Good afternoon.
I'm going to present three examples of innovative projects that have enabled a number of persons with disabilities to find a job.
The first project is horticultural training. Five groups in Montérégie took part in this training for horticultural assistants, which enables persons with disabilities to occupy positions in this sector. The training portion was provided by the school boards of the regions concerned, and SPHERE-Québec sponsored the adjustment component.
The second project is training to become warehouse display designers. Three groups in the Eastern Townships have already taken part in this project, which enables persons with disabilities to occupy positions in department store businesses. The training portion is provided by the school board of the region concerned, and SPHERE-Québec sponsored the adjustment component.
The third project is on-the-job training in the restaurants of Les Rôtisseries St-Hubert. This training enables persons with disabilities to occupy various positions in St-Hubert restaurants. The training is provided by St-Hubert staff, and SPHERE-Québec sponsored the adjustment component.
These projects have four major elements in common, that is to say that they meet the needs of persons with disabilities looking for employment and the needs of the work force of the businesses in those three sectors. They are supported by regional players and provide the necessary supervision to promote the success of participants by providing them with adequate support. This supervision is often provided by an assistant. In the three projects I told you about, SPHERE-Québec provided the assistance portion.
For a number of persons with disabilities, adjustment is often synonymous with assistance. But what is an assistant? The assistant's role consists in supporting the person with disabilities in solving various problems that may compromise his or her entry into the labour market, or act on behaviour that my jeopardize that entry.
In concrete terms, depending on the person's disability, an assistant may help that person in looking for housing, for example, or in solving transportation, child care or living expense problems while that person is in training. The assistant may also help the instructor solve problems or the supervisor on the job. He or she may also work, as necessary, with the families, foster families, or rehabilitation centres, on all kinds of problems that may emerge and undermine entry into the labour force.
As Nancy said, 43% of women who use the Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities do not keep their jobs at the end of our intervention. We can't identify the causes of that. However, we can say that action taken through adequate assistance guarantees success. The success rate of women and men who have taken part in these three projects is excellent. We think that success is directly related to the quality of follow-up of the participants.