‘Untapped Talent’ Summit held for disabled people seeking employment

The first-ever Untapped Talent summit is scheduled to be held on Jan. 13.

It’s a virtual event aimed at helping Canadians with disabilities find work. It was organized by the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW) and also seeks to include employers and community partners.

As someone with multiple chronic illnesses and hearing impairment, Angela Brecheisen said getting a job has always been difficult.

“Keeping a job is even trickier because of all the times that I have to go to the hospital and get various procedures done,” she said.

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Brecheisen, who lives in Moose Jaw, hopes the summit will make waves in improving workplace accessibility, and result in more government programs to help those with disabilities who are seeking work.

Brecheisen has been classified as disabled since 1992 and said she has previously been discriminated against.

“I ended up losing my job because I had to get a surgery that took six to eight weeks to recover from, and I was a remote employee with a company that didn’t have remote employees except for me – and they took that opportunity to restructure me out of my job,” she said.

According to 2022 CCRW data, one out of every 10 people with disabilities has said they were denied work due to their disability.

The CCRW said 27 per cent of Canadians over the age of 15 reported having at least one disability.

“While I was recovering from surgery, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get a job again,” Brecheisen said.

“I was scared I was going to end up on disability or on employment insurance which only lasts so long. In today’s economy, I don’t know a lot of people who can afford to not have a job and I certainly can’t.”

Brecheisen said CCRW was able to help her find work. She had been referred to CCRW by Service Canada.

“My results were beyond spectacular with them,” she said.

Brecheisen now works at Lakeview Regional Wellness Centre, which is a medical research facility.

She said the role has been a perfect fit and her CEO has been very accommodating to her needs.

“I think more people need to be made aware of the CCRW because until I was referred to it, I had no idea it existed,” she said.

Maureen Haan is the president and CEO of the CCRW. She said the summit is free to register for and will have panel discussions featuring professionals with disabilities detailing their experiences.

“We really wanted to elevate the conversation around employment for folks with disabilities and make sure that we had a central spot where we could start to elevate that discussion,” Haan said.

Haan said the event would also feature speeches similar to TED Talks and will launch an Untapped Talent job board.

Citing Stats Canada, Haan said the employment gap between those with disabilities against those without is 14 per cent as of 2022. The national average is 16 per cent.

For more information about the summit and to sign up, click here.