You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D

September is back-to-school time for students at all levels…elementary school, middle school…and college and and university students.

It’s a good time to talk about supporting youth who have a disability so they can transition to employment from high school or post-secondary education.

Research shows that young people who have a disability…have a better chance of long-term success in the workforce if they have a part-time job while they’re finishing high school.

The 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability showed that 20% of Canadian youth have a disability. That’s more than 546,000 young people.

Then there all the young people who have disability, who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). In Canada, that’s almost 109,000 young people.

And almost 84,000 of them have been identified as potential employees. The statistics show there are a lot of youth who have a disability who can, and want to, work. But are we doing enough to support them?

A report released in September 2024 suggests not. And it outlines a public funding cost-benefit model of “stable, equitable ‘start-early’ programs” that shows a small public investment per person has a big lifetime return on investment.

It’s been a year since the release of Funding Employment Inclusion for Ontario Youth with Disabilities: A Cost-Benefit Model.

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital spearheaded this collaborative report.

This episode, we find out what’s been happening in the year since the report was released and presented to the Ontario government.

Catch this insightful conversation with guests with Holland Bloorview’s Laura Bowman and Carolyn McDougall.

SHOW NOTES

Research shows, only 21% of business leaders put a priority on creating an inclusive culture in the organizations they lead. And they’re not exactly in tune with whether employees really feel safe in their work environment.

A 2020 study by Accenture found, 84% of executives believe employees feel safe disclosing a disability.

But the reality is, only 65% of them do.

The same Accenture study showed, 76% of employees and 80% of executives don’t fully disclose a disability.

These statistics say a lot about psychological safety and belonging in the workplace.

So what exactly is psychological safety and belonging in the workplace? Why is it the cornerstone of creating the culture of any organization? And what happens when it isn’t there?

These are just a few of the questions we explore with our expert guest in this episode.

In 2021, Andrea D. Carter did pioneering research on workplace belonging that’s revolutionizing how organizations measure, analyze and implement belonging strategies.

She’s established a new global benchmark for creating an inclusive corporate culture.

Have a listen to this compelling, insightful conversation with Andrea D. Carter.

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Sean Towgood is the creator, star, writer and co-executive producer of You’re My Hero.

If you’re not familiar with You’re My Hero, it’s a six-part CBC Gem comedy series about Ian Fletcher. The main character created and played by Sean Towgood.

Ian is an angsty 20-something wheelchair user with cerebral palsy, dealing with the pressures of adult life in a physical environment that’s not designed with accessibility in mind.

You’re My Hero is in its second season on CBC Gem. In addition to being an actor, writer and producer, Sean Towgood is also an award-winning radio documentary maker. And he’s funny, with a sharp wit.

In this feature interview, Sean talks about the importance of You’re My Hero; the challenges he faced getting the show on air; the state of disability inclusion in Canadian film and television; whether he thinks of himself as a disability “mythbuster,” and more.

Sean’s sense of humour and sharp wit makes this an entertaining, lively, engaging and insightful conversation you won’t want to miss.

SHOW NOTES

It’s definitely no secret — there’s a general labour shortage in Canada that’s going to last until about 2030. It’s affecting just about every sector. Perhaps none more than the health care sector.

There’s a labour crisis in the sector that’s affecting — among other things in hospitals, wait times in emergency rooms; and often whether some smaller communities even have an open ER or hospital at all.

So what’s to be done about the staffing crisis in pretty much every hospital in every province? And how do people who have a disability, and disability-inclusive hiring, fit into this?

There’s a new initiative in Ontario aimed at solving the hiring, training and retention crisis in the health care sector. In Ontario, at least. It’s aptly named Inspire, Hire, Train, Retain. Or, IHTR for short. It’s a disability-inclusive hiring “training in the box” solution.

It’s a collaborative initiative led by Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto.

Our two guests for this episode are deeply and intrinsically involved in spearheading the development of IHTR. Catch this dynamic, engaging conversation with:

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In 2024, tourism was the fifth-largest industry in the world by revenue, and the largest industry globally by employment.

