White paper
Summary of Deloitte’s Dialogue on diversity roundtables
July 2010
Setting the stage
Making diversity a priority in Canadian organizations is imperative – not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it is critical to the future
success of our businesses and our economy.
Over the last 18 months, we have dealt with the outcomes of a volatile world economy. Now, as companies gear up to hire more people, we’ll be doing so in an extremely competitive environment for talent. To recruit and retain the best people, in this market, we have to be open to the diverse groups within
our country. In addition to the business need, research suggests that diverse, heterogeneous teams promote creativity, innovation and better decision-making.
While some progress has been made in the areas of race and gender, people with disabilities continue to be significantly underrepresented in our workplaces. Their numbers are growing steadily in the population and it is becoming increasingly important to include this community in corporate Canada. We need to address the business case, the benefits and the challenges to doing so. We have to give people with disabilities a voice at the table and full access to the workforce.
In keeping with our commitment to diversity and our sponsorship of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, we held a series of Dialogue on Diversity roundtables to discuss the role that the business community can play to address issues facing people with disabilities in the work environment.
Our goal was to bring together representatives from business community, special interest groups, government agencies, employees and others to discuss topical issues and challenges and to then make recommendations to share with the broader business community.
I believe that this year’s roundtables set the stage for those of us in the business world. Seeing the possibilities, the abilities and the potential of
people with disabilities and working to include everyone in our organizations is truly powerful and will make a real difference in our communities. I hope
that the ideas that come out of this whitepaper will add another voice to the discussion and reinforce the importance of celebrating all aspects of diversity
in Canadian business.
Jane Allen
Partner and Chief Diversity Officer
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The business case
- Addressing barriers to the job market
- Accessibility and accommodation issues
- What’s next?
- Why Dialogue on diversity?
- Need more information?
Introduction
About one in eight Canadians or 13% of the population have a disability that affects their mobility, agility, hearing, vision or learning says Access Guide
Canada and as outlined in the report Canadians in Context – People with Disabilities, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 2006 when pain, psychological, memory, speech and developmental disabilities are added in, the estimates increase to 14.3% or 4.4 million Canadians.
Whatever number you use, the percentage of people with disabilities is large and growing each year – especially as Canadians get older. Disability can happen at any age and at any stage of life. Disability can be permanent or temporary, severe or mild. “Disability is no longer a dirty word. Now we’re trying to make the term disability acceptable and another part of business. In the next 10 years, when you say you have a disability, it will just mean that I work differently than you do,” said an Ottawa Dialogue on diversity participant.
According to Advancing the Inclusion of People with Disabilities 2009, adults with disabilities are more likely not to participate in the labour force.
The report also provides the following employment rates:
- For women with disabilities the rate is 52.1% as opposed to 70.1% for women without disabilities
- For men, the rate is 55.5% for those with disabilities and 80.2% for men without disabilities.
Years ago, diseases like diabetes and epilepsy were seen as disabilities that may have hindered people from succeeding in the workplace. Through awareness, accommodation and accessibility, people with these illnesses have become integral members of the business community. The reason? Employers and co-workers have learned to look past these illnesses and work with the person to help them succeed. Today’s workforce, while more diverse than 25 years ago, is still
lacking representation of people with disabilities for a variety of reasons.
Dialogue on diversity went across the country asking questions about the issues and barriers faced, aiming to find practical solutions to help integrate people with disabilities in the workforce, as well as to improve our workplace for everyone. The goal is to help employers hire people on merit- rather
than focus on their weaknesses – because all people have something to contribute to our businesses.
As a participant of the Dialogue on Diversity roundtable session said: “If governments and key organizations had the will and the chutzpah to build accessibility into their products and services, it would become mainstream. Until they do this, we’ll keep dealing with this as a Band-Aid solution forever – pushing our government to do something, to make it mandatory.”
The Business Case
“We know that this is the right thing to do, but what is the business case? It is a matter of getting the right person and the best person for the job;
as we come together we get unique perspectives so we can learn from our differences and find our commonality,” said a Dialogue on Diversity roundtable participant.
People with disabilities are underrepresented in the workplace. The question is why is it important to ensure their inclusion – what is the business case?
For some organizations, it is a matter of compliance with the Employment Equity Act, which states that employers should identify and eliminate employment barriers against people in designated groups – women, visible minorities, Aboriginal Canadians and people with disabilities – that result from the employer’s
employment systems, policies and practices not authorized by law.
Companies that bid on federal contracts and industries that are federally regulated under the Canadian constitution are regulated by the Act. Others are
not required by law to act in a particular way. Many companies are still working through how to apply employment equity within their places of business and integrate people with disabilities. According to Dialogue on diversity participants, many people with disabilities work in smaller companies or privately-owned businesses, although they have fewer resources and fewer Human Resources professionals than larger corporations. Participants believed that larger organizations are lagging behind in hiring from the disabled community.
