Author: Dean Askin

Ontario Disability Employment Network Receives $1 Million Grant to Expand Project SEARCH Initiative That Readies Youth Who Have a Disability for Success in Work Force Five-year project is a “win-win” that will help create more inclusive workplaces in Ontario; help youth achieve full potential; help businesses build talent pipelines to meet future labour needs WHITBY,…

Posted by Dean Askin | Reading time: 5:00 | Filed under Inclusive Hiring In every company, the CEO (or the business owner, if it’s a small business) must be the primary champion of disability-inclusive hiring. They need to be intentional about it. And they need a high level of disability awareness and confidence as well…

The newcomer community in Canada is huge. In 2022, the country welcomed 431,645 new permanent residents — the largest number in one year — in Canadian history. The last time Canada welcomed that many newcomers was over a century ago, in 1913. There was a time when almost all immigrants to Canada came from Europe….

You can’t explore intersectionality without talking about disability among Canada’s Aboriginal people — the Inuit and First Nations. An estimated 30% of Canada’s Indigenous population, or 420,000 people, live with a disability or functional limitation. So just what is the perception and definition of disability in the Inuit and First Nation cultures and communities? How…

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Posted by Dean Askin | Reading time: 5:00 | Filed under Inclusive Hiring Canada is known as “Hollywood North.” That’s because so many television shows and series, and theatrical and television films have been, and are filmed, in this country. They include Supernatural, Schitt’s Creek, Hudson and Rex, Deadpool, Star Trek Beyond, Star Trek Discovery…

Posted by Dean Askin | Reading time: 8:00 | Filed under Inclusive Hiring, Accessibility In North America, the disability inclusion conversation — the fight for equity, has been going on for over 50 years. Here in Ontario, the name David C. Onley is synonymous with championing disability inclusion in employment and accessibility. He wrote best-selling…

Posted by Dean Askin | Reading time: 5:00 | Filed under Inclusive Hiring Ableism happens in many forms. It happens in workplaces, in communities and in society in general, every day. Maybe you have lived experience facing it. Or maybe you’ve practised it, without consciously realizing it. A new “ground-breaking” study called The Big Ableism…

The World Health Organization points out that for people who have a disability, negative attitudes about disability is one of the most common barriers to participation and inclusion — in the broader community and society in general — that they face. But what about the intersection of disability, including attitudes and perceptions about it, with…

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Over 800 Locations in Almost 200 Communities Across Canada Shone Purple and Blue Thursday Night — Light It Up! For NDEAM 2024 a Record-Smashing and History-Making Success For Sparking Continuing Conversation About Disability Inclusion in Employment Scope makes the annual national disability-awareness lighting event unique in North America Whitby, ON, October 18, 2024 — There’s…

Posted by Dean Askin | Reading time 12:00 | Filed under Inclusive Hiring, Disability Awareness & Confidence Background photo courtesy Hilary Gauld / One for the Wall Photography and the Canadian Down Syndrome Society. Foreground photo: Adobe Stock. Making your business disability inclusive encompasses proactively, intentionally creating a work environment where all employees feel valued…