Good afternoon, committee members. Thank you for having us.
SPHERE-Québec, Soutien à la personne handicapée en route vers l'emploi au Québec, is a provincially-incorporated, non-profit organization created by its partners out of their concern for employment and training of persons with disabilities.
The goal of SPHERE-Québec is to encourage active participation in economic and social life by a greater number of persons with disabilities who are out of the work force. To achieve this goal, since 1997, SPHERE-Québec has received funding from the Department of Human Resources and Social Development in order to implement employment activities for individuals within the Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities.
Thus, to assist in the integration and reintegration and maintenance in the work force of all persons with functional limitations, SPHERE-Québec encourages and provides financial and other forms of support for the introduction of high-quality adapted jobs. It also participates in and contributes to the network of experts for the transfer of knowledge and practices.
SPHERE-Québec provides its services from four offices, centrally located in the main regions across the province. SPHERE-Québec's board of directors brings together representatives of employers, unions, and leading organizations that work to ensure the well-being of disabled persons across the province. At the national level, SPHERE-Québec representatives participate in the efforts of the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work.
Now I'm going to present some characteristics of the employment profile of women in Quebec. According to the 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, 63% of women with disabilities in Quebec live on annual personal incomes under $15,000, 39% of Quebec women with disabilities had no high school diploma, and 36% had a high school diploma as their highest academic level. This means that 75% of women with disabilities in Quebec had little or no formal schooling. In addition, 31% of women with disabilities in Quebec were employed and 64% had left the work force, which means that they had abandoned any attempt to find a job.
Now I'm going to outline some characteristics of SPHERE-Québec's clientele. We serve persons with all types of disabilities who need assistance in their efforts to find employment. They are out of the work force because they have little or no training and little or no work experience. We can cross-reference our female clientele with the aid of the PALS statistics previously cited. In particular, women represent 45% of our clientele, and 79% of that number have little or no schooling. In addition, 36% of the female clientele had never worked before receiving assistance from us.
Based on this overall analysis, we see that women with disabilities must overcome numerous obstacles to entering the labour force. Even with an assistance measure, they have difficulty staying employed. Some even make the decision to withdraw from the work force. Since 1997, the SPHERE-Québec team has developed solid expertise in managing programs and in employability for persons with disabilities in Quebec. Together with community partners, SPHERE-Québec takes part in the implementation of projects designed to develop new action models that address clientele needs.
Now I'm going to turn the floor over to Ms. Vincent, who will give you a few concrete examples.