Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA) is a social innovation laboratory that identifies, develops, evaluates, and disseminates tools and resources that address critical needs of organizations in their efforts to be inclusive workplaces. The project is supported by the Government of Canada's New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), in association with McMaster University, the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, and the Institiute for Work and Health.
$4.4 million was awarded to the Employment and Social Development Canada’s (ESDC’s) Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) Program, a joint initiative by the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources (CIRHR) and Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA).
YESS is a Government of Canada initiative that delivers 16 programs, including Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ), through a network of 12 federal departments, agencies, and Crown corporations. The Strategy is designed to support diverse youth (aged 15 to 30) become job-ready through work experience, training, skills development and wraparound supports that allow them to successfully transition into diverse sectors of the labour market. Through its wide range of programs, the Strategy invests in young people to build a strong Canadian economy while ensuring we continue to support those who may struggle to get ahead.
Our IDEA is about social innovation. It is about advancing transformational change in employer capacity to hire and promote persons with disabilities and create more accessible and inclusive workplaces.
- Dr. Emile Tompa, IDEA Executive Director
Mission
To help create stronger and more diverse labour markets that include persons with disabilities through evidence-informed policy and practice.
Vision
To see every workplace in Canada have the capacity to recruit, hire, onboard, retain, mentor and promote persons with disabilities across the full range of employment opportunities.
Values
Inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in all areas of society, particularly in strong and diverse labour markets where all persons have equal opportunities in careers, jobs and work.
