Special Promotional Feature

The unemployment rate for persons with disabilities in Canada currently hovers between 20 and 25 percent – far higher than that of the general population.  Abilities in Mind (AIM) is a program of the BC Centre for Ability that works with employers to promote awareness and education to help guide the employment of people with disabilities.

AIM is hosting a national conference, “Embracing Ability: Making It Happen” highlighting workshop presenters who have demonstrated best practices on building and sustaining an inclusive workforce of people with disabilities. It takes place March 5^th & 6^th, 2014 at the Vancouver Marriott Downtown.

The two-days will bring together forward-thinking employers, innovative service providers and dynamic individuals with disabilities to focus on best practices for the inclusion of persons with disabilities.  The focus of the conference is on actual, effective examples of how to make the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workforce happen. Some of the impressive line-up of workshop presenters is as follows:

• Specialisterne Canada: Providing IT Jobs for People with Autism and Related Disorders
• Employment through Collaboration: A Prospect Approach
• Leadership from Within – Employee Resource Groups lead the Way in supporting diversity and inclusion for persons with disabilities
• Language of Business using B2B (business to business) terms to help include people with disabilities

For a full conference program, and to register, please visit our website.

In conjunction with the conference, companies and organizations are invited to showcase their best practices for the promotion of an inclusive and sustainable workforce. Register as an exhibitor.

About Abilities in Mind (AIM)
Most employers desire to have inclusive workplaces, however sometimes find it challenging to recruit, hire, develop and retain persons with disabilities. As a result, the AIM concept was created in response to a need from employers in the Vancouver business community to obtain support and enhance their organizational capacity to include persons with disabilities in their workplaces. It is a program of the BC Centre for Ability, an organization that has been providing services to persons with disabilities for over 40 years.

The goal of AIM is to reframe disability and focus on the ability of all individuals. We strive to facilitate a perceptual shift allowing employers to see the value in attracting, hiring, retaining and promoting individuals with disabilities.

AIM is creating a sustainable learning and development framework to meet the needs of the business community. We have partnered with leaders in the business community, dynamic service providers and most importantly, numerous individuals with disabilities to provide knowledge to employers.