While Canadian organizations appear to favour informal ap-proaches
to wellness programs, comparisons with a previous
Conference Board of Canada survey show that overall, most work-place
wellness initiatives have increased in prevalence since 2009.
A breakdown by sector reveals that many of these gains are being
fueled by growing numbers of private sector employers making in-vestments
in wellness initiatives, while the number of public sector
employers remains steady.
MAKING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES MORE
ACCESSIBLE TO CANADIANS WITH DISABILITIES
As a result of a new $22.3-million program, more Canadians with
disabilities will have access to the digital tools they need to fully
participate in society and get access to the well-paying jobs of to-day
and tomorrow.
The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation,
Science and Economic Development, recently launched the
Accessible Technology Program, a new program that, over the
next five years, will co-fund innovative projects to develop new as-sistive
and adaptive digital devices and technologies.
The Internet is an important gateway to developing and main-taining
professional, social, economic and cultural networks within
the digital economy. However, many Canadians are still not tak-ing
full advantage of these benefits – not by choice, but because
of significant barriers to accessing technology and the Internet.
These barriers are particularly concerning for persons with dis-abilities,
who already face limitations to their full participation in
the workforce.
The current level of support for the development and distri-bution
of accessible technologies is insufficient given the needs
of Canadians with disabilities. While mainstream technologies
typically decrease in price and become more readily available, the
news
Art Babych / Shutterstock.com
The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation,
Science and Economic Development
opposite is true for assistive and adaptive devices, since they must
be customized to the unique needs of their users.
The Accessible Technology Program will help overcome these
barriers, reduce the costs associated with developing assistive and
adaptive technologies and help address the employment challeng-es
persons with disabilities face. This will help ensure that they can
be more independent and get the well-paying, middle-class jobs
they want.
This program is part of the Government of Canada’s Innovation
and Skills Plan, a multi-year strategy to create well-paying jobs for
the middle class. n
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