Disability and work
People with disabilities face substantially lower employment levels than the general working-age population. This page pulls together research and resources on policies and practices aimed at improving the labour market participation of people living with disabilities.
Featured
At Work article
Top-ranked strategies to support young persons with disabilities in the future of work
IWH researchers asked persons with disabilities, practitioners and subject matter experts about strategies for disability inclusion in the face of six future of work challenges. A new report details their top-ranked strategies to foster inclusion in the face of each challenge.
Published: June 7, 2024
Research Highlights
How do employment support programs impact the health of young adults with episodic disabilities?
Episodic disabilities can make it challenging for workers to find and sustain employment while managing their symptoms and work demands. An IWH study investigated the health impacts of employment support programs for young adults with episodic disabilities.
Published: April 8, 2024
Journal article
Journal article
Scoping review of work disability policies and programs
Published: International Journal of Disability Management, January 2017
Project
Project
Financial incentives to promote employment of people with disabilities: when and how they work best
Funding for financial incentives to promote the employment of people with disabilities is substantial. Therefore, it's important to know when and how these incentives work best.
Status: Ongoing
At Work article
Advocate and pioneer challenges all to erase stigma faced by workers with disabilities
IWH Nachemson lecture celebrates Wolfgang Zimmermann's decades-long commitment to improving the lives of injured workers and people with disabilities.
Published: November 2016
Project
Project
Cost to Canadians of excluding people with disabilities from the labour market
What is the cost to Canadians of excluding people with disabilities from fully participating in the paid labour market? An IWH research team is coming up with the answer.
Status: Completed 2022
At Work article
At Work article
New research centre to examine work disability policy in Canada
The Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy, led by two IWH scientists, aims to improve how people with disability are supported in the labour market
Published: February 2014
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
Income security and labour-market engagement: Envisioning the future of work disability policy in Canada
In this plenary IWH senior scientists Drs. Emile Tompa and Ellen MacEachen describe the new Centre for Research in Work Disability Policy, recently launched to address work disability policy challenges through a seven-year SSHRC Partners grant. They describe the centre’s mandate and how it's organized to create a new generation of research on work disability policy.
Published: February 2014
Project
Project
Providing research evidence for WHO guideline on rehabilitation services
Strengthening rehabilitation is emerging as a key challenge facing health systems in the 21st century, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In establishing its guidelines on rehabilitation services, WHO turned to IWH’s expertise to help synthesize the research evidence on a host of questions.
Status: Completed 2017
Project
Project
Policies and practices on the accommodation of people with visible disabilities in the workplace
A research team led by IWH reviewed the literature to identify the workplace accommodations that employers in different workplaces are making at the recruitment, hiring and working stages for employees with visible disabilities.
Status: Completed 2017
Project
Project
Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy: Envisioning the future of disability policy in Canada
The Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy (CRWDP) is a transdisciplinary initiative on the future of work disability policy in Canada, bringing together over 60 academic and over 60 partners from across the country.
Status: Ongoing
At Work article
At Work article
The crystal ball: Predicting return to work following low-back pain
What factors affect how long it will take workers to return to work following an episode of acute low-back pain? A just-completed systematic review from the Institute for Work & Health points to a number of them, including workers’ recovery expectations and their interactions with health-care practi
Published: January 2011