Creating a more inclusive workplace is necessary for many reasons. The rationale for working towards a diverse work environment, according to roundtable participants, is threefold: responding to future talent shortages, building a strong reputation and reflecting the markets you serve are all benefits of working with a diverse group of people – including people with disabilities.
Future Talent Shortages
The talent market is shrinking – workers are getting older and there are fewer skilled people in the current labour pool to fill jobs as they become available.
The Canadian Employee Relocation Council states that more than 62% of Canadian CEOs say that the talent shortage is already affecting business growth.
The 2006 Census showed an upcoming labour shortage as our population ages. To find the people needed to fill these positions, businesses and governments must look for talent in every corner in the community and be more open about whom they will hire. People with disabilities are part of an untapped market – people with a variety of skills at a variety of levels.
Reflecting the Marketplace
Customers are becoming more heterogeneous and companies need to reflect the markets they serve to better serve and understand them. By doing that, businesses let their customers know that they both value and embrace diversity. Numerous studies suggest that diverse, heterogeneous teams promote creativity, innovation
and better decision-making. People with disabilities can add to the diversity of thought that brings a fresh perspective and innovation to the workplace. By maximizing the well-being
and contributions of people with disabilities, businesses can leverage the strength and competitive advantages of diversity.
Statistics show that people with disabilities also bring to the workplace other attributes that make them valued employees. Consider these statistics from a 2001 Statistics Canada survey:
- 90% of people with disabilities did as well or better at their jobs than non-disabled co-workers
- 86% rated average or better in attendance
- Staff retention was 72% higher among persons with disabilities
Addressing Barriers to the Job Market
“Our number one challenge is attitude – not just of the potential employer, but also of the person with the disability. The individuals must challenge their ideas of themselves and their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as their compromised self-esteem or self-confidence,” said a Dialogue on Diversity roundtable participant. During the Dialogue on diversity sessions, participants agreed that, although many organizations realize the importance of accommodation
in their workplaces, there are other challenges and barriers for both people with disabilities and employers.
Integration of people with disabilities is a two-way process. Part of the onus is on the employer to remove any barriers – physical or otherwise – that would hinder them. On the other hand, people from the disabled community also have to work to find solutions to break down those barriers. Accessing the job market is the responsibility of both groups.
Many senior management teams may understand the business case and know that workplace diversity is essential to creating a successful business in the 21st century. And, as a part of that understanding, they have come to support the idea of hiring people with disabilities. As a rountable participant said:
“The fact is, if someone became disabled while employed with a firm, that firm would adapt and find a way to modify the workplace so that this productive employee could work. So we need to be proactive and take the initiative. We need to have vision”.
Unfortunately, most hiring decisions are made by recruiters and middle managers – the first people whom all applicants vying for jobs will meet. If those groups are not educated on the benefits of diversity, the need to be inclusive of people with disabilities and the organization’s business case, there will be barriers in the company’s hiring practices and strategies for people with disabilities.
This is not done maliciously, said an Ottawa participant: “Managers approach staffing very simplistically – they are looking for someone to hire that will make their life easier, with the least amount of training or investment; someone who can show up without effort for them.” There is a perception that, by hiring someone with a disability, managers would need to put in more effort and training without enough resources to support hiring a disabled person.
The perception and lack of understanding issues do not end with hiring – that is only the first step. Once a person with a disability is hired, there are other issues to work through with their new colleagues including self-disclosure, visible and invisible disabilities and dealing with the attitudes and perceptions of colleagues.
Ready for the Job
Some companies have expressed a desire to hire skilled people from the disabled community only to have their postings languish due to lack of applicants.
A participant from the Montreal roundtable discussion said: “Few persons with disabilities show up during the recruitment process. This raises questions about our recruitment strategies. Companies do not identify themselves as employers that
ensure the fair treatment of people with disabilities via accommodation and employment policies.”
People with disabilities often have their own reasons for not applying for roles. These can include:
- traditional means for posting jobs may not be accessible to them
- not wanting to self-identify as disabled
- concerns related to lack of work experience in a business environment
For example, a visually impaired person may not access online job postings or a person in a wheelchair may not be able to attend a career fair because the location is not accessible. They think: “I don’t have any hope of getting the position, so I won’t apply.”
People with disabilities may not feel as if they are ready for the job because they do not have the practical, hands-on experience required for skilled positions or they do not have all abilities required. Many people with disabilities who are entering the workforce have not had the benefit of summer employment or part-time jobs during school months for a variety of reasons. Other reasons shared were lack of support at home or at work, and concerns about losing guaranteed income benefits.
