Implementation of the Employment Standard: Part 1

Overview

CAN/ASC 1.1:2024 is the first employment standard focused on promoting systemic change through environmental solutions and policies to facilitate accessibility and inclusion in the workplace. The vision behind the standard is to promote a work environment that is accessible, inclusive, barrier-free, and discrimination-free for all workers, including persons with disabilities. 

In practice, implementing a standard can be challenging as it requires contextualizing and customizing the requirements for a particular organization. Enter IDEA and the development of implementation guidance to help organizations change norms and practices in their workplace to in their effort to become confident and competent in managing a workforce that includes workers with disabilities. The focus is on sustainable change through a systems-level approach.

This webinar is the second in a three-part IDEA Speaker Series that will introduce the standard and its key elements and then profiles the implementation guidance being developed to accompany it. The sessions provide rich opportunities for dialogue and discussion. In each session, members of the implementation guidance development team will lead you through a brief presentation, followed by a panel discussion, and a question-and-answer period. The team includes the standard’s technical committee chair Mahadeo Sukhai, and vice chair Andrew Livingston, as well as others with expertise in standard implementation and work disability policy. The three parts of the webinar are:

1. May 16: Introduction to the New ASC Standard on Employment: In this session, guest speakers will provide a primer on CAN/ASC 1.1:2024 – Employment. They will discuss the objectives of the standard and how it can help employers go beyond compliance with regulations that govern accessibility to be confident and competent in managing a diverse workforce. Attendees will learn what the standard has to offer and how it can be used to become accessible by design.
2. May 30: Implementation of the Employment Standard: Part 1: In this session, guest speakers will provide an overview of the implementation guide, detail its key modules and explain how organizations can use it to support implementation of the standard.
3. June 13: Implementation of the Employment Standard: Part 2: In this session, guest speakers will continue the exploration of key modules of the implementation guide, and then discuss related tools and resources to support the implementation process.

Speakers

Mahadeo Sukhai is the world’s first congenitally blind geneticist. He holds adjunct faculty appointments at University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Queens University, and OCAD University. Sukhai chairs the Employment Technical Committee for Accessibility Standards Canada. He is the external co-chair of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Expert Advisory Committee on Accessibility and Systemic Ableism. He also serves on the Boards for Health Data Research Network Canada and the Institute of Neurodiversity Canada, and is a member of the steering committee for Disability and Work in Canada. Sukhai has a PhD in medical biophysics and a PhD in cancer genetics, both from the University of Toronto. Sukhai co-leads IDEA’s Hub 4, Inclusive Environmental Design.

Emile Tompa is a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH), a not-for-profit organization that conducts and shares research to support policy-makers, employers and workers in creating healthy, safe and inclusive work environments. A labour and heath economist, Tompa holds appointments as Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at McMaster University and as Assistant Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. He is Executive Director of IDEA and co-lead of IDEA’s Hub 1, Workplace Systems and Partnerships.

Dino Zuppa is currently the acting CEO of Accessibility Standards Canada and. He also oversees the development of equity-based accessibility standards supported by pioneering research funded by Accessibility Standards Canada’s grants and contributions program. Dino’s career spans more than 25 years. He led a number of strategic initiatives at all orders of government in Canada, and at an American University.

Peter Field (bio coming soon)

Host

Dan Samosh is an Assistant Professor in Employment Relation at Queen’s University and Academic Co-Lead of the IDEA Incubator Hub on Transitions to Work and Career Development.

About the IDEA Speaker Series

The IDEA Speaker Series provides an opportunity to hear guest speakers talk about their efforts to create stronger and more diverse labour markets that include persons with disabilities.