Our community-based research is helping advance disability inclusion in Canada.
At CCRW, we lead, collaborate, and provide expert research consultation on projects that deepen understanding of disability and work and create change for job seekers, employers, and communities.
Explore our research, read our annual Trends Report, and learn more about our ongoing projects below.
Interested in collaborating with CCRW on a research project, or looking for expert researchers to consult on your project? Get in touch with our Director of Research and Evaluation, Vanessa Sinclair, PhD at vsinclair@ccrw.org.
Research
Our community-based research initiatives explore the intersection of disability and employment in Canada, generating evidence to promote the equal participation of people with disabilities in the workforce.
Closing the Gap: Best Practices for Supporting d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Workers in BC | 2024-2026
Closing the Gap explored the employment experiences of D/deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard of Hearing (DHH) jobseekers and workers in British Columbia.
Closing the Gap was funded by the Province of British Columbia through the Sector Labour Market Partnerships (SLMP) program.
Sourcing Understanding Through Research for Future Talent (SURF) | 2023-2026
Over three years, we explored the experiences of postsecondary students with disabilities as they graduated and entered the workforce.
Learn more about the project and download the research report here.
SURF was funded by Accessibility Standards Canada.
Research in STEAM (Skilled Talent Employment Advantage Method) | 2023-2025
Research in STEAM explored how the development of soft skills through pre-employment training impacts employability for job seekers with disabilities.
Research in STEAM was funded by Employment and Social Development Canada through the Skills for Success program.
Employer perspectives on implementing federal workplace accessibility standards in Canada | 2026-2028
We’re engaging federally-regulated employers and workers with disabilities across Canada to learn how employers understand and use best practices in workplace accessibility.
This two-year project explores how employers in sectors like banking, telecommunications, and transportation understand, perceive, and implement workplace accessibility practices. With a focus on persistent barriers to inclusion, like misconceptions, lack of awareness and clarity, or implementation challenges, we’ll create evidence-based recommendations to support the development of clear, feasible workplace accessibility standards.
Roadmap to inclusion: Building frameworks to advance employment equity for persons with disabilities in Canada and all G7 countries | 2025-2028
With support from Civil Society Organizations across the G7, CCRW is leading research to improve, and harmonize, how disability employment inclusion is measured.
Recognizing that a fully inclusive labour market is more than just the employment rate, this research will identify what full equity in employment means, and what data would be needed to measure progress. Informed by a scoping review of international employment inclusion strategies and measurement approaches, we are developing a comprehensive, intersectional, community- and Civil Society-informed framework to measure workforce inclusion for people with disabilities.
Trends Report Series
CCRW’s Trends Reports highlights and synthesizes Canadian statistics, labour market trends, frameworks, policies, and best practices for accessible employment in Canada.
Trends Report 2025 | Future in Focus: Article 1 – Diverse Minds
PDF Version (Article 1 | Diverse Minds: Creating Inclusive Workplaces for Neurodivergent Workers PDF)
Word Version (Article 1 | Diverse Minds: Creating Inclusive Workplaces for Neurodivergent Workers PLAIN TEXT)
Trends Report 2025 | Future in Focus: Article 2 – Disability Inclusion in the Skilled Trades
PDF Version (Article 2 | Disability Inclusion in the Skilled Trades: A Blueprint for Change PDF)
Word Version (Article 2 | Disability Inclusion in the Skilled Trades: A Blueprint for Change DOCX)
Trends Report 2025 | Future in Focus: Article 3 – From Divide To Inclusion
PDF Version (Article 3 | From Divide to Inclusion: Digital Access, Accessibility, & Skills Development PDF)
Word Version (Article 3 | From Divide to Inclusion: Digital Access, Accessibility, & Skills Development DOCX)
Trends Report 2025 | Future in Focus: Article 4 – Indigenous Perspectives on Disability and Work
PDF Version (Article 4 | Indigenous Perspectives on Disability and Work PDF)
Word Version (Article 4 | Indigenous Perspectives on Disability and Work DOCX)
Shaping Tomorrow | CCRW Trends Report 2024
Annually CCRW releases a report of trends on disability and work from across Canada.
Trends Report 2023: Making Waves in the Current Canadian Labour Market
Past Projects and Collaborations
ASC Draft Standard on Employment (2024)
CCRW’s policy brief on Accessibility Standards Canada’s draft Standard on employment included 3 key recommendations. We invited community consultation and summarized the feedback in a second report.
Learn More
CCRW’s policy brief on Accessibility Standards Canada’s draft Standard on employment included 3 key recommendations. We invited community consultation and summarized the feedback in a second report.
3 Key Recommendations
- Define disability confidence
- Focus on genuine inclusion over representation targets
- Advocate for a federal centralized accommodation fund
Empowering Women (2023)
Transformative Effects of Trauma-Informed Employment Supports and Skill Development
Learn More
In 2023, CCRW presented a session at the Reimagining Livelihoods Forum, sharing insights from our service model supporting women and gender-diverse jobseekers with disabilities.
Tourism HR Canada Belong Project (2024)
CCRW supported Tourism HR Canada’s Belong Project through research consultation, data collection efforts, and facilitating and analyzing focus groups with job seekers with disabilities.
Learn More
Through the Belong initiative, Tourism HR Canada is working to dismantle barriers and support the long-term labour market integration of workers with disabilities across Canada’s tourism sector via activities like employment training, research, resource development, and a national workplace accreditation program.
READi Research Training Program (2023)
CCRW Research provided mentorship and direction to the 2023 student cohort in the Research and Education in Accessibility, Design, and Innovation (READi) training program.
Learn More
In collaboration with Dr. Claire Davies at Queen’s University’s Building Design and Accessibility Lab, Research provided mentorship and direction to the 2023 student cohort in the Research and Education in Accessibility, Design, and Innovation (READi) training program, funded by the NSERC CREATE program.
EHRC EnAbling Change Toolkit (2022)
CCRW Research assisted in the development of two resources on disability and inclusion.
Learn More
EHRC EnAbling Change Toolkit (2022): Research assisted in the development of two resources on disability and inclusion (“From Disability to Inclusion” and “Illuminate Opportunity”) for Electricity Human Resources Canada (EHRC) and consulted on the development of the EnAbling Change toolkit’s Safe Space Disclosure Tool.
CBDC Restigouche Hirefortalent Environmental Scan (2021)
CCRW Research conducted an environmental scan identifying and gathering resources.
Learn More
CCRW Research conducted an environmental scan identifying and gathering resources for CBDC Restigouche’s Hirefortalent directory of funding and other resources.