Employers do have to make accommodations, but as a participant of the Vancouver roundtable said: “If I waited for an organization to make accommodations to get a job, I’d be always unemployed. People with disabilities need to know what they need to do and not depend on organizations. The onus can’t just be on organizations. If we want to make a difference, we should be able to advocate for ourselves.”
Disclosure or Not?
Sometimes the language used in the business environment and perceptions of people with disabilities in the workplace results in hesitancy to disclose disabilities. Hesitancy in self-identification leads to incorrect reporting and statistics that fail to provide businesses with an accurate read on diversity in the workplace.
Participants with disabilities reported that they had been told not to disclose disabilities and to instead compete based on skills only because of the stigma attached to disabilities. Some people with mental health illnesses have large gaps in their resumes due to the onset of an illness. Explaining why – without disclosing a disability — can be difficult. If someone is presented to an employer from one of a number of organizations that work with people with disabilities, automatically that person is known to have a disability. If a candidate needs an accommodation to be interviewed, it will also be correctly assumed that the person has a disability. In these cases, alerting the company of a disability in advance is necessary to getting the job. A participant in Ottawa said: “Someone with a disability struggles with what to disclose on a cover letter. The person with the disability has to deal with misconceptions
that the person hiring may have about her particular abilities, without really getting a chance to demonstrate those abilities.”
Both job seekers and disabled people who are already within the workplace sometimes refuse to self-identify because the organization’s definition of disability negates the accomplishments of the person and focuses solely on their disability. Many do not see their disability as a hindrance, but as a part of who they are – just as someone else may wear glasses to read the computer screen or have a wrist brace for carpal tunnel syndrome.
Visible Versus Invisible Disabilities
While people with visible disabilities cannot conceal supports such as a wheelchair or a seeing-eye dog, there are a number of invisible disabilities to consider such as intellectual and mental health issues which are looked upon less favourably than physical disabilities,. One participant in Edmonton stated,
“The issue is that people with intellectual disabilities aren’t seen as the poster children for people with disabilities. Mental health problems are viewed even more negatively.”
There are many people in our workplaces dealing with mental health illness ranging from depression to schizophrenia and they are uncomfortable sharing their concerns. Statistics from the Canadian Mental Health Association show that one in every five Canadians will have a mental health problem at some point in their lives. The Association also states that the unemployment rate of persons with serious mental illness has been commonly reported to range from
70 to 90%, depending on the severity of the disability.
Participants agreed that mental health and intellectual disabilities – so-called, “invisible” disabilities – were harder to deal with. Often people with invisible disabilities had an even greater stigma associated with their type of disabilities.
Attitudes and Perceptions
There are many barriers that people with disabilities face, but the biggest one is perception – especially for someone who is facing a mental health illness, where perceptions are overwhelmingly negative. As one participant shared, “We often don’t hear about issues that people are having until they are reaching the breaking point, so it’s important to have more openness.”
Not everyone sees disabilities – invisible or visible – the same way. Disclosing a disability during the interview process or telling a supervisor that there are challenges can be difficult or frightening if you believe that you will be judged negatively as a result. Once hired, asking for accommodations can also be difficult if a person fears that they won’t be seen as an equal or will be viewed as receiving preferential treatment.
Although people with disabilities have been described as more loyal and more dedicated to their jobs, there is often a perception that colleagues will have to pick up the slack for a disabled employee because they cannot do all the work or do it as efficiently. Studies show that employees with disabilities
are often more productive, dependable and loyal than their co-workers without disabilities and that staff retention is significantly higher among persons with disabilities. That adds up to savings of millions of dollars every year in hiring and training costs.
“There is a misunderstanding that by bringing on someone with a disability, there will be a lot more work. It’s a misperception of what’s involved. There is a need for education to show what the person is bringing into the workforce. The education piece is important because there are some extremely valuable employees who will enhance the workplace,” said one of Dialogue on Diversity participants.
There is also the perception that people with disabilities can only fill entry-level positions. The belief is that people with disabilities do not have the knowledge or experience required for more skilled roles. Data shows this is clearly not the case. According to the report Advancing the Inclusion of People with Disabilities 2009, by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, In 2006, 74.6% of working-age adults (considered age 25 to 64) with disabilities
had a high school diploma or higher educational certification.
Focusing on Abilities
At several of the roundtable sessions, participants stated that businesses needed to focus on what the person with a disability can do, rather than what they can’t do. This was the approach taken when Deloitte hired Mark Dumalski, who is visually-impaired, as a co-op student in 2005.
