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Did you know that in 2022, 27% of Canadians aged 15 and older had at least one disability? That amounts to eight million Canadians. And it represents an increase of 4.7%, or 1.8 million more people, since 2017.
These were the findings of Statistics Canada’s 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD). Another thing the 2022 CSD showed, that you may not know about: 20% of Canadian youth aged 15–24 have a disability. The increase of disability among youth was higher (7%) compared to the general population (4.7%) since the 2017 CSD. Here’s something else to think about: youth who have a disability have significantly lower rates of employment than those without disabilities.
A 2022 national research report by the Vancouver-based Disability Foundation’s Youth Leadership Initiative found that 51% of Canadian youth (17–29) who have a disability are unemployed. That’s compared to 10.1% of young people (15–24) without disabilities. The research report was done “by and for young Canadians with disabilities.”
For young people who have autism and or developmental disabilities, the barriers are greater. They have lower rates of both educational attainment and employment. That’s a lot of young, fresh talent that’s being overlooked for building a pipeline that can help businesses ensure they remain successful in the future. To borrow a famous advertising tagline, the strength of every business is its people, regardless of its product or service.
Barriers to employment for youth
Youth who have a disability face significant barriers and discrimination in seeking both the experiences needed to develop important skills and in obtaining paid employment.
The authors of a December 2022 paper titled Pathways to Paid Work for Youth with Severe Disabilities: Perspectives for Success, published in the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, noted, “paid work experiences during high school can foster employment skills, provide resume-building experiences, and facilitate linkages to employers that increase the likelihood that youth with severe disabilities will be employed following high school.”
“That’s a lot of young, fresh talent that’s being overlooked for building a pipeline that can help businesses ensure they remain successful in the future.”
Despite this, there’s a lack of meaningful co-op opportunities for youth who have an intellectual and/or developmental disability compared to youth without disabilities.
When youth are attached to the labour market early, their long-term success in the world of work is greater.
A call to action — to us all
Here are some ways we can all make a difference. If you’re:
A young person who has a disability, dream:
Ask yourself what you want to be when you grow up. What are you good at? What do you enjoy and how could this become a paid job for you? Talk to your family, friends and teachers. Help them understand what’s important to you.
A family member or caregiver of a young person who has a disability, think:
“What if?” when it comes to your expectations for their future. Do you see them participating in a day program or working in a paid job in your community?
Raise your expectations for your child who has a disability, to expect they’ll:
- Participate in household chores
- Be included in accessible learning at their schools
- Access the same co-op, after-school and summer job opportunities their peers participate in
- Also, expect their future will include paid employment.
An educator supporting young people who have a disability, ask yourself:
- What opportunities exist in your school board for young people who have a disability to access meaningful co-op opportunities outside the school, in the community?
- If they don’t exist, why not and how can they be made possible?
An employment service provider, reflect on these questions:
- Do you provide job coaching and support to youth who have a disability?
- If you do, what does this look like?
- Is it only for youth who have graduated from high school, or also for those in high school?
- How is your youth supports program funded?
- If providing youth supports isn’t currently within your capacity, what are some of the barriers to changing that?
- How can your organization support more services for youth, and potentially include them in the work you do with businesses in your community?
A business or an employer, do you hire youth:
- Who have a disability as part of co-op programs?
- For part-time, after-school jobs; or for summer employment after they finish high school?
If you do:
- What does this look like and what are the benefits to your business?
- Do you share your experiences and information about these benefits with educators, parents, policymakers and other businesses?
- If you don’t, why not?
ODEN, through the Canadian Youth Success Strategy project, promotes the goal of preparing youth who have a disability for employment as part of inclusive education, empowering families, educators, and local employment service providers and businesses to build an inclusive workplace.
The Ontario Disability Employment Network can support your:
- Learning about the benefits of inclusive hiring
- Business on its journey to becoming an inclusive workplace
