across Canada.”

She said a major part of the summit will be helping job creators see the benefits of investing in a more inclusive and accommodating workplace.

“If employers and business just make a few modifications, they may be able to then become what we like to call ‘disability confident’ and then pull in that untapped talent into their workforce.”

She goes on to say any potential costs of making those modifications will be more than made-up for.

“When you look at the cost benefit of making sure you have an inclusive workforce that is representative of the clients or customers you are serving, all of those upfront costs, wash away in the end.”

Jolene McDonald, Founder, Accessibrand, a Wellesley-based company that bills itself as Canada’s first accessibility-focused design, marketing and communications agency, said her company is a prime demonstration of what can be accomplished with an equitable workplace.

“I created Accessibrand as an example of how you can operate a successful and profitable business by having myself as an owner with disabilities and employing people with disabilities. It’s just running it in a different way.”

She said that there are thousands of people collecting disability benefits that would much rather support themselves then rely on the system.

“It’s not that we don’t want to work, it’s that we need people to change how they do their structures. It doesn’t mean it’s a big change, you just need to build more trust.”

She adds that when a company makes the effort to be inclusive, those employees give more to the job.

“When you give someone the trust and the opportunity and the flexibility, they’re gonna work harder, they’re gonna stay longer, they’re going to put their own effort back into you.”

Along with the summit, CCRW will be launching an online job board called Untapped Talent, which will connect specifically job seekers with disabilities to accommodating employers.