Publication
Employers’ Lessons Learned in Hiring, Retaining and Advancing Employees with Disabilities
Access Ability: Strategy Report
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Released:March 5, 2022
Project: Access Ability
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Access Ability strategy report synthesizes findings from research and roundtables about organizational inclusion of employees with disabilities. The findings reflect lessons learned by employers, by practitioners supporting employers, and by employees working to identify possible directions to make workplaces more equitable for employees with disabilities.
Research for the Access Ability strategy report included a review of publicly available literature, qualitative and quantitative data collection from public governmental and employer sites, and an environmental scan of Canadian employer initiatives on inclusion and accessibility and the resources that support them.
The report also reflects qualitative input from the participants of the Access Ability roundtable series, during which PPF gathered candid observations from diverse representatives from medium and large employers across Canada and across sectors about their efforts to improve inclusion of employees with disabilities. Participants included executives and leaders from human resources, equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives and employees with disabilities across these roles.
Access Ability asked questions such as:
- Why do inequities persist for people with disabilities in the workplace?
- What have organizations learned from their years of practice and progress in disability inclusion?
- Why do strategies to improve disability inclusion sometimes fail to produce measurable results or lasting change, even when organizational support and leadership motivation are high?
While the Access Ability project did not expect to fully answer these questions, they served as a rationale and grounding point for research and consultation—and an invitation for further research and policy directions.
The research findings from this project have been used as a foundation for the Access Ability Executive Program, a PPF Academy program which takes an experiential peer learning and change management approach to advancing disability inclusion.
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THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS
Ability New Brunswick
Azrieli Foundation
Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work
Diversity Institute
Government of Canada
Government of Ontario
Future Skills Centre (FSC)
Microsoft
THANK YOU TO OUR DATA PARTNERS
Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN)
About the Authors
Marlena Flick is a Policy Lead at the Public Policy Forum (PPF). She joined PPF in 2018. Marlena’s varied experiences from public policy, academic, market and community research, and social services have centred around advancing social and economic equity and broadly informed research and policy.
She is a Board Member of the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (CCSBE) and serves as a career and transition mentor for newcomers and youth with local immigrant-serving organizations and neighbourhood initiatives.
Marlena holds a Master of Political Science from the University of Waterloo and a Joint Honours in Political Science and Philosophy (French) at the University of Ottawa.
Rosemary McManus is a Project Lead on the Public Policy Forum’s Academy team, where she designs, develops and delivers executive learning programs. She joined PPF in 2021.
Rosemary has worked in education, communications, fundraising and public engagement, and has over a decade of experience in writing and editing for the non-profit, charitable and journalism sectors.
Rosemary holds a Master of Arts in English from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English and a minor in Religion from George Washington University, where she graduated on the Dean’s List for Academic Excellence.