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Updated: November 21, 2005

Minister's Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities

Background

• The Minister's Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities was established in January 2003 to advise the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance on solutions and strategies for increasing the employment, employability and independence of persons with disabilities.

• The Minister's Council is comprised of 23 key representatives from the business, government, community, and education and training sectors throughout the province.

• The Minister's Council has sponsored several research projects including "A Profile of Persons with Disabilities in British Columbia: Employment, Labour Market Needs and Occupational Projection (2003)" and "Recruitment and Retention of Persons with Disabilities in British Columbia (2004)".

• This research formed the basis for the December 3, 2004, launch of WorkAble Solutions: Taking Action on Employment for Persons with Disabilities. WorkAble Solutions is a Minister's Council initiative to promote employment opportunities among British Columbia's business community.

• The initiative introduced a new set of WorkAble Solutions' tools to support employment for persons with disabilities, including an interactive job resource web site (at www.workablesolutionsbc.ca) and an Employer Handbook to support the recruitment and retention of persons with disabilities.

• The Minister's Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities is a key part of the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance'Employment Strategy for Persons with Disabilities

• This strategy, launched in April 2002, emphasises leadership, partnership and action.

Key Facts

• According to a recent Statistics Canada Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS), British Columbia has about 500,000 residents who have disabilities.

• Nearly 300,000 British Columbians with disabilities are within the working age population.

• Labour force participation rates for persons with disabilities are half those of persons without disabilities.
  

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