Opinion: While employers search for talent, Canada overlooks half-a-million workers

People with intellectual disabilities and on the autism spectrum want meaningful employment and good-paying jobs, yet unemployment and underemployment rates among this population remain far higher than those of the general workforce, write Krista Carr and Jonathan Lai. Photo by Submitted photo

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Canada has a labour shortage and a labour surplus at the same time. Canada’s labour-force shortages are no longer a temporary challenge. Across the country, help-wanted signs are everywhere.

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A report this spring by RBC Economics says the situation will be exacerbated by retirements and changes in immigration policy.

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Employers across the country say they can’t find enough workers. There is a solution, however, that continues to be overlooked.

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Roughly three-quarters of working-age Canadians with an intellectual disability or autism remain unemployed or underemployed despite being ready, willing and able to work. These two realities shouldn’t exist side-by-side.

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For decades, many employers have overlooked this talented and motivated group of workers, often due to misconceptions about workplace accommodations or assumptions about productivity. The result is a labour market that is leaving about 500,000 capable individuals on the sidelines while businesses simultaneously report difficulty finding reliable employees.

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This isn’t only an economic problem, it’s a missed opportunity.

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We know people with intellectual disabilities and on the autism spectrum want to work. They want meaningful employment and good-paying jobs. Like anyone else, they seek financial independence, social inclusion, personal growth and the dignity that comes with contributing to their communities. Yet unemployment and underemployment rates among this population remain far higher than those of the general workforce.

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At the same time, employers continue to report challenges recruiting and retaining staff. The contradiction is striking. Employers need workers. Hundreds of thousands of people in Canada want to work. Public policy has failed to connect the two.

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However, there are examples of success. Since its launch in 2014, Ready, Willing and Able (RWA) — a national partnership between Inclusion Canada and Autism Alliance of Canada, has helped fill over 6,300 jobs — including dozens in Vancouver and throughout B.C., demonstrating that autistic people and people with intellectual disabilities are an important part of the solution to Canada’s continuing labour shortages.

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Those numbers throughout all provinces and territories represent far more than employment statistics. They reflect people gaining meaningful employment, contributing their talents, earning an income and building greater independence, while employers gain access to a dedicated and untapped workforce.

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Ready, Willing and Able connects with employers, jobseekers and community organizations to create pathways into competitive employment for people with intellectual disabilities and autism. Rather than viewing disability through a lens of limitation, the program — supported by the opportunities fund at Employment and Social Development Canada — focuses on skills, strengths and workplace potential.