Seeking broad input on a pan-Canadian strategy to improve work choices for people with disabilities

Advocates for greater inclusion of people with disabilities in Canadian workplaces are gathering input on, and broad-based support for, a new draft pan-Canadian strategy for building an inclusive workforce.

The draft strategy, unveiled ahead of the Disability and Work in Canada (DWC) conference in Ottawa last December, is designed to promote and guide efforts and initiatives across the country that can be undertaken by various stakeholders to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

The authors of the document—representatives of the Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy (a research initiative housed at the Institute for Work & Health), the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, the Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups and InclusionNL—are now gathering feedback on the draft strategy. Their plan is to integrate the input in the final revision of the strategy, which is set to be released in late 2019.

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The draft strategy is available on the CRWDP’s website. or the CCRW website

 Anyone with feedback on the draft is invited to email: Feedback@DWCstrategy.ca.

The consultation process will include a survey, face-to-face meetings and webinars. Stakeholder groups to be consulted include people with disabilities, injured workers; community agencies; Canadian businesses; provincial and federal governments and researchers. The main consultation process is taking place in the first quarter of 2019, but input received after March 31 will still be considered, since the steering committee will be revising the draft strategy for release later in the year. A policy roundtable is set to take place in the late spring or early summer of 2019 to solicit input from government policy-makers.