Labour Market Integration of Persons with Disabilities Archives - SRDC

Tourism HR Canada Belong Project Evaluation

Wallaa Daramlly — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 14:49:11 +0000

The Belong project is a three-year, pan-Canadian initiative funded by Employment and Social Development Canada’s Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities. It promotes disability inclusion and accessibility in the tourism sector by providing employers with data, training, resources, and tailored supports across the hiring, retention, and advancement of people with disabilities. The project is bringing together key partners at local, regional, and national levels, including employers, community organizations, and people with disabilities, to identify needs and support project delivery.

Tourism HR Canada is engaging the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) to lead an evaluation of the Belong project to examine the extent to which the project has increased awareness and capacity for disability inclusion in the tourism sector. The evaluation is examining outcomes that extend beyond direct hiring measures, including shifts in organizational culture, increased dialogue around disability inclusion, and knowledge transfer across the sector. The evaluation also aims to identify evidence-informed recommendations for program improvement and identify options for sustaining and scaling project components.

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Strategic Evaluation and Learning Support for the Future Skills Centre 2025

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 20:58:11 +0000

Since 2020, the Future Skills Centre (FSC) has supported the development, refinement, or expansion of approaches to developing skills for workers from a variety of backgrounds and in a variety of sectors. These innovation projects are required to mobilize knowledge and evidence among key stakeholders, institutions and decision-makers for the purposes of improving policies and practices in Canada. SRDC is developing a mix of retrospective and prospective evaluation approaches for a subset of these projects, dependent on the timelines and stage of development of each project. These involve quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis using document and data review, interviews with project partners and their subcontractors, implementation evaluation, and theory of change or logic model development. SRDC’s learning and evaluation framework is designed to capture what has been learned from these projects for the future development of the skills ecosystem in Canada.

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Empower3D

Wallaa Daramlly — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 21:38:11 +0000

Led by Neil Squire Society (NSS) in partnership with the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC) and SRDC, the Empower3D Program provides youth with disabilities the opportunity to develop skills and gain valuable work experience in the manufacturing sectors. It involves three dimensions of job readiness, professional practice, and technical skills. NSS is implementing the training and EMC is coordinating the work placements with manufacturing companies. SRDC is the research and evaluation partner, providing critical insights and data-driven guidance to inform program design, implementation, continuous improvement, and reporting on program outcomes. This project is scheduled to begin Fall 2024 and end March 31, 2028, and serve approximately 120 youth with disabilities across Canada.

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Literature Review: Learning Disabilities Among Francophones in Canada

Wallaa Daramlly — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:13:41 +0000

SRDC was asked by the Coalition ontarienne de formation des adultes (COFA) and their partners to conduct a literature review on the detection and support of French-speaking adults with learning disabilities who are seeking employment or career advancement. The aim of the project was to identify effective approaches and tools for the detection of learning disabilities in a French-speaking minority context, as well as best practices in the training, coaching, and support of French-speaking adults with learning disabilities, taking a holistic approach to the individual. It also aimed to propose adaptations to training programs to facilitate learning in this specific context, and to identify the elements needed to better equip employers to support these adults. The results of the project will make it possible to develop detection and support tools for this clientele and to better train and equip practitioners in adult education centres.

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Neuroinclusive Employment

Wallaa Daramlly — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:50:29 +0000

The Neuroinclusive Employment project was a research and learning partnership between the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) and The Sinneave Family Foundation (Sinneave). The project explored inclusive employment practices for people living with disabilities, both broadly and specifically for neurodivergent people. The research focused on identifying evidence-based practices and real-world examples that employers use to support neurodivergent people and people living with disabilities, as well as uncovering opportunities to further advance these efforts. The aim of the research was to generate insights that can help Sinneave, other organizations, and policymakers strengthen employer-focused initiatives to support employment inclusion, with an emphasis on neuroinclusion.

