By: Alice Clark
Ontarians are heading to the polls on June 2 in the 43rd general election.
To help address today’s labour market challenges, there is an important opportunity to empower Ontarians that face barriers to finding and keeping meaningful employment. Ontarians with disabilities, including sight loss, are an important reserve of skilled, qualified individuals who are ready to work. Yet people with sight loss face significantly higher levels of unemployment and underemployment than their sighted peers.
CNIB is urging the next Government of Ontario to commit to prioritizing employment opportunities for people with disabilities during the post-pandemic economic recovery.
In advance of the election, we wrote the Leaders of all the main political parties in Ontario, asking them to commit to:
- Support the appointment of a task force to develop a multi-ministry strategy to ensure Ontarians with sight loss and other sensory disabilities have the supports and skills they need to contribute to the Ontario economy.
- Ensure that any such strategy empowers people to successfully transition from social assistance to meaningful employment.
- Commit to ensuring that Ontarians living with sight loss have the technology they need to find and keep meaningful employment.