TORONTO — A new multi-year project is reportedly underway to help workplaces in Canada’s manufacturing sector retool their systems to better include youth with disabilities — especially neurodiverse youth, youth with intellectual disabilities and youth with mental health challenges.
The project, co-led by Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA) and the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources (CIRHR) at the University of Toronto, will focus on reshaping workplace systems to build the capacity of workplaces to employ persons with disabilities.
“It can be difficult for youth with learning disabilities, ADHD, neurodiverse identities, intellectual disabilities, and mental health challenges to secure high-quality employment,” notes Dr. Emile Tompa, Executive Director of IDEA and Senior Scientist at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH). “At the same time, the constructions and manufacturing industries have many high-paying career opportunities, yet over the past decade, they have experienced labour shortages. Increasing the disability confidence of employers in the construction and manufacturing sectors will facilitate advancing capacity for talent acquisition, retention, and promotion within this untapped population of youth with disabilities.”
Funded by the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program (YESS), the new project, “Transforming Workplace Systems to Build Sustainable Capacity for Inclusion of Diverse Youth,” will receive $4.44 million over 38 months, from February 2025 to March 2028.
“With the need for greater youth employment opportunities, our government is helping young Canadians get ahead by connecting them with the employment and skill-building programs they need to successfully launch their careers,” said Leslie Church, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour, for Seniors, and for Children and Youth, and to the Minister of Jobs and Families (Persons with Disabilities). “Funded through the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, this new project will create stronger supports for youth with disabilities, potentially serving as a model for similar programs nationwide.”
Building on previous work done within IDEA, a systems-level framework will reportedly be developed to support sustainable change by applying a disability lens to organizational policies, processes, and procedures. An organizational pulse-check tool based on the framework will try to establish baseline disability confidence levels and guide the identification of resource gaps within the manufacturing sector.
In a press release, IDEA stated that project partners will be closely involved in the development, piloting/testing, and scaling of any solutions found that can increase the hiring of youth with disabilities across manufacturing.
VRAIE bénéficie du soutien financier du Fonds Nouvelles frontières en recherche et de la Stratégie emploi et compétences jeunesse du gouvernement du Canada.