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Supporting Learning Disabilities in Manufacturing

Wallaa Daramlly — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 13:36:06 +0000

SRDC is working closely with Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC) and partners to understand the impact of learning disabilities (LD) in the manufacturing sector and develop a range of potential solutions specific to manufacturing that will support both employees and employers. For employers these may include engagement with workshops to build awareness of barriers faced by employees with LD, building their capacity to implement action plans to address those barriers, and ultimately their ability to hire, support, retain, and advance persons with learning disabilities. We are also evaluating learner engagement with LD screening, assessment, and training tools generated by the project, subsequent awareness of and ease of access to LD supports and resources, and employment training outcomes.

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Career Mobility of People with Disabilities

Wallaa Daramlly — Sat, 09 Mar 2024 16:02:21 +0000

According to the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability, over six million Canadians aged 15 years or over live with at least one disability that impacts their ability to carry out activities in their day-to-day lives. People with disabilities experience greater social, economic, and health disparities compared to those living without a disability. Further, many people with disabilities experience barriers to meaningful employment, and once employed, face challenges due to social stigma, lack of accommodation, and limited opportunities for advancement.

This project aimed to fill a knowledge gap on the experiences of people with disabilities with respect to career mobility. It was conducted in support of advancing the Government of Canada’s Employment Strategy for Persons with Disabilities and Disability Inclusion Action Plan.

Career Mobility of People with Disabilities included a literature review and interviews with stakeholders such as employment service providers, experts, career practitioners, employers, and people with disabilities. It drew on both Canadian and international studies and applied a Gender-based Analysis Plus (or intersectional) lens to capture the intersections between disabilities, gender, and race.

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Opening the Door to Trades: Pathways to Inclusive Apprenticeship Opportunities

Wallaa Daramlly — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 18:59:01 +0000

Across Canada there is a critical need for skilled tradespeople, including in British Columbia. There is a growing recognition that to address labour shortages in the coming years, apprenticeship pathways must be more inclusive of people with disabilities. There are many barriers facing people with disabilities who wish to enter the skilled trades, and more engagement with the supported employment sector and with people with lived experience is required to understand and explore the potential of inclusive pathways into apprenticeships. Funded by the Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE) Innovation Lab, supported by the Government of Canada’s Sectoral Initiatives Program (SIP), and in collaboration with Community Living BC (CLBC) and SkilledTradesBC, this project will research, develop, and design inclusive apprenticeship pathways for people with disabilities. The research will explore the interests, awareness, and readiness of people with disabilities in pursuing skilled trades careers. It will then assess the current state, promising practices, needs, and opportunities of the supported employment sector to facilitate training and employment opportunities in the skilled trades. In collaboration with partners, the research will then identify effective design elements of new apprenticeship pathways and how to build the capacity of employers and training providers to support them. Ultimately, the project will provide the foundation for future work to test an inclusive apprenticeship pathway model in a pilot project, engaging with employers, training providers, and supported employment providers to identify opportunities for long-term collaboration.

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Research to Support Hire for Talent Phase 2

Wallaa Daramlly — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 14:15:37 +0000

SRDC’s previous CBDC Disability and the Workplace research project (Hire for Talent Phase 1) focused on a high-level understanding of the challenges and barriers that small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) face related to hiring and retaining people with disabilities. Building on this research, the current project (Phase 2, funded by the Government of Canada’s Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities) focuses on understanding in greater detail the experiences and needs of SMEs in rural Canada related to specific areas of interest including supporting employees with mental health and addictions, using flexible work environments to support employees with disabilities, and the specific experiences of SMEs that hire or market to equity-deserving groups. It also involves a more detailed understanding of the broader factors in rural and/or remote communities that influence how SMEs approach these issues, including the experiences of SMEs with diverse owners/managers.

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Entrepreneurship Among Persons with Disabilities

Wallaa Daramlly — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 13:13:08 +0000

This project involves an environmental scan of Canadian and international peer reviewed and grey literature on entrepreneurship as an employment or income-generating option for people with disabilities. It also includes an analysis of relevant national and international policies and programs that are designed to support entrepreneurship for persons with disabilities, including their stated objectives, approaches, and – where possible – success outcomes. The review is, where possible, taking into consideration other intersecting factors (based on the GBA+ framework) that can affect people with disabilities in terms of their engagement and pursuit of entrepreneurship. The overall objective of this research is to provide ESDC with a better understanding of the issues, challenges, and opportunities that entrepreneurship offers people with disabilities to participate in the labour market.

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