You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D

Ontario Disability Employment Network

You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D is a podcast produced by the Ontario Disability Employment Network that looks at the power of inclusion, disability and employment, and the business benefits of diversity and inclusion — including disability-inclusive hiring — from all the angles.

  1. Aug 11

    Ep. 45: Bringing Project SEARCH to your Community

    The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs estimates that worldwide, there are between 180 million and 202 million youth who have a disability. In Canada alone, there are well over half a million youth who have a disability — 546,410 to be more precise. That’s the figure from Statistics Canada. Over 100,000 of these young people are what’s known as NEET — not in employment, education or training of any kind. And of those, 83,000 have been identified by Statistics Canada as potential employees. There’s a unique program called Project SEARCH. And it’s playing a significant role in helping businesses make sure they have up-and-coming talent to fill roles while at the same time training youth who have a disability to succeed in the workplace.   In this episode — to mark the 30th anniversary year of Project SEARCH — we find out all about the program. It started as a recruitment and retention strategy in the health care sector, in Cincinnati, in 1996. There are now over 750 Project SEARCH sites worldwide, including 29 in Canada. Why is it so important for businesses to get involved in Project SEARCH? What’s the ripple effect in a community when they do? And how can businesses bring Project SEARCH to the communities they serve? Carolyn Mcdougall from Holland Bloorview Children’s Hospital in Toronto has some insightful answers to these questions, and others. She’s the Ontario and Canada Co-ordinator for Project SEARCH Canada.   SHOW NOTES Episode 45 transcript (PDF) Find out more about Project SEARCH Canada Get in touch about being part of Project SEARCH: info@projectsearchcanada.ca

  2. Jul 21

    Ep. 44: The Double-Edge Sword of AI

    Whether you love it, hate it, embrace it or avoid it — or try to, AI is ubiquitous now. It’s an integral part of everything from manufacturing, to writing resumes, to recruiting and hiring processes. Including both screening out candidates and interviewing them. In hiring and recruitment in particular, AI is a double-edge sword. It can help level the playing field for job seekers, including those who have a disability. And it also can be a significant barrier. There’s no single reliable statistic that shows how many resumes are screened out by AI before they ever reach a human. But research shows, 87% of companies say they’re using AI somewhere in their recruitment process. AI can screen out candidates at scale — including in ways that may disproportionately affect job seekers who have a disability. At the same time, job seekers who don’t use AI — or who use it irresponsibly, risk falling behind in a market where the majority of both employers and candidates are already using the power of AI tools. In this episode, we explore these questions and more: Why do employment service providers and job seekers who have a disability need to use AI? What are the real benefits of using it? What can go wrong when AI is used poorly, irresponsibly or not at all in hiring and job-search processes? This is a engaging — and sometimes humourous — conversation with: Jesse Preston, Disability Employment Specialist for Epilepsy Toronto Jeff Waldman, the founder of ScaleHR   SHOW NOTES Episode 44 transcript (PDF) TechXplore feature (June 2026) — AI hiring software screens millions of applicants, but new evidence shows racial bias can hide job by job Research study: Algorithmic Monocultures in Hiring

  3. Jun 16

    Ep. 43: The Intersection of Disability and Rural & Remote Communities

    About eight million Canadians 15 and older have at least one disability. But there aren’t any statistics on exactly how many of them live in rural and remote parts of the country. Almost two-thirds of the 5,123 municipalities in Canada are consider moderately remote, more remote or most remote by Statistics Canada. In remote communities there are some distinctly different challenges compared to experiencing urban life with disability. For this discussion, we wanted perspectives from some of the most remote parts of Canada. So we picked the far northwest, and the remotest part of down east in The Maritimes. The Northwest Territories covers 1.1 million square kilometres, and much of it is remote. Down east, over 80 per cent of the province of New Brunswick is forest.                                        It’s the most rural province of the three Maritime provinces — New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island — that have coastlines on the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean. Be sure to catch this conversation with: Denise McKee, Executive Director of the Northwest Territories Disability Council Shelly Petit, Chair of the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons With Disabilities   SHOW NOTES Episode 43 transcript (PDF) Government of Canada report, Age-Friendly Remote and Rural Communities: A Guide (HTML version | PDF version) Canadian Association of Supported Employment report by Janet Morris-Reade for ASPECT BC, Building Fair Employment Services in Rural and Remote Communities in Canada Website — Northwest Territories Disability Council Website — The New Brunswick Coalition of Persons With Disabilities

