Help us to prepare employers for the skills challenges of the future: Canadian Paraplegic Association

Help us to prepare employers for the skills challenges of the future

The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum � Forum canadien sur l�apprentissage (CAF-FCA) seeks to help employers access untapped sources of talent by conducting research about effective workplace accommodations and supports for persons with disabilities working as apprentices in the skilled trades.

The CAF-FCA is a not-for-profit, multi-partite organization bringing together the key constituents within the apprenticeship community. CAF-FCA is a unique partnership among representatives from labour, business, the Inter-Provincial Alliance of Apprenticeship Board Chairs (IPA), educators, persons with disabilities, members of visible minorities, Aboriginal persons, women, the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA), and HRSDC.

In January 2004, CAF-FCA released a report entitled, �Accessing and Completing Apprenticeship Training in Canada: Perceptions of Barriers.� The Barriers report, written after broad consultation and discussion with the apprenticeship community, highlighted 9 barriers to accessing and completing apprenticeship training in Canada. One of the barriers identified was difficulties with unwelcoming workplaces or training environments. Specifically, persons with disabilities identified that there was a lack of awareness and information regarding workplace accommodations and supports. In order to ensure persons with disabilities are fully integrated into the workforce and employers have access to the talent they need to meet the impending skills shortage, CAF-FCA is seeking to reduce the barriers to apprenticeship training.

Through our current project CAF-FCA is hoping to increase the level of awareness among employers about effective workplace accommodations and the resources available to assist them. We hope this new level of understanding will encourage employers to hire more persons with disabilities as apprentices.

CAF-FCA has commissioned the firm of R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. to undertake this research. The project includes a series of telephone and focus-group interviews with employers, employees and other stakeholders from across Canada. Interviews and focus groups with a broad range of individuals will help to ensure that the research presents the perspectives of all relevant stakeholders. The results of the interviews and focus groups will be analysed and presented in a report in November 2008.

We would like your help in identifying employers, employees, and other stakeholders to be contacted for the study. We especially request assistance in identifying:

businesspeople who have employed persons with disabilities as apprentices or journeypersons;

persons with disabilities working as apprentices or journeypersons; and

organizations and service providers helping to integrate workers with disabilities in trades occupations.

If you can provide any assistance, please contact:

Patrick Kirby,

Research Analyst, R. A. Malatest & Associates Ltd.

at (toll-free) 1-888-689-1847 or at p.kirby@malatest.com

If you have any questions about the research project, you can also contact:

Emily Arrowsmith,

Project Manager, Canadian Apprenticeship Forum

at 613-235-4004, Ext 201 or at emily_arrowsmith@caf-fca.org