Surrey Board of Trade President Appointed to Canada's Ministerial Disability Inclusion Business Council

The Surrey Board of Trade's Anita Huberman has been appointed to represent the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Canada's chamber network on Minister Carla Qualtrough's Disability Inclusion Business Council.

Similar to the global Valuable 500 initiative, the Business Council is envisioned to be a Ceo-led initiative that would provide recommendations to the Minister on establishing a self-sustaining, made-in-canada network of businesses to champion and support disability inclusion in the business community.

Persons with disabilities have a significantly lower labour market attachment and that this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, 2 in 5 disabled Canadians have the potential to work. This represents nearly 645,000 individuals who could help fill the more than 910,000 vacant positions in Canada. To harness this untapped potential and create a better Canada for persons with disabilities, it will be critical to address longstanding challenges faced by employers in creating more inclusive workplaces. By leveraging the power of a Ceoled advisory Council, there is an opportunity to drive impactful change for persons with disabilities in the workplace.

QUICK FACTS

• Among working-age Canadians with disabilities, more than 1.5 million, or 41%, are unemployed or out of the labour market entirely. Among those with severe disabilities, this rate increases to over 60%.

• The federal Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities supports projects that assist persons with disabilities in Canada who have little or no work experience. Through these projects, persons with disabilities can acquire the tools and skills required to prepare for, obtain and maintain employment or become self-employed.

• On June 5, 2020, the Government of Canada announced a $15 million investment under the Opportunities Fund for the creation of the National Workplace Accessibility Stream. The investment was one of the measures introduced to help address the extraordinary challenges faced by persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The National Workplace Accessibility Stream provides additional funding to support persons with disabilities and employers seeking to improve workplace inclusion and access to jobs. Some of the activities supported by this stream include: o setting up accessible and effective work

from-home measures; o expanding online training opportunities; o creating inclusive workplaces, whether

virtual or physical; o connecting persons with disabilities and

employers; o training for in-demand jobs; and, o offering wage subsidies.