Engaging and Supporting Canadians with Disabilities in Post-Pandemic Recovery

For disabled Canadians, the global pandemic will exacerbate existing barriers to community participation and have a lasting effect on access to civic, social and employment opportunities.

Failing to support all Canadians equitably in crisis response and recovery neglects those who need it most. The opportunity to fully engage all local communities and Canadians in recovery efforts is missed as well, all while increasing the burden on over-stressed social services, health, and economic institutions.

Ad-hoc crisis response and recovery initiatives lead to a widening gap in quality of service from community to community across Canada, and limit opportunities for Canada’s public, private and voluntary sectors to support Canada’s diverse disability community.

Galvanized by the challenges facing Canada’s disability community in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, CDF is committed to working across government and sectors to help design and implement crisis recovery strategies that meet the needs of Canadians with disabilities and harness the capabilities of all Canadians to accelerate recovery.