You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D

Ep. 40: The Intersection of Disability and Poverty — Intersectionality Series Pt. 2

In our season six closer episode, we’re delving into the intersection of Disability and poverty.

Both are on the rise in Canada.

The Canadian 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability showed, 27% of Canadians 15 and older have at least one disability.

That’s eight million people.

And that’s up 5% from the previous survey in 2017.

And, 2022 and 2023 figures from Statistics Canada show, over one million people who have a disability, are Canadians with low income.

And that’s even higher for people without disabilities — almost two million people.

So what’s going on in this country? And does it depend on where you live in Canada?

It wasn’t until 2003 that Human Resources and Development Canada introduced what’s called, the Market Basket Measure (MBM).

It’s basically calculated by adding up the cost of one basket of goods and services that a family of four needs for a basic standard of living…and establishing how much income they need for that one basket.

But disability advocates say the MBM leaves out a big thing — additional costs, such as mobility aids, that people who have a disability, have every year.

They’ve given the federal government a failing “F”  when it comes to addressing the issues involved in the intersection of disability and poverty.

Find out why…what needs to change…..and what motivates our two guests to advocate for change…in this compelling conversation with:

• Rabia Khedr, National Director of Disability Without Poverty
• Fabio Crespin, Senior Manager of Inclusive Employment at United Way Greater Toronto

SHOW NOTES

• Episode 40 transcript (PDF)
• Disability Without Poverty website
• Disability Without Poverty’s 2024 Report Card
• Statistics Canada — Poverty and low-income statistics by disability status
• Statistics Canada — A demographic, employment and income profile of persons with disabilities aged 15 years and over in Canada, 2022

Episode 39: The Intersection of Disability, Blackness and Gender — Intersectionality Series Pt. 1

Again this year, we’re delving into disability and intersectionality to close out the show for our 2025 season.

It’s a broad topic — there are many directions to approach it from.

In part one of our two-part season ending series, we’re exploring the intersection of disability, Blackness and gender.

It’s a convergence that makes for a compelling conversation.

One published report said, “little is known about the experiences of Black Canadians with disabilities who will experience disparities in education, employment and entrepreneurship based on the intersection of anti-Black racism and ableism.”

 

Then there’s their experiences within the Black community itself.

 

When you role all of these things together, what are the main challenges, or barriers to inclusion, faced by Black Canadians who have a disability?

And how significant is the gender aspect in all of that?

How much does access to employment supports depend on whether you’re a Black man, or a Black woman, who has a disability?

And how much does history and colonialism play in all of this?

What needs to change?

These are just some of the questions we explore with our guest Ingrid Palmer.

Ingrid is a passionate human rights advocate, an inspirational speaker on diversity, equity and inclusion, and the Principal IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility Leading to belonging) Advocate for Realize Canada.

Catch this compelling conversation with Ingrid!

 

SHOW NOTES

• Episode 39 transcript (PDF)
• Realize Canada website
• Ingrid Palmer’s speaker website
• Report — The Intersection of Blackness and Disability in Canada: A Brief Overview and a Call to Action
• Prioritizing Black Canadians with Disabilities in Bill C-22, Canada Disability Benefit Act — Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology

Ep. 38: The Self-Employment Journey for People Who Have a Disability

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Or NDEAM, as it's known for short.

This month across Canada, NDEAM campaigns are focusing on raising awareness about disability-inclusive hiring…disability inclusion throughout the employment cycle…breaking down barriers to employment for people who have a disability…and creating a disability-inclusive workplace and culture.

So every season, we like to tie our October episode to NDEAM.

This episode, we’re delving into an aspect of disability and employment that seems to be not talked about a whole lot in the conversation about disability and employment.

We’re exploring the self-employment journey for people who have a disability.

There isn’t a lot of research or statistics about it.

And there isn’t a lot of data on why people who have a disability go the self-employment route.

Are there unique challenges faced by people who have a disability, who opt for self-employment?

What supports are out there compared to supports for traditional job seekers?

Some of the questions we’re exploring with our two guests as they share their self-employment journeys and experiences with us in this episode.

