Communiqué de presse

Moving Forward Together
Disability and Work in Canada (DWC) Initiative

The Disability and Work in Canada 2021 (DWC 2021) Conference will be held virtually this year on Wednesday, December 1^st & Thursday, December 2^nd and Monday, December 6^th & Tuesday, December 7^th, 2021. We are pleased to announce that the call for proposals to participate at this conference as a presenter or speaker panel member is now open.

Call for Proposals

Disability and Work in Canada 2021 Virtual Conference

Achieving equality of opportunity and choice in careers, jobs and work

The call for proposals and the application form are available in both French and English and applications are accepted in both languages. Presentations can be in either French or English, though the Conference will be primarily in English.

The Disability and Work in Canada 2021 (DWC 2021) Conference will be held virtually this year over four days in early December (December 1 & 2 and December 6 &7) from 12:30-3:30 EDT. The theme for this year’s conference is the “Achieving equality of opportunity and choice in careers, jobs and work,” with subthemes for each day as follows:

• Wednesday December 1, 2021, at 12:30-3:30 EDT – Fully including persons with disabilities in the COVID19 recovery
• Thursday December 2, 2021, at 12:30-3:30 EDT – Making inclusive workplaces a reality
• Monday December 6, 2021, at 12:30-3:30 EDT – Ensuring secure and comprehensive supports for persons with disabilities
• Tuesday December 7, 2021, at 12:30-3:30 EDT – Moving forward together towards full inclusion in employment

We are seeking proposals for different types of sessions from the disability community, businesses, unions, policymakers, service providers and other interested parties. The following types of sessions are being called for:

Panel Sessions: Proposals for panel sessions are approximately 35-45 minutes in length and consist of a moderator and several speakers. The session should be on a current topic related to one of the conference themes noted above, with speakers providing multiple perspectives and insights on the topic. A few examples of topics include intersectionality, guidance on return-to-work following the COVID-19 pandemic, accommodation best practices, and local initiatives or projects of interest. For these sessions, panel presentations should be approximately 20-30 minutes, with another 15-20 minutes reserved for discussion and questions at the end.

Presentations: For those interested in participating on a panel to speak on a particular topic, we invite people with experience, knowledge, or insights to nominate themselves for a current topic that relates to one of the conference themes noted above. The DWC committee will attempt to coordinate candidates submitting presentation proposals on similar topics to help organize sessions. Presentation proposals which the DWC team are not able to fit into a panel will be offered an opportunity to develop the presentation into a pre-recorded session. See the details below on pre-recorded sessions.

Short Pre-recorded Presentation: These sessions are proposals for short and concise 5-minute pre-recorded presentations about a lived experience, good practice experience, success story, champion initiative, or other contextualized experience that exemplifies a relevant issue in disability and work. Pre-recorded sessions can be recorded by the presenter on their own or the DWC team can help with the recording. Pre-recorded sessions will be available for viewing by conference participants on-demand throughout the four days of the conference.

For proposals that are about initiatives or projects, please describe the following in your submission:

1. How does the initiative or project relate to the vision of the Pan-Canadian Strategy for Disability and Work? 
   Employment throughout Canada is inclusive. Persons with and without disabilities have equality of opportunity and choice in careers, jobs and work.
2. How was the initiative or project partnership developed?
3. What were the key challenges and success strategies for partnership development?
4. How was the initiative or project evaluated in terms of progress in achieving objectives?

Topic Ideas by Subtheme

Day 1 Subtheme: Fully including persons with disabilities in the COVID19 recovery

• Presenting analyses on the impact of COVID19 on employment experiences of persons with disabilities
• Profiling important policy initiatives to support progress: including the federal disability benefit and employment strategy for persons with disabilities
• Creating opportunities from shifts in workplace practices – e.g., working from home, virtual meeting software and how to ensure these developments are inclusive of persons with disabilities

Day 2 Subtheme: Making inclusive workplaces a reality

• Learning from frontline successes in employment and advancement of persons with disabilities
• Identifying the vital factors in successful transition from training and education to employment
• Including employment of persons with disabilities in workplace diversity initiatives
• Addressing stigma and marginalization of persons with disabilities in the workplace
• Moving beyond “jobs” to “careers” for persons with disabilities, including mentorship and advancement
• Measuring progress on inclusive workplaces and for sustainable employment of persons with disabilities

Day 3 Subtheme: Ensuring secure and comprehensive supports for persons with disabilities

• Seeing employment in the broader context of wellbeing and livelihood
• Improving income support programs, to provide a strong foundation for inclusion and employment
• Applying a poverty reduction lens to the reform of support programs – are we making progress?
• Promoting security of comprehensive supports for persons with disabilities as an essential foundation for employment
• Applying a disability lens to social and infrastructure programs – for example daycare policy, public transit, procurement, telecommunications, communication in general

Day 4 Subtheme: Moving forward together towards full inclusion in employment

• Strengthening our capacity to measure and evaluate progress and setting ambitious targets
• Making the business and human case with the greatest impact
• Addressing intersectionality and diversity in implementation activities
• Building and sustaining partnerships for employment of persons with disabilities
• Ensuring that persons with disabilities are fully included and empowered as we move forward

DWC Strategy

The DWC Strategy is available at the following links:

http://www.crwdp.ca/en/dwc-strategy and https://www.ccrw.org/supporting-background-documents-to-the-dwc-strategy/ 

Key Dates

The call is open till July 30, 2021.
Applicants will be notified by August 30, 2021.
Submissions of pre-recorded sessions are due September 30, 2021.
The DWC Steering committee will provide guidance and support for the recording of sessions if needed.

Submission of Application

Please click on this link for the Application Form. Please submit your application to the DWC Steering Committee by July 30, 2021, at info@DWCStrategy.ca.

Please note that the PDF Fillable application form is accessible, however if you require any assistance filling out the form, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the DWC Planning Committee at info@DWCStrategy.ca.