In the News

477 locations in 140 communities across all 10 provinces, and in 2 territories, shone purple and blue light on disability awareness Thursday night  (Editors and writers note: the final list of locations and communities that participated in Light It Up! For NDEAM 2023 is attached at the end of this news release.)  Whitby, ON, Friday,…

Light It Up! For NDEAM graphic. Title and hashtags #LightItUpForNDEAM #LightItUpForDEAM #EngageTalent in white text against a purple patterned background. There are four logos across the bottom. From left to right, the ODEN logo, the Canadian Association for Supported Employment logo, the MentorAbility Canada logo and the Jobs Ability Canada logo.

Over 360 locations in more than 100 cities and towns taking part; federal government illuminating over 30 buildings across Canada again this year; famous landmarks participating  (Editors and writers note: the list of Light It Up! For NDEAM participating locations is attached at the end of this news release.)  Whitby, ON, October 12, 2023 —…

Light It Up! For NDEAM graphic. Title and hashtags #LightItUpForNDEAM #LightItUpForDEAM #EngageTalent in white text against a purple patterned background. There are four logos across the bottom. From left to right, the ODEN logo, the Canadian Association for Supported Employment logo, the MentorAbility Canada logo and the Jobs Ability Canada logo.

Makes NDEAM as Vital as Ever for Understanding Disability Inclusion Connections to Success, Ontario Disability Employment Network Affirms  Whitby, ON, October 2, 2023 — Ample research shows connecting disability inclusion to broader business objectives and the company mission is vital for continued growth and success, but a new study found most companies don’t even know…

Purple Background with text: Engage Talent. #NDEAM, #NDEAM2023, #DisabilityInclusionConnection, #EngageTalent

by Jeannette Campbell On January 14,  we lost a champion. David Onley, the former Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, passed away. We mourn the loss of this giant along with all Ontarians, and the entire country.  Mr. Onley was a tireless champion for the rights of people who have a disability.  His advocacy changed the very fabric…

Research done by ODEN found that strong community-partnerships between family networks, schools and educators, and agencies that provide employment supports can result in clear pathways to employment for youth who have a disability. However, when surveyed, parents and educators noted that they are not always aware of employment services in their community that are accessible…

Young white female with shoulder-length brown hair. The person is smiling and looking directly at a camera. The person is wearing glasses and a black sweater with two grocery store logos: on the left, President's Choice is written in white colour; on the right, the word "Independent" is written in white with some yellow. The person is gearing a name tag with the name "Holly". The person is standing next to a grocery aisle displaying shelved items.

Dean Askin, Communications StrategistFiled under In the News, Disability Awareness and Confidence, Inclusive Hiring A new RBC Economics report published July 12 is the latest reinforcement that businesses must access the disability talent pool to remain successful down the road. The report notes some key things in 2021 that are affecting the labour shortage in…

Virtual reality (VR) is mostly known as the realm of gamers. But now — in Ontario, at least — it’s about to burst on the scene in the disability employment sector. Initially, starting at the end of September (through to the middle of March 2022), VR technology called VjobReady is going to be used to…

Engage Talent graphic with a microphone for podcast

Virtual reality (VR) is mostly known as the realm of gamers. But now — in Ontario, at least — it’s about to burst on the scene in the disability employment sector.

And it’s kind of neat that the employment service provider behind the development of this VR training application, is one of ODEN’s members.

Career Services of Brockville’s Cynthia Sparring and Chad Noonan talk about their vision, and why winning a grant and bringing VR technology to disability employment training is so important.

Close-up of man wearing VR headset, with blurred background of a tradeshow

Inclusive and successful-for-everyone onboarding is integral to the overall inclusive culture in your business. But there’s just one crucial thing — you need to have an onboarding program to begin with. According to statistics, onboarding is an afterthought for many businesses. An Allied Workforce Mobility Survey found almost a quarter (22%) of companies don’t do…

Hello I'm a "New Hire" written on name label

The culture of your business plays an important role — the more inclusive it is, the better off your business. It doesn’t matter whether you’re at the helm of a global corporation, or a local small-to-medium enterprise (SME). In a January 2018 Deloitte Review article, The Diversity and Inclusion Revolution — Eight Powerful Truths, co-authors…

Workplace culture written on cogs