SRDC Research Expands Skilled Trades Opportunities for People with Disabilities

October 22, 2025

By SRDC-SRSA

Inclusive Apprenticeship Pathways Strengthen both the Skilled Trades Workforce and Canada’s Commitment to Accessibility

[Ottawa, October 22, 2025] – Across Canada, there is a growing need for skilled tradespeople, including in British Columbia. A new research project led by the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC), in collaboration with Community Living BC (CLBC), Inclusion Langley Society, SkilledTradesBC and other partners, explores how apprenticeship pathways can be made more inclusive for people living with disabilities, while helping to address labour shortages and advancing Canada’s commitment to accessibility.

The Opening the Doors to the Trades: Pathways to Inclusive Apprenticeship Opportunities project explored how to design and expand inclusive apprenticeship pathways for people with disabilities. Through surveys, interviews, focus groups, and design workshops, the research identified barriers, promising practices, and design solutions across the apprenticeship journey, from early awareness and training access to inclusive employment opportunities.

The research findings highlight the importance of cross-sector collaboration among supported employment providers, employers, training institutions, and regulators. Participants called for coordinated, system-wide approaches to improve awareness, share knowledge, and align roles across sectors. They also emphasized the need for capacity building across sectors that support apprentices with disabilities and innovative training approaches to drive inclusion.

The project also explored design features for future pilot projects and cross-sector collaborations to expand inclusive employment opportunities and provide early exposure to the trades through hands-on experiences and inclusive learning pathways.

The Opening the Doors to Trades project was funded by the Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE) Innovation Lab, with support from the Government of Canada’s Sectoral Initiatives Program (SIP).

Visit the project page to learn more.

Learn more about the CASE Innovation Lab.

About the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC)
The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) is a non-profit research organization created specifically to develop, field test, and rigorously evaluate new programs. Our two-part mission is to help policymakers and practitioners identify policies and programs that improve the well-being of all Canadians, with a special concern for the effects on the disadvantaged, and to raise the standards of evidence that are used in assessing these policies.

Since our establishment in December 1991, our SRDC team has conducted over 550 projects and studies for various federal and provincial departments, municipalities, as well as other public and non-profit organizations. We have offices located in Ottawa and Vancouver and satellite offices in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Dianna Chepita | [email protected]

To learn more about the project, please contact:
Shawn de Raaf | [email protected]

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