Rethinking Disabilities Toronto 2024

The Untapped Talent Pool: Unlocking the Power of a Disability-Inclusive Workplace

Organizations strive to attract and recruit top talent from diverse backgrounds, yet people with disabilities remain an often overlooked group. With over 1.3 billion people globally and 6.2 million in Canada living with disabilities, HR leaders, talent leaders, and practitioners must rethink their approaches to hiring, engaging and retaining this invaluable workforce segment.

Hosted by ScaleHR, the Rethinking Disabilities Toronto 2024 event aims to address these challenges head-on, fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion for people with disabilities in the workplace. This event will be a platform for meaningful change, featuring sessions led by speakers who have disabilities themselves. These experts who work in HR-related positions will offer first-hand insights and actionable strategies for attracting and recruiting talent with disabilities, and ultimately, ensuring their inclusion and success within the workplace

Attendees will benefit from inspiring “hands-on learning” experiences designed to provide tangible solutions they can implement in their own organizations. By participating, you’ll not only gain valuable knowledge on the unique challenges faced by people with disabilities but also support a charitable organization dedicated to helping them thrive.

Join us at Rethinking Disabilities 2024 Toronto and be a part of creating more inclusive workplaces together!

Check out what happened at this event!

Event Details
Loran Upton
DE&I Program Manager
Scotiabank
Kristin Light
Mental Health & Neuroinclusion Specialist
K•Light Digital Charisma
Sophie Lemieux
Head of People
Fable
Mike Shoreman
Leadership Expert & Speaker
Mike Shoreman
Max Brault
President/CEO
The Accommodation Councilors of Canada Network
Marlies Farrill
Senior HR & Recruiting Practitioner
Jeff Waldman
Founder
ScaleHR

We don’t talk enough about this gauntlet of challenges people with disabilities face just to maintain a working lifestyle. I call them the five Olympic rings.

1. Education: Access to post-secondary education is difficult due to inaccessible campuses, lack of remote learning options, and the need for family assistance.
2. Housing: Finding accessible and affordable housing is a challenge, with limited options for accessible bathrooms and living spaces, often leading people with disabilities to stay at home.
3. Transportation: Reliable transportation is essential for employment, but adapted vehicles are costly, and public or special transit services are often unreliable, reinforcing the stigma of being "unreliable employees."
4. Attendant Care: Managing everyday life activities like dressing, cooking, and grocery shopping often requires external help, which not everyone has access to.
5. Community: Social inclusion and community support are crucial but often overlooked. Remote work can lead to isolation, making it harder for people with disabilities to find belonging and thrive in life, not just in the workplace.

In a time where one in five struggles with mental health challenges, it is critical that we confront this issue head-on. While our instinct may be to concentrate on the struggles of that one person, this approach may inadvertently place a burden on them and perpetuate the stigma surrounding mental health. In this engaging and enlightening presentation, Mike shares his personal mental health journey, adopting the roles of patient, survivor and advocate. Through the lens of humour and inspiration, Mike invites audiences to join him on a transformative expedition alongside his support team, traversing the Great Lakes and raising awareness for mental health in Canada. By shifting the narrative away from the one individual and redirecting the focus to the other four in that equation, Mike encourages a collective effort to normalize challenging mental health conversations. He explores practical ways to promote inclusivity and allyship, ultimately dismantling the pervasive stigma and stereotypes associated with mental health.

Unlock the potential of a truly engaged workforce, where every employee feels safe showing up and contributing as their authentic selves! A whopping 15-20% of the world's population identifies as neurodivergent, offering a spectrum of unique perspectives, talents, and strengths. While these differences can certainly enrich teams with fresh insights and innovative approaches, society's barriers and limitations have added many invisible hurdles for these skilled professionals. Whether you're aware of it or not, you’re already working alongside talented neurodivergent individuals, making now the perfect time to embrace this incredible opportunity for growth and inclusion, propelling your organization forward. By refining your engagement strategies to foster a neuro-inclusive culture, you can create a space where all employees thrive. This not only safeguards the well-being of your team but also drives greater productivity and creativity—all without adding to staffing costs.

In today's competitive job market, sourcing diverse candidates, especially individuals with disabilities, is essential for fostering innovation and inclusivity. This presentation explores some areas of focus, including understanding the spectrum of disabilities, creating inclusive job descriptions, and ensuring accessible recruitment processes. We will also discuss the benefits of diverse hiring, effective partnerships, training for recruiters, and strategies for retention. Join us as we delve into best practices for building a workforce that values the unique contributions of all individuals, paving the way for a more inclusive and dynamic workplace.

In this session, Sophie will delve into the concept of masking for people with invisible disabilities—whether it’s neurodivergence, chronic illnesses, mental health conditions, or physical disabilities. People consciously hide their traits to fit in, and this has a profound impact on their careers, health, and self-identity. The pressure to maintain this facade leads to burnout, anxiety, depression, and identity erosion, as individuals navigate workplaces designed around "normative" behaviours. For those with chronic illnesses or physical disabilities, masking often means downplaying symptoms or pushing through pain to appear "capable," which exacerbates health risks and emotional strain.

Event Details
Sponsors

Calling for Nominations!

We are looking to shine a huge light on the top HR leaders who lead HR at Canadian tech SMBs. What’s an SMB? An SMB employs fewer than 500 employees. The only other condition is that your nomination leads the HR function. If you have any questions please email us at info@goscalehr.com. We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to fill out this short questionnaire.