News Release: Light It Up! For NDEAM 2024 A History-Making Event

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 no other lighting event quite like this one. And this year, it was one heck of a purple-and-blue celebration of the contributions Canadians who have a disability make to businesses and communities.

The nationwide, record-smashing participation in the fifth Light It Up! For NDEAM™ on Thursday night firmly establishes Light It Up! For NDEAM as the most expansive and unique disability awareness cause-lighting event in North America, especially during National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).

“Every participating location represents a conversation about disability-inclusive hiring that has happened,” says Jeannette Campbell, CEO of the Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN), which leads Light It Up! For NDEAM.

“This year, more of those conversations have happened than in any previous year, and it’s thrilling to see the result. The impact that this is having, is more than we ever imagined when ODEN started Light It Up! For NDEAM.”

From Twillingate, NL; to Vancouver Island; to White Horse,YK; to Yellowknife, NWT; to Iqaluit, NU, over 800 locations in almost 200 communities — big cities, small towns and rural areas alike — illuminated purple and blue to raise disability-inclusion awareness.

Illuminated locations across the country included bridges, office towers, city and town halls, municipal “signature” signs, federal buildings, provincial government buildings, provincial legislatures, local businesses, homes, college campuses and famous landmarks. Among these, The Big Fiddle in Sydney, NS; the Terry Fox Memorial in St. John’s; the Halifax Seaport District; the CN Tower; the iconic Canada Life Building in Toronto; Niagara Falls; and, for the first time, Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

Light It Up! For NDEAM has evolved from being an “awareness” lighting event to being a national movement that sparks ongoing engagement and conversation about disability-inclusive hiring between job seekers, families, community organizations, businesses and local governments, all over Canada.

“I think the shear amount of involvement in Light It Up! For NDEAM every year, and this year especially, is a testament to this,” affirms Campbell. “The almost 800 locations are just the ones we know about.”

Adds Dean Askin, National Campaign Co-ordinator of Light It Up! For NDEAM, “Light It Up! For NDEAM has become the over-arching flagship event that unites regional and local NDEAM campaigns across the country. Some parts of Canada that had never celebrated NDEAM now do so, through Light It Up! For NDEAM. There’s excitement about it among national, regional and local community organizations in the disability sector every year. Everyone looks forward to it, and wants to be involved in it. Seeing the impact, involvement, engagement and excitement that’s happening on this huge scale, is rewarding.”

Light It Up! For NDEAM has grown exponentially every year since it started.

When the event started regionally in Ontario, in 2020, 28 locations in 16 communities around the province lit purple and blue.

In 2021, the event went national through collaboration with the Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE) and MentorAbility Canada. The federal government also started participating. Over 300 locations in almost 115 cities and towns across the country lit purple and blue.

In 2022, that rose to over 440 locations in 120 communities.

Last year, almost 700 locations in almost 150 communities across the country illuminated purple and blue the third Thursday of October.

Participation in Light It Up! For NDEAM 2024 has smashed all previous years in both the number of locations and the number of communities, involved.

“This year, for the first time, businesses and disability-sector organizations in the Yukon and Northwest Territories participated, and that was exciting to see happen. We always promote Light It Up! For NDEAM by asking everyone to help us light up the nation purple and blue on the third Thursday of October,” Askin explains.

“And this year, people and organizations across the country really came through in a big way. Last night, with involvement in the Yukon and Northwest Territories for the first time, purple and blue shone light on disability inclusion during NDEAM in every province and territory for the first time.”

In Nunavut, the Minister of Family Services, Margaret Nakashuk, declared October as Disability Employment Awareness Month. In her declaration, the Minister encouraged “communities, organizations and individuals across Nunavut” to “participate in events, programs, and activities that foster understanding and respect for the rights and abilities of all people.”

Participation is always highest in Ontario, where Light It Up! For NDEAM was started. Over 200 locations in 81 communities were lit purple and blue. This includes 13 Ontario Government buildings around the province, up from five in 2023 and 2022.

In BC — where September is officially Disability Employment Awareness Month, almost 170 locations in 22 communities were involved in Light It Up! For NDEAM this year. The City of Williams Lake, BC — the hometown of “Man in Motion” Rick Hansen, illuminated their City Hall again this year. The City participated for the first time in 2023.

There is also always strong, avid participation across Saskatchewan. This year, a record 117 locations in 18 communities around the province participated in Light It Up! For NDEAM.

This year, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) participated in Light It Up! For NDEAM for the first time. The CAF illuminated the Regimental Headquarters of the Nova Scotia Highlanders in Truro, NS, along with the Regimental Armoury in Truro.

As well, Public Service and Procurement Canada illuminated 49 federal buildings across the country — a record number. These included the Public Archives and National Library of Canada, and the National Printing Bureau.

Owen Sound, ON-based Brightshores Health System participated for the first time, and is the first entire hospital system in Canada to participate in Light It Up! For NDEAM. Brightshores illuminated its hospitals in Owen Sound, Markdale, Lion’s Head, Southampton and Wiarton, ON, plus its Wellness and Recovery Centre in Owen Sound.

Here are the participation numbers by province and territory:

 

To see the full list of participating 2024 locations and communities, visit odenetwork.com/initiatives/light-it-up-for-ndeam 2024.

Light It Up! For NDEAM is the flagship event of ODEN’s annual National Disability Employment Awareness Month campaign.

ODEN owns and leads Light It Up! for NDEAM. But it happens on such an expansive scale through collaboration with CASE, MentorAbility Canada and Jobs Ability Canada; and many other provincial, regional and community-based organizations in the disability employment sector as well as with the participation of the federal and some provincial governments.

Campbell hopes the record-breaking Light It Up! For NDEAM this year will spark even more conversation about disability inclusion in employment, in every province.

“The modern conversation about disability inclusion in business and employment in this country has been going on since the end of World War One,” she notes. “A lot of progress has been made, but there’s still more to do. Still too often, disability gets left out of business conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion.”

“The path to equitable employment for people who have a disability is still fraught with barriers including attitudes about disability that stem from common myths and misconceptions, and a lack of awareness,” Campbell says. “This is why Light It Up! For NDEAM is so important.”

The 2022 Statistics Canada Canadian Survey on Disability showed that 27% of Canadians age 15 and older have at least one disability. That’s up almost 5% from the 2017 CSD. The survey is done every five years.

While the employment rate of working-age (25 to 64) Canadians is up to 62% — for many years it was stagnant at 59%, there are almost 645,000 employable Canadians who have a disability, who aren’t working, StatCan figures show.

“It’s vital for business leaders and owners in every province to recognize and understand that being an accessible and disability-inclusive employer means a lot more than ‘ticking boxes’ to be compliant with provincial employment standards and human rights legislation,” says Campbell.

“Fully, proactively embracing disability inclusion is a key to making not only your business, but the community it serves, stronger and more vibrant, both economically and socially. It’s good for your business, for your company culture and for your brand. There’s ample research that shows this.”

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For more information, and to arrange interviews, contact:  
Dean Askin, Communications Strategist, ODEN     daskin@odenetwork.com  416-818-1514 (cell)

ABOUT ODEN: The Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN), created in 2008, is a professional body of more than 130 employment service providers united to increase employment opportunities for people who have a disability. Members are from every corner of the province and support people of all disability types. Beyond Ontario, ODEN (odenetwork.com) has connections with organizations in other provinces and territories of Canada. Light It Up! For NDEAMTM is a trademark of the Ontario Disability Employment Network.