A new report exposes five systems most Canadian employers still don't have
A new white paper from the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW) finds that workplace disability inclusion in Canada is failing not from lack of intent, but from lack of systems.
Released during National AccessAbility Week as part of CCRW's 50th anniversary year, The Disability Confidence Gap draws on a Modus Research survey of 712 Canadian managers and executives conducted in February.
The numbers are stark.
According to the survey, 49 percent of business leaders said their organizations do not actively promote workplace adjustments or consistently provide them.
Sixty-four percent said they have no formal process to identify, address, and remove barriers.
Seventy percent said accessibility gaps persist across the full employment lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding to performance management and career development.
The same share said leaders receive no training on disability-related myths, misconceptions, or bias.
Most striking: only 14 percent reported directly gathering feedback from employees with disabilities and then publicly committing to action with clear owners and timelines.
The gaps carry measurable costs.
Statistics Canada's 2024 Survey Series on Accessibility found that nearly 69 percent of employed persons with disabilities or long-term conditions reported at least one accessibility barrier at work.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission reported in 2019 that more than 30 percent of persons with disabilities said those barriers had put them at a disadvantage in their careers.
A 2023 Job Talks Access national survey found workers with disabilities were nearly twice as likely to be concentrated in low-autonomy, entry-level roles with limited paths to advancement.
Concerns about the cost of accommodations, the paper argues, are frequently overstated.
A review of 47 studies published in the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation in 2023 found that perceived cost was one of the most commonly cited barriers among employers, yet Statistics Canada data from 2019 shows nearly two-thirds of workers with disabilities require no workplace adjustments at all.
CCRW puts the average one-time cost of paid accommodations at approximately $375.
The business case for closing these gaps is documented.
A 2018 Accenture report found companies prioritizing disability inclusion were 25 percent more likely to outperform peers on productivity, reporting revenue per employee of US$845 versus US$781 for those that did not.
A 2023 Harvard Business Review study drawing on 57 companies in Spain found that hiring employees with disabilities was associated with improved teamwork (74 percent) and stronger internal culture (88 percent).
CCRW president and CEO Maureen Haan said accessibility must be a priority now, given ongoing talent shortages across Canada.
The findings point to a fixable problem, she added, one built through consistent systems and leader behaviours in everyday work.
CCRW is calling on 50 employers to sign a Disability Confident Employer pledge committing to remove barriers and strengthen accessibility practices for candidates and employees with disabilities.
Ten have already done so, including YMCA Newfoundland and Labrador, University Pension Plan, and Jacob Bros Construction.
