Human Resources Committee on Nov. 9th, 2006

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), our study on employability in Canada will commence.

I would like to take this time to thank all the witnesses for being here today and for taking time out of their schedules to help us with what we believe is an important issue. Certainly, here in Alberta, we understand that it's a very difficult issue as well in terms of the shortage of skills and labour, etc.

I just want to give you a few housekeeping notes. We will start with your seven-minute opening, then we will have a first round of seven minutes of questions and answers, and then a second round of five minutes.

We will start with you, Mr. Crowther, for seven minutes. I will give you a gesture at one to two minutes, just to let you know, if you're interested in the time. Thank you very much.

[Kirk Crowther, Manager, Advocacy Leadership, Canadian Down Syndrome Society]

Thank you.

I am going to actually turn it over to Mr. Dale Froese. He is going to speak on behalf of the Canadian Down Syndrome Society.

[Dale Froese, VATTA Committee Member, Canadian Down Syndrome Society]

Hi. My name is Dale Froese, and I'm from Kelowna, B.C. As a self-advocate, I asked to speak on behalf of the Canadian Down Syndrome Society. It's both an honour and a responsibility. Thank you.

I am a member of an advocacy group called VATTA, Voices at the Table Advocacy. The committee has twelve members from across Canada and we are all adults with Down syndrome. Along with CDSS, we have a strong belief in our mission to encourage credible opportunities for all Canadians with Down syndrome. We are the voice of adults with Down syndrome and the highest authority of the Canadian Down Syndrome Society. Yes, that is right—the highest authority.

I'll be speaking about employment issues in Canada for people with developmental disabilities. The VATTA committee has identified employment as an area of critical importance for Canadians with Down syndrome. Having a job is a matter of citizenship, quality, and personal dignity.

Like you, if someone were to ask me where I work, I would be embarrassed and feel bad if I had to say I don't have a job. It is important for all people to feel they are contributing to Canadian society. Most people make this contribution through employment. Research has shown that both advocates and employers have had poor success in the past in finding long-term jobs.

People with disabilities are often faced with a perception that they are unable or unwilling to work. When looking at employment opportunities, everyone must be part of the solution to create innovative opportunities and supports. This happens with any good employer. Why should we be different when hiring someone outside the box?

Relationship-based marketing is a very interesting concept. The idea behind this is to build a relationship based on collaboration and partnership with employers. This will build trust and benefits, and it promotes willingness for employers to hire people with disabilities, as well as to create an inclusive workplace. This type of employer-employee relationship will develop into good job retention, along with a desire by employers to envision an inclusive workplace.

I have worked at a flower shop for over nine years. My boss knows more about people with Down syndrome. If partnerships were formed to remove barriers, they would produce improvements in job variety and work hours and would support employment outcomes. The Alberta Premier's Council on the Status of Persons With Disabilities refers to a chamber of commerce study that revealed that workers with disabilities had an 80% lower turnover rate. Consider the financial savings to government agencies if people are employed over the long term.

The federal government can take an active role in creating and encouraging this type of relationship by offering incentives to businesses and employers, for instance, by providing development, training, education, and workplace accommodations. We would like to see new, innovative partnerships between government and private sector employers to identify barriers that could heighten the employment rate for Canadians of diversity; advocates who would like to be part of strategies and action; and plans that can develop and train people with the skills of relationship-based marketing.

The business rationale for employing people of diversity is about acknowledging people for who they are. It is about recognizing strengths and abilities, leveraging skills and talents, and finding good job fits. The rewards to businesses, and, more importantly, to people with developmental disabilities, include a mutually viable employee relationship leading to increased opportunities. A study from the U.S. found approximately 75% had direct encounters with persons with disabilities in business environments and that 92% of customers felt more favourable toward businesses that hired persons of diversity.

Workers with disabilities are often more aware, not less, of safety issues in the workplace, lowering insurance rates.

People with disabilities have relevant education to become creditably employed. Human Resources and Social Development Canada reports that Canadian adults with disabilities are about two-thirds as likely to have post-secondary education as adults with Down syndrome. In 1990, a study of different corporations found that 94% of employees with disabilities rated as average or better in job performance.

In November 2006, the Alberta government reported that there is a serious labour crisis.

The Voices at the Table Advocacy Committee has noted the social inequity of the minimum wage with exemptions for people with disabilities. For me to get paid less than minimum wage, I would feel underprivileged to get less money than someone doing the same job as me.

Only by engaging stakeholders and advocates can communities understand the contribution Canadians with disabilities can add to the workplace. The development of new relationships between advocates, service agencies, provincial and federal governments, employers, and people will facilitate change and create opportunities.

To leverage the power of diversity, we must maximize the capacity and value added by all people. The benefits are twofold. Employers retain skilled and committed staff and have access to long-term workers to enhance the workplace culture. People with disabilities gain confidence, skills, valuable workplace interactions, and the ability to support themselves to live independently.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you, Mr. Froese. We appreciate that.

We're going to move to Ms. Cohen, please, for seven minutes.

