TORONTO — A new multi-year project is underway to help workplaces in Canada’s construction and manufacturing sectors retool their systems to better include youth with disabilities.
According to a release, this would especially apply to 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 to employ people with disabilities.
Funded by the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program, 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.
“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, in the release. “At the same time, the construction 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.”
A systems-level framework will be developed to support change by applying a disability lens to organizational policies, processes and procedures.
An organizational pulse-check tool based on the framework will help establish baseline disability confidence levels and guide the identification of resource gaps within the construction/building trades and manufacturing sectors, the release adds.
Innovative and high impact workplace solutions will be identified, developed and tested to fill knowledge and practice gaps. A platform and resource hub for employer tools and resources will be created to help employers navigate the offering of tools and resources that they need to enhance their disability confidence.
Over a dozen partner organizations, including Inclusion Canada, Autism Alliance of Canada, and Youth Employment Services, have committed to helping workplaces put the findings from this research into practice.
VRAIE bénéficie du soutien financier du Fonds Nouvelles frontières en recherche et de la Stratégie emploi et compétences jeunesse du gouvernement du Canada.