Here in Canada, tourism contributes $102 billion to the economy, and generates over 745,000 jobs in communities across the country.

A tourism industry report noted, more often than not, it’s in the front-line jobs where people who have a disability tend to be hired the most. And it’s often those front-line jobs where the biggest barriers to employment are.

The Beyond Barriers: Insights into Tourism Workplace Disability Inclusion found there’s a bit of a disconnect.

On the one hand, tourism employers have adopted inclusive hiring practices.

But there’s a lack of formal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) training programs. And a lack of formal DEIA policies. There’s also a lack of professional development opportunities for employees who have a disability.

But the industry is working to change all this, with the “Belong” initiative.

Our two guests give us their perspectives on “Belong”…the current state of tourism sector workplace disability inclusion…and what “Belong” means for the future of the sector.

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In the Province of Ontario, Canada, the twentieth anniversary of legislation that was supposed to make the province fully accessible by 2025 came and went in January with Ontario being nowhere near fully accessible for people who have a disability.

Over in France, with disability groups protesting in Paris on the eve of the twentieth anniversary of that country’s disability law of 2005, people chanted rien n’a changé, or, nothing has changed.

And then there’s the United States, where DEI has been made illegal and there’s been government action that’s already directly impacting people who have a disability. And there’s fear disability rights and inclusion could be set back 50 years.

In Episode 32 — part two of our Season 6 opener series, we’re zooming out for a look at the global state of disability inclusion in 2025. Helping us make sense of the global state of things in these turbulent times are these two guests:

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In our first episode of the 2025 season, we’re jumping right into the controversial fray of things.

We’re tackling a timely topic that’s literally dividing people and an entire country.

There’s been a lot of controversy, destructive action…and destructive conversation on social media about diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.

This episode is part one in a two-part series to start off season six. We’re diving right into the state of DEI in North America.

This is a compelling conversation with these three guests providing a perspective from both sides of the Canada-U.S. border:

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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.

Today, they come from countries and cultures all over the world. Asia is the continent where most come from; and India is the country where most immigrants to Canada were born, according to Statistics Canada (StatCan) data.

As StatCan notes, “immigrants come from many different countries, bringing with them their cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious heritage.”

And, as we learn in this episode, their perceptions of disability.

Just what is the perception of disability in the newcomer, or immigrant, community and cultures? How inclusive are they? And what are the challenges for people in these communities who have a disability?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode that wraps up our three-part series on Intersectionality, and season five of You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D.

We get deep perspectives and insights from two guests whose work involves supporting people in the newcomer comer community who have a disability:

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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 much of a role does the British colonial history of Canada play in the intersectionality of disability in Indigenous communities and cultures? What challenges around employment barriers and disability inclusion are unique?

All of this is a complex, sometimes sensitive topic with many nuances.

To help us better understand disability in the First Nations and Inuit communities, our two guests provide some deep insights into all of this:

• Romaine Peters, a Family Disability Support Worker on Walpole Island First Nation, in Southwestern Ontario

SHOW NOTES

• Episode 29 transcript (PDF)

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 marginalized communities and cultures?

In Episode 28, we begin a three-part series exploring this.

About 1.3 million Canadians identify as being part of the 2SLGBTQI+ community. And the results of the 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan Survey by Statistics Canada showed, 27% of people in this community are living with a disability. That’s around 350,000 people.

They’re a minority group within a minority group. And how inclusive is the one, for the other?

Not as inclusive as it could be, as we learn from our two guests.

In 2023, they co-authored a piece for The Conversation about disability inclusion in the 2SLGBTQI+ community. In this episode of You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D, they share their insights.

This is an insightful, thought-provoking conversation with:

• Alan Santinele Martino, Assistant Professor in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies in the Community Health Sciences Department at the University of Calgary

SHOW NOTES

• The Conversation, article by Alan Santinele Martino and Emily Coombs, June 25, 2023