Advocacy, Influence, Engagement
ODEN consults with provincial and federal governments on policy and funding issues that impact Employment Service Providers’ ability to help people who have a disability get jobs. We also identify and advocate on issues where gaps in service exist.
Text version of infographic
Our Strategic Priorities 2025–2028
Priority #1: Advocacy, Influence and Engagement
As a thought leader in inclusive employment, ODEN will:
- Amplify the voices of people who have a disability and our members
- Influence sector change
- Address barriers to employment
- Promote inclusive, sustainable employment practices and policies
Priority #2: Service Excellence
ODEN will enhance its offerings through innovation and technology to:
- Maintain sector leadership
- Expand training
- Advance knowledge transfer
Priority #3: Organizational Health and Excellence
ODEN will strengthen its internal capacity and sustainability, through:
- Strong leadership
- Financial stability
- Engaged membership
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Download Strategic Priorities detailed PDF
The Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN) is pleased to share that our much-anticipated follow-up report, Still Tangled in Red Tape, has officially been released. This report builds on the findings of the 2024 report Tangled in Red Tape, offering fresh insights, updated data, and concrete recommendations to continue the critical conversation we started.
Still Tangled highlights and reinforces the urgent need for systemic change in Ontario’s Integrated Employment Services.
In May 2025, ODEN hosted the first Member’s Collective, on Zoom.
This meet-up is a new biannual opportunity to gather informally with ODEN members from across Ontario and “talk shop.”
The inaugural Member’s Collective was a small, intimate gathering of a dozen members from around Ontario. It made for a dynamic, interactive 45-minute session that gave everyone a chance to participate in the conversation. It was an opportunity to:
- Collaborate and share initiatives, and promising practices
- Engage with each other in important conversations about what’s happening in your organization and region
- Connect and start new relationships
- Learn from each other
- Strengthen existing relationships, and our collective efforts to increase employment opportunities for people who have a disability
Employment Programs for Disabled Job-Seekers Shutter After Ford Government Changes
February 19, 2025
ODEN’s perspective was included in this community journalism investigative feature that was published on TheTrillium.ca and on 14 other Village Media community news sites around Ontario.
Representatives from the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development joined ODEN at our November 2024 Rethinking Disability Conference. They spent a morning listening and engaging with delegates to collect recommendations and strategies for improving Integrated Employment Services.
In June 2024, Community Living Ontario and the Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN) published Tangled in Red Tape, a report highlighting how Ontario’s Employment Services Transformation has impacted the delivery of employment services.
Read the news release about the report