Just before you start your seven minutes, I would mention that you do have translation available, as some of the members may ask their questions in French. You can take that for the record. You don't need it right now, but you may when the questions start.

Ms. Cohen.

[Jodi Cohen, President and Chair, Alberta Division, Canadian Mental Health Association]

Thank you.

Good morning. On behalf of the Canadian Mental Health Association, thank you for this opportunity to speak to you. My name is Jodi Cohen, and I'm the president of CMHA, Alberta division.

Secure income is one of the most critical social determinants of health. Access to meaningful, paid work is a basic human right of every citizen. Those who experience serious mental illness should have equal access to the fundamental elements of citizenship, which include housing, education, income, and work. This means that each individual has the right to be employed in a mainstream job, rather than being labelled as a client in a training program or a sheltered workshop.

Of all persons with disabilities, those with a serious mental illness face the highest degree of stigmatization in the workplace and the greatest barriers to mainstream employment. Adults and youth with psychiatric disabilities face many and varied employment obstacles, such as gaps in work history, limited employment experience, lack of confidence, fear and anxiety, workplace discrimination and inflexibility, social stigma, and the rigidity of existing income support and benefit programs.

The unemployment rate of persons with serious mental illness reflects these obstacles and has been commonly reported to range from 70% to 90%, depending on the severity of the disability. These statistics are particularly disturbing in light of the fact that productive work has been identified as a leading component in promoting positive mental health and in paving the way for a rich and fulfilling life in the community.

Over the past decade, our research findings have begun to challenge the long-held belief that persons with mental illness are unemployable, or at best, employable in low-wage, entry-level positions. Traditionally, many mental health professionals viewed employment as a stressful event that would likely cause people with mental illness to experience a relapse. It was commonly assumed that work was something one did as a therapeutic experience, or even worse, that work was not possible for this population.

As a result, the traditional approach to employment for persons with serious mental illness was to create separate, isolated environments exclusively for people with disabilities--for example, sheltered workshops. This approach often resulted in repetitive work with low expectations for career development, low satisfaction, few employment choices, and less than minimum wage earnings, and served to segregate the clients from society rather than foster community integration and full citizenship.

Through our national research initiatives we have learned that people who experience serious and persistent mental illness can hold responsible jobs and make significant contributions to their work, home, and leisure lives despite the diagnostic label or the level of the severity of their illness.

One critical finding has consistently emerged. It has been shown to be ineffective to plunge persons with serious mental illness from a history of chronic unemployment and instability directly into competitive employment. Individuals who have been most successful at finding satisfying work were those who were supported in viewing their entry or re-entry into a mainstream workforce as a longer-term goal and not as a one-step process.

Research has proven that there are numerous employment strategies that can be combined in different ways to help a person build connections, skills, confidence, and resilience, thereby leading to the ultimate goal of mainstream work. Individuals who are most successful at finding work and keeping work were those who continued to receive both formal support, such as mental health providers, vocational rehabilitation counsellors, therapists, etc., and informal support, such as friends, family, self-help or peer group, whether directly within their work environment or outside of work.

In light of these findings, mental health professionals have started to shift their understanding of the role employment can play in the recovery of persons with serious mental illness. Increasingly, employment has been seen as an important way for consumers to reclaim their social roles and rebuild their self-management skills so that they can take control of the major decisions affecting them.

By creating and implementing employment support strategies, CMHA's Routes to Work program has been helping to put people with a serious mental illness on the path to mainstream employment since 2000. We provide individuals who have psychiatric disabilities with assistance in areas such as skill development, education upgrading, career decision-making, résumé writing, job search, and employment maintenance.

This program is successful in seven communities across the country and has been able to continue on an annual basis with funding from the federal government's Opportunities Fund, a fund designed to assist organizations to support individuals with disabilities to find and maintain meaningful mainstream employment.

Over the years, the Routes to Work program has demonstrated overall its effectiveness for people with serious mental illness.

CMHA is very proud of the work it has done in this area and would welcome the opportunity to serve many more individuals with serious mental illnesses wishing to find mainstream employment in their communities. Through this program, and with funding from the Opportunities Fund, we are able to make a difference.

In conclusion, the Canadian Mental Health Association is a strong supporter of individuals experiencing mental illness having full citizenship in their communities, including the ability to find employment. Persons with disabilities, particularly those with serious and persistent mental illness, face some additional challenges. A person affected by a mental illness can work but may be prevented from doing so by stigma or the lack of a workplace that offers the necessary accommodations. CMHA is pleased to support individuals experiencing mental illness through such programs as Routes to Work, and believes Canada has benefited in many ways from such investments.

Fundamentally, if Canada is to ensure that all Canadians live fulfilling lives in their communities, then the employment challenges of persons affected by mental illness need to be addressed more fully. CMHA urges the federal government to expand such programs to assist organizations in providing the supports necessary for successful employment integration.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you for being here this morning.

We're going to move to our next group.

Ms. Young and Ms. Huston, which one of you will be speaking?

[Denise Young, Director, Community Development, Disability Action Hall]

Both of us.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Then I assume you want 14 minutes?

[Denise Young]

Absolutely.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

No, no, seven minutes.

