Speaking Notes

for

the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion

for

Roundtable 1 – Disability and Business: Realizing the Right to Work in Open, Inclusive and Accessible Environments for Persons with Disabilities

13th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

December 1, 2020

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Introduction

Thank you Madam Chairperson and thank you to the panelists.

As Canada’s Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, I am very pleased to join you for this discussion today.

In Canada and all over the world, persons with disabilities have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many whose employment was precarious to begin with, found themselves at higher risk of job losses. The way we work has changed, bringing additional barriers.

PAUSE

I was proud that Canada was one of 138 United Nations Member States and observer signatories to the international statement committing to a disability-inclusive response to COVID-19.

Since the outset of the pandemic, the Government of Canada has taken a disability inclusive approach to our pandemice response, guiding its work with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

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We created the COVID-19 Disability Advisory Group, comprised of national leaders in disability rights and inclusion, to provide real-time on-the-ground advice on the lived pandemic experience. This group provided input into policy and economic response, and fundamentally changed the way Canada responds to a crisis.

We took targeted action for Canadians with disabilities, including a one-time $600 payment to address the extraordinatry expenses being incurred. It also included $15 million dollars to add a new National Workplace Accessibility stream to our existing Opportunities Fund program for Persons with Disabilities. This new stream of funding is specifically to provide resources to improve workplace accessibility, including accessible work-from-home measures, online training and access to jobs for Canadians with disabilities in response to COVID-19.

We also invested in projects through our Accessible Technology Program, helping to break down barriers in the technology and digital spaces.

PAUSE

To address systemic gaps, we have recently committed to develop Canada’s first-ever Disability Inclusion Action Plan that will include: a new Disability Benefit, a better process to determine eligibility for Government disability programs and

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benefits, and a robust employment strategy for Canadians with disabilities.

We are going to focus this employment strategy on both workers and employers., while investing in skills training, and championning the business case for disability inclusion.

Our strategy will be an important component of our broader Government of Canada economic recovery plan.

Madam Chair,

Canada’s commitment to the Convention has never been stronger and as employment continues to be an important barrier to inclusion, the Government of Canada will continue its ongoing work to close the gap.

We are eager to engage our international partners in further dialogue and collaboration to ensure that persons with disabilities have opportunities to make valuable contributions to our economy.

Thank you. -30-

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