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Employers asked to hire jobseekers with disability
Survey to quantify attitudes among business community

Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Saturday, March 19, 2016

NUNAVUT
The organization responsible for disabilities advocacy has launched a survey to help employers and people with disabilities who are seeking jobs come together.

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Amanda Arnarjuaq, originally from Hall Beach, works at Iqaluit's Inclusion Café, which was developed to create work experience, training and employment for people with disabilities. - photo courtesy of Sarah Statham

"The purpose of the survey, which is Nunavut-wide, is to find out what are employers' attitudes, first and foremost, to hiring people with disabilities," said Carolyn Curtis, Nunavummi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society's labour market facilitator.

"How do they feel about that? And then what kind of supports do they need to do that so that we can connect them with job seekers who have disabilities but the skills that they need."

Curtis said the survey is part of a labour market project funded jointly by the governments of Canada and Nunavut through a three-year labour market agreement.

"It's a pool of funding designed to create more jobs for people with disabilities," she said.

"One of the new approaches that we're taking in terms of finding jobs for people with disabilities is really understanding the employer perspective and what employers need in order to make accommodations to create economic inclusion."

Legally, the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Employment Equity Act require employers to make accommodations for people with disabilities, unless to do so would be undue hardship.

"And there's the rub. It is often a hardship for employers. Even if they want to employ people with disabilities, they may not really know how to do that. So both governments have really invested in support for businesses and making those accommodations," said Curtis, adding there is funding to provide on-the-job support, from job coaches to specialized equipment and technology that may be needed in the workplace.

"So rather than just approaching it as giving jobs to people with disabilities is a charitable thing to do, we're actually looking at what kind of skills do employers need, what are their human resources needs, what jobs do they have to fill and can we find people with disabilities that have the skill set that they're looking for."

Another obstacle lies in employers and jobseekers with disabilities actually finding each other.

"There are often challenges around communication It's really about trying to find a good match and offering those supports to employers," Curtis said.

Nunavummi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society was established in 2005 as an advocacy and resource organization for people with disabilities.

"Basically what we want to do is achieve full citizenship for people with disabilities. That includes community engagement, community inclusion, employment - that's a big focus for us - and accessibility."

There is very little data on how many people in Nunavut live with a disability.

"Dr. James MacDougall reports in his 2006 publication titled Where the River Flows that the overall rate of disability in the aboriginal population is estimated to be much higher than in the general population - at least double (32 per cent) that of the general population," Curtis said.

"It's the only stat we have."

The term disability has a broad range.

"I think the term has become more broadly implied," said Curtis.

The term can include mental illness, addictions, people with sensory impairments, people with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities

There is no word in Inuktitut for disability. Curtis explains that's why the term Makinnasuaqtiit is used, which is the idea of lifting people up.

Curtis is travelling to the largest communities in the territory.

"Trying to locate people with disabilities, find out what their employment status is, what their goals are. And talking to employers, one on one," she said.

"If an employer hasn't received an invitation, they can go on our website, nuability.ca, and fill out the survey online."

As Curtis notes, there are many reasons to hire people with disabilities.

"Especially here in Nunavut. We have such high turnover rates. I've been an employer here for six years and I'd say I hire maybe five people and maybe one works out long term. Just when I think I have enough staff, someone leaves. The great thing, when you're hiring people with disabilities, you're talking about a group of people that are permanent residents here, often bilingual, and research has shown people with disabilities are much more reliable and loyal employees, highly motivated to work."

The results of the survey will be presented at a roundtable on economic inclusion in September to be held in Iqaluit.

"It will be right before the trade show so that any employers that are already coming can attend. We have some funding to provide some extra accommodation. We can host them for an additional couple of nights," said Curtis.

"We'll also present the roundtable with success stories of accommodations that have been made and people that are employed in a successful and sustainable way."

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