  4. May 19

    Ep. 42: Making Mega Sporting Events Accessible

    Twenty twenty-six is a big year for big sporting events. In February, there were the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, in Italy. Then — the geopolitical climate aside — there’s the 2026 FIFA World Cup with matches being played in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada from June 11 to 19. And then there’s the twenty-third Commonwealth Games happening in Glasgow, Scotland from July 24 to August 2. Glasgow 2026 will be the biggest sporting event of the year in the U.K. All of these events happen in numerous venues in their host cities. With thousands of athletes competing. And thousands of people attending — and working at — the events. But there’s a huge issue with mega-sporting events such as the World Cup, the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games. Accessibility. From how they’re promoted to the built environment of venues they’re held in, how accessible are these kinds of mega sporting events? And what’s the lasting social impact of making them accessible and inclusive? That’s what we’re exploring in Episode 42. And we’re doing that with two guests who are two of the most authoritative voices on sporting events accessibility in Canada. Don’t miss this engaging conversation with Brad McCannell and Jenn Bruce, PhD!   SHOW NOTES Episode 42 transcript (PDF) Read this article on The Conversation.com about how more Canadians are watching the Paralympics Read this article on sirc.ca by Paula Baker about the lasting social impact of inclusive creating mega-sporting events Sporting Information Resource Centre (SIRC) website Read the new SIRC blog Rick Hansen Foundation and becoming accessible

  5. Apr 7

    Episode 41: Making Tourism Accessible

    In the first episode of our seventh season, we’re kicking things off on a “touristy” note, with a conversation about making tourism in Canada — and globally — more accessible. Tourism is one of the most important sectors of the Canadian economy. And the global one. In Canada, it directly employs more than 700,000 people. Globally, more than 357 million people. And tourism is almost two per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Globally, it’s 10 per cent of GDP — US$10.9 trillion in 2024. Against the geopolitical backdrop in 2026, the number of people internationally making Canada a tourism destination, keeps rising. In the 2025 summer tourism season, there was record revenue for Canada’s tourism businesses. In all, $58.96 billion. Destination Canada predicts annual revenue in the tourism sector will hit $160 billion by 2029. People from all over the world are coming to see Canada — and that includes people who have a disability. Which begs these questions: How accessible is tourism in this country? What are best practices in making tourism, and tourist attracts and businesses, more accessible? What are businesses and attractions in the tourism sector missing out on if they’re not accessible to both tourists and job seekers who have a disability? In Episode 41, a compelling national conversation about all this with these three guests providing their perspectives: Jasmine Qi, Workforce Development Director at Tourism HR Canada (Ottawa, ON) Shelley Petit, Chair of the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons With Disabilities (Fredericton, NB) Jamie Millar-Dixon, principal consultant at MacLeod Silver HR Business Partners (Vancouver, BC)   SHOW NOTES Episode 41 transcript (PDF) Learn more about Tourism HR Canada, the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities and MacLeod Silver HR Business Partners UN Tourism, Ethics, Culture and Social Responsibility report (November 2025), Accessibility Guidelines for Tourism Businesses

  6. 11/25/2025

    Ep. 40: The Intersection of Disability and Poverty — Intersectionality Series Pt. 2