[Denise Young]

We're not even sure how many minutes this will take.

I'm Denise Young, and this is Colleen Huston. We work with Disability Action Hall, a group of people with developmental disabilities and their allies who work together on issues that affect people with disabilities.

I just want to say that the process at this committee is kind of a formal, fast process for a lot of the folks we work with. We approached the challenge by sitting down and talking with people and getting direct quotations from them about their experiences in work. We've loosely organized their comments under topics. I'm going to introduce the topic areas and then Colleen is going to read their words about their experiences.

We started off initially just talking about jobs and about people's difficulties in finding jobs. They wanted to tell you some stories.

First, they told us that we need governments to create business-employer engagement programs to make Canada's workplace more accessible and safer for people with disabilities by educating business owners and managers.

[Colleen Huston, Member, Disability Action Hall]

These are their words:

We need more accommodating bosses who take time to train us.

I find the applications and resumes too hard to apply. I need help filling them out. I don't like going alone.

I need an employer who understands that if you're sick and need to go into the hospital, when I am better, I can go back to my job.

Sometimes my co-workers think I am trying to intimidate them if I stand too close because I am so big.

[Denise Young]

Second, we need a strong employment equity provision so that they can secure a job for more than three months. Many of the folks are able to find jobs. There are lots of jobs in the Calgary market; the difficulty is in keeping those jobs.

We need better policies and better enforcement policies that would make it mandatory for employers to accommodate workers with disabilities by providing longer and more intensive training.

[Colleen Huston]

Again, this is what they told us:

When I apply for a new job, I don't know if I should say I have a disability. I still get fired because I can't learn the job. When I say nothing, I still get fired because I am not fast enough.

It takes me longer than the average person to learn a new job, but employers fire me before three months are up. More training for people with disabilities, we deserve training especially when we are over 30.

I cannot work as fast as some people and I feel I am penalized for my disability because my hours are reduced.

Agencies should help you get to the work you want, not just throw you into a sheltered workshop.

[Denise Young]

Next, they need to work for a living wage. I'm sure you've heard about the minimum wage exemption permits in Alberta that allow employers to pay less than minimum wage to people with disabilities. But even minimum wage labour in a city like ours, which is very expensive to live in, isn't enough to meet people's needs and give them the ability to live a decent life, not a life of poverty.

[Colleen Huston]

In their words:

Pay people fairly. A living wage is a human rights issue when it's less than $10 an hour.

I worked three part-time jobs to make ends meet.

There is not enough motivation to stay healthy and take a break to rest. We do not make enough money because of the $400 restriction.

That's the restriction on assured income for the severely handicapped.

If I take a holiday to rest, I am behind on my bills.

The Alberta “minimum wage exemption permit” is a violation of human rights.

My agency said they would pay me $7 an hour to work at a sheltered workshop, they haven't yet.

It's nice to be promoted.

[Denise Young]

This is a huge area for our folks. Many of the rules around laws and legislation related to employment are not in accessible language, so people don't know the rules governing workplaces.

[Colleen Huston]

They said:

I don't understand who I go to if my boss says things that are unfair.

I do not know who my union leader is or how they can help me. I don't know all the rules if people are unfair.

I work with a boss who picked on one of my co-workers. I didn't say anything, but I asked to be transferred to another team.

[Denise Young]

We need labour standards and laws to protect us from harassment and bullying in the workplace.

[Colleen Huston]

They said:

Bullying on the job is a real problem. One time my co-worker locked me in the freezer for five minutes and another time outside in the freezing rain. It was hard because I just wanted to quit.

If I get paid the same as my co-worker, why do I do more work? Why does my co-worker get to sleep and do his homework on the job?

[Denise Young]

We need affordable, available, and accessible transportation to be able to get to work and to get home from work.

[Colleen Huston]

They said:

Access Calgary as special needs transportation is not reliable. It is hard to book.

I lose my job because my bus does not show up on time.

We need a cheap bus pass to get to our jobs. Our city says we need to make this pass available only to people who make less than $15,000 a year, but I don't qualify. I live below the poverty line, but I cannot get the pass.

[Denise Young]

Our provincial programs do not help us enough with our medical and housing needs. We need policies in place to protect and maintain our health to stay employed.

[Colleen Huston]

They said:

I had to quit the job because my boss didn't want to make adaptations for my wheelchair in the bathroom.

I need a power chair, so I can work in places.

Our government benefits don't cover enough. I would like health benefits at the workplace. Some of us don't get benefits at work or government support. If we get sick, we are doomed.

We cannot afford another increase in rent. It is difficult to work when you do not know where you are going to live.

[Denise Young]

Many of our issues are overseen by provincial law, but we certainly see a federal role in some of the areas. One is taking a leading role in working across levels of government. We can give you an example. Ireland has done some really innovative stuff to supplement wages if people are performing at a level that's slightly lower than other co-workers. There are some interesting programs out there that we'd love people to explore.

Look at the cutbacks. When federal moneys come through and then they get clawed back at the provincial level, that's a real barrier for people.

Thank you very much for listening to us.