Catch this conversation with Margaux Wosk and Jeff Tiessen.

 

SHOW NOTES

• Episode 38 transcript (PDF)
• Find Margaux Wosk on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok: @retrophiliac
• Margaux Wosk’s websites: Etsy Store | Shop Retrophiliac
• Get in touch with Jeff Tiessen by email
• Disability Today Magazine
• Jeff’s LinkedIn profile
• Margaux’s LinkedIn profile

Ep. 37: One Year Later: Funding Inclusion for Ontario Youth with Disabilities — A Cost-Benefit Model

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

• Episode 37 transcript (PDF)
• Download and read the report
• Learn about other Holland Bloorview youth funding advocacy initiatives and resources

Ep. 36: Psychological Safety and Belonging in the Workplace

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.

 

SHOW NOTES

• Episode 36 transcript (PDF)
• Andrea D. Carter: Pioneering the future of workplace belonging
• Belonging First — Andrea D. Carter is the founder and CEO
• A culture of belonging starts with psychological safety — post by Britt Andreatta, Ph.D

Ep. 35: You’re My Hero — Feature Interview With Actor Sean Towgood

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

• Episode 35 transcript (PDF)
• Learn more Read about You’re My Hero and Sean Towgood on cbc.ca
• Sean’s Instagram: @seantowgood
• Sean’s press agent — Damien Nelson, Want and Able Arts Consulting: dnwantable@gmail.com

Ep. 34: IHTR: Championing Disability Inclusion in the Health Care Sector

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:

• Laura Bowman, Project Manager, Research and Evaluation at Holland Bloorview
• Lori Riding, Manager of Disability and Absences Management at Halton Healthcare in Oakville, ON

 

SHOW NOTES

• Episode 34 transcript (PDF)
• Learn more about the IHTR project
• Check out the IHTR resources: English version | French version
• Get in touch with Laura Bowman about IHTR: lbowman@hollandbloorview.ca

Ep. 33: The Belong Initiative in the Canadian Tourism Industry

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.

• Jasmine Qi — Director of Workforce Inclusion at Tourism HR Canada
• Moe Alameddine — The restaturateur who started Canada’s first dining-in-the-dark experience, in 2006, and has since employed over 100 people who have a visual impairment. He’s passionate about disability-inclusive employment in the tourism and hospitality sector.

SHOW NOTES

• Episode 33 transcript (PDF)
• Learn more about the “Belong” initiative
• Learn about the Breaking Down Barriers: Insights into Tourism Workplace Disability Inclusion report
• Learn about Dark Fork and the dining-in-the-dark experience
• Get in touch with Moe Alameddine for mentoring on making your tourism business more disability inclusive
• Get in touch with Jasmine Qi about the Belong initiative

Ep. 32: The Global State of Disability Inclusion in 2025

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:

• Susan Scott-Parker — Founder and CEO of Business Disability International, and host of her own disability-inclusion focuses podcast, Scott-Parker goes live
  
  
• Peter Torres Fremlin — A freelance consultant who has lived experience with disability who’s spent many years advising international organizations including the U.N. on disability rights; and editor of the Disability Debrief email newsletter

SHOW NOTES

• Episode 32 transcript (PDF)
• Learn more about Business Disability International
• Sign up to receive the Disability Debrief email newsletter
• Check out Susan Scott-Parker’s podcast, Scott-Parker Goes Live

Ep. 31: The State of DEI in North America

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:

• John Robinson — Founder and CEO of Our Ability, based in Albany, NY; he has lived experience with disability
  
  
• Danica McPhee — Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigeneity Co-ordinator at Erie Shores HealthCare in Leamington, ON; she has lived experience with disability
  
  
• Ruby Latif — Certified Coach, Certified Psychological Health and Safety Professional and the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging for the Brant County Healthcare System in Brantford, ON.

SHOW NOTES

• Episode 31 transcript (PDF)
• Learn more about Our Ability
• Toronto Star Opinion column by Dr. Ruby Latif: Have diversity issues died? Maybe in the U.S. — but there is still time for Canada