    In our season six closer episode, we’re delving into the intersection of Disability and poverty. Both are on the rise in Canada. The Canadian 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability showed, 27% of Canadians 15 and older have at least one disability. That’s eight million people. And that’s up 5% from the previous survey in 2017. And, 2022 and 2023 figures from Statistics Canada show, over one million people who have a disability, are Canadians with low income. And that’s even higher for people without disabilities — almost two million people. So what’s going on in this country? And does it depend on where you live in Canada? It wasn’t until 2003 that Human Resources and Development Canada introduced what’s called, the Market Basket Measure (MBM). It’s basically calculated by adding up the cost of one basket of goods and services that a family of four needs for a basic standard of living…and establishing how much income they need for that one basket. But disability advocates say the MBM leaves out a big thing — additional costs, such as mobility aids, that people who have a disability, have every year. They’ve given the federal government a failing “F”  when it comes to addressing the issues involved in the intersection of disability and poverty. Find out why…what needs to change…..and what motivates our two guests to advocate for change…in this compelling conversation with: Rabia Khedr, National Director of Disability Without Poverty Fabio Crespin, Senior Manager of Inclusive Employment at United Way Greater Toronto SHOW NOTES Episode 40 transcript (PDF) Disability Without Poverty website Disability Without Poverty’s 2024 Report Card Statistics Canada — Poverty and low-income statistics by disability status Statistics Canada — A demographic, employment and income profile of persons with disabilities aged 15 years and over in Canada, 2022

  7. 10/28/2025

    Episode 39: The Intersection of Disability, Blackness and Gender — Intersectionality Series Pt. 1

    Again this year, we’re delving into disability and intersectionality to close out the show for our 2025 season. It’s a broad topic — there are many directions to approach it from. In part one of our two-part season ending series, we’re exploring the intersection of disability, Blackness and gender. It’s a convergence that makes for a compelling conversation. One published report said, “little is known about the experiences of Black Canadians with disabilities who will experience disparities in education, employment and entrepreneurship based on the intersection of anti-Black racism and ableism.”   Then there’s their experiences within the Black community itself.   When you role all of these things together, what are the main challenges, or barriers to inclusion, faced by Black Canadians who have a disability? And how significant is the gender aspect in all of that? How much does access to employment supports depend on whether you’re a Black man, or a Black woman, who has a disability? And how much does history and colonialism play in all of this? What needs to change? These are just some of the questions we explore with our guest Ingrid Palmer. Ingrid is a passionate human rights advocate, an inspirational speaker on diversity, equity and inclusion, and the Principal IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility Leading to belonging) Advocate for Realize Canada. Catch this compelling conversation with Ingrid!   SHOW NOTES Episode 39 transcript (PDF) Realize Canada website Ingrid Palmer’s speaker website Report — The Intersection of Blackness and Disability in Canada: A Brief Overview and a Call to Action Prioritizing Black Canadians with Disabilities in Bill C-22, Canada Disability Benefit Act — Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology

  8. 10/14/2025

    Ep. 38: The Self-Employment Journey for People Who Have a Disability

    October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Or NDEAM, as it's known for short. This month across Canada, NDEAM campaigns are focusing on raising awareness about disability-inclusive hiring…disability inclusion throughout the employment cycle…breaking down barriers to employment for people who have a disability…and creating a disability-inclusive workplace and culture. So every season, we like to tie our October episode to NDEAM. This episode, we’re delving into an aspect of disability and employment that seems to be not talked about a whole lot in the conversation about disability and employment. We’re exploring the self-employment journey for people who have a disability. There isn’t a lot of research or statistics about it. And there isn’t a lot of data on why people who have a disability go the self-employment route. Are there unique challenges faced by people who have a disability, who opt for self-employment? What supports are out there compared to supports for traditional job seekers? Some of the questions we’re exploring with our two guests as they share their self-employment journeys and experiences with us in this episode. Catch this conversation with Margaux Wosk and Jeff Tiessen.   SHOW NOTES Episode 38 transcript (PDF) Find Margaux Wosk on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok: @retrophiliac Margaux Wosk’s websites: Etsy Store | Shop Retrophiliac Get in touch with Jeff Tiessen by email Disability Today Magazine Jeff’s LinkedIn profile Margaux’s LinkedIn profile

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You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D is a podcast produced by the Ontario Disability Employment Network that looks at the power of inclusion, disability and employment, and the business benefits of diversity and inclusion — including disability-inclusive hiring — from all the angles.

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