By: Niveja Assalaarachchi, News Writer
In The Compass, a man named Ernest shared his story. He grew up in foster care, and at age six he started to lose his hearing. As a young man, he looked for jobs to help out his family, but got rejection after rejection. “Job after job, the hiring manager or hiring team would take one look at me with my hearing aids and a speech disability and determine before I got through an interview that I could not do the job,” he wrote.
Gaps in employment opportunities continue to emerge for people with disabilities. According to the Government of Canada, people with disabilities face increased employment challenges. The report specifically highlighted that in the age range of 25 to 64 year olds, a 16% gap of employment existed between the two demographics in a 2022 survey.
To this end, governments on both the provincial and municipal levels have attempted to address issues facing this community. The BC government provides the Work-Able Accessible Employment Program to individuals who recently graduated from post-secondary. This co-op program pays recent graduates with self-identified disabilities to work in one of many possible BC Public Service ministries for a term of 24 months.
On a municipal level, the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) also provides career and job programs targeted towards people with disabilities. The Peak spoke to Chelsea Leslie who is currently serving as a senior public library service associate at the VPL’s accessible services department, to learn more about the programs that the VPL offers.
She said that the VPL’s accessibility department partnered with the Neil Squire Society, a registered charity organization headquartered in Burnaby. The company creates programs, technological devices, and financial solutions to help people with disabilities. The groups work together to provide the society’s Creative Employment Options program to a wider audience, a program built to support “job seekers with disabilities through skills development and job search support” which often includes a “one-on-one” format.
Leslie said that the VPL had run this particular program twice already this year, highlighting the topics “navigating the hidden job market” and “disclosing disability to your potential employer.” She also noted that the library, which runs the registration aspect of the event, planned to host the program with the society once more this year.
“In general, our department focuses on enhancing the accessibility of the library to people with disabilities.”
— Chelsea Leslie, senior service associate at VPL’s accessible services department
Leslie shared the role of the VPL’s accessible services department. “In general, our department focuses on enhancing the accessibility of the library to people with disabilities. We do this by offering services such as a home delivery service for library patrons who aren’t able to get to the library in person. We also offer accessible formats such as audiobooks for library patrons who have print disabilities,” which are mobility, cognitive, and visual impairments that prevent people from reading print,” according to the Government of Canada.
Another resource for persons with disabilities is March of Dimes Canada. They are a national non-profit that “offers a wide range of support and services to empower people with disabilities to live in their communities with independence, choice and control,” according to their website. Their Strategic Employment Solutions Program provides hands-on assistance to people in the job hunt: identifying personal strengths, finding available listings, applying to the position, and continued support on the job after successful hiring. Similarly, Paving the Path to Work, their free six-week online program, helps participants to personally develop and learn about the job market.
