About us
CCRW is leading the Disability Confidence project to promote accessibility, diversity, and inclusion in the Canadian Financial Sector and other federally regulated entities. This project of work offers a comprehensive blueprint and online toolkit to support employers in their journey towards an inclusive and barrier-free Canada. The content of this project has been created by CCRW in collaboration with the valued contributions and expertise from Community. Funded by the Government of Canada, it is not to be reproduced or sold.
DCIF Mission Statement
The DCIF project is a business-focused response to the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) that provides employers in the financial sector with a comprehensive blueprint to implement best-practice solutions for accessible workplaces and accessible design and delivery of products and services.
Our Approach
The DCIF project is grounded in the following approaches:
1. Evidence-based
2. Business-focused
3. Collaborative
4. Intersectional
Evidence-based:
Our work is grounded in an evidence-based approach. With the understanding that evidence means different things across various settings, industries, and sectors, we clarify that our intent is about the marriage and coherence between promising practices that are found from both the real-world setting, as well as the academic realm. We equally value knowledge from the field and from the peer-reviewed process.
Business-focused:
The DCIF focus is on the business perspective and the employer as the end user. We believe in providing support and guidance for employers, to enable them to turn the corner and not only become more accessible and inclusive but understand that the benefits are vast – both for their own business, and for the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in employment opportunities.
Collaborative:
Our approach is deeply collaborative and rooted strongly in the disability community. For this project alone, we have 25 partners representing a cross-disability lens. Partners range from research institutions, to advocacy organizations, to disability-specific groups – each with their own expertise, lived experience, and perspectives that can be incorporated into the tools and resources we create.
Intersectional:
Pushing past the concept that persons with disabilities may possess multiple identities, it is fundamental to our work to recognize, reflect upon, and consider how intersecting systems of oppression impact a person with a disability. It is incredibly important to us that we capture this, and the language, content, examples, and methodology we employ is informed by an intersectional approach.
Our Vision
The pre-eminent Canadian Centre of Excellence on the economic, social and psychological aspects of disability (be it one or more physical, sensory, medical, learning or mental health disability), as they impact people’s ability to seek, acquire and retain productive employment.
Our Mission
To promote and support meaningful and equitable employment of persons with disabilities. As innovators and agents of change, we build partnerships, develop skills, share knowledge and influence attitudes.
Our Values
We recognize the capability of persons with disabilities and support their choices for equitable and meaningful participation in society.
We believe that we achieve our mission through partnerships, teamwork, cooperation, trust and mutual respect among and with all stakeholders, employees and volunteers. We believe that we are responsible to those persons we serve, and hold accountability to our stakeholders, members, community at large and our benefactors Above all, we believe that the CCRW exists to create an environment where persons with disabilities may attain equality of opportunity.
As a national registered not-for-profit organization committed to supporting and promoting the meaningful and equitable employment of persons with disabilities, we believe that it is essential to partner and form alliances with groups and organizations representing persons with disabilities; and to work closely with all levels of government to influence change in policy reflecting a strengthened commitment to person with disabilities.