Alongside his seeing-eye dog Jubilee, and with the help of a Windows-based program called JAWS, which converts electronic text into speech, Mark achieved his CA designation and is now a Manager in the International Tax practice in Deloitte’s Ottawa office.
“There’s definitely been a learning curve on my part, and on the part of the firm,” admits Mark, “but everyone has been highly supportive and focused on finding solutions.”
Deloitte Associate Partner Martha Skeggs, who hired Mark, explains one of the challenges they faced and how everyone worked together to overcome it: “When Mark first started working with us, he was to prepare U.S. tax returns using our tax prep software. However, the software was only compatible with JAWS if it was scripted and it was not feasible or practical to script the entire software; so we looked at which forms were used in about 75% of the returns
and we scripted those forms, thus giving Mark the opportunity to prepare U.S. returns and gain the experience that he needed.”
“I think my story is proof that hiring a person with a disability is not as big a deal as some people may think,” Mark says. “Obviously there may be some barriers that need to be overcome but there’s always a workable solution-give people some time and they will figure it out. The most important thing is for everyone involved to maintain a positive, productive attitude.”
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Accessibility and Accommodation Issues
Most Canadians can get to their places of employment with relative ease. For people with disabilities, that is not always the case. There are a number of physical barriers that can prevent people with disabilities from fully participating in our communities and in our workforces.
An example that was described in one of the roundtable sessions is that, as of June 2007, wheelchair users in Gander, Newfoundland had to travel to St. John’s to fly on planes that were large enough to transport their wheelchairs. In another example, a guide dog was refused transport because the carrier requested a certificate showing that the dog was trained by an accredited school. As the Council of Canadians with Disabilities revealed, some airports
have installed self-serve kiosks that are not accessible.
The Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services breaks accessibility barriers into five groups:
- 1. Physical and architectural – Buildings or spaces that cause problems for people with disabilities who are trying to access them.
- 2. Information and communication – When people with disabilities have difficulties accessing the information that they need for reasons such as publications unavailable in large print.
- 3. Attitudinal – Discriminating against people with disabilities because it is assumed that they are not capable.
- 4. Technological – Not modifying technology to support assistive devices.
- 5. Organizational – Processes or policies that discriminate against people with disabilities. For example, hiring practices that exclude disabled people.
Having inaccessible washrooms, corridors that are too narrow for wheelchairs or electric scooters, or telephones that are not equipped for hearing impaired people are problems. If getting into the building is a problem and the employee does not have the correct tools or support to do his or her job, it is difficult or impossible to integrate into the workplace.
While there are rules and regulations requiring physical accessibility, they are not always followed. There is funding available, said participants, but many companies believe it is expensive to retrofit buildings to make them accessible. To receive funding, a company would have to offer a person with a disability a job and then apply for funding, leaving the disabled person still struggling to get into work each day until changes have been made. “Accessibility
is a large problem in the country – there should be access for all,” said a Dialogue participant.
Accommodating people in the workforce can be as simple as securing a keyboard tray to make typing more comfortable to something more significant such as constructing a ramp to access a building. According to the Yukon Council on Disability and our roundtable participants, when accommodations are necessary for people with disabilities in the workforce, 20% cost nothing and 50% cost less than $500.
“Simple things like being close to the photocopier or the washroom could make a significant impact on someone’s day. People need to ask for those kinds of accessibilities – they don’t have to be huge; we are looking at small accommodations that don’t necessarily cost a lot,”. Employers make adjustments
in the workplace to accommodate their employees every day – accommodating people with disabilities who require it is no different.
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What’s Next?
During the Dialogues on diversity, participants discussed the business case for diversity, the challenges and the barriers faced by people with disabilities entering the workforce as well as by the organizations trying to hire them. Finding practical solutions to move forward was critical for these conversations to be meaningful. We also learned that, ultimately, to integrate people with disabilities into the workforce, a culture of openness and trust is required,
as well as a respect for individual privacy.
There is a need to build greater awareness and educate those involved in hiring to eradicate myths and stereotypes and create a culture of workplace opportunity for people with disabilities. There are several organizations in the business community right now trying to make this happen – many of them attended Deloitte’s
roundtable sessions – but more organizations need to commit to making a difference for people with disabilities.
Our workplaces should mirror our communities. To ensure that people feel comfortable in their work environment, organizations need to develop a healthy workplace – not just for people with disabilities, but for all employees.
Here’s an example from the business of community of how integrating people with disabilities into your organization can be a success for all involved:
Valarie and Mark Wafer of Megleen Inc. own a number of Tim Hortons franchises and have employed more than 50 people with intellectual disabilities over 15 years. Their experiences working with people with disabilities have been extremely positive. At the Toronto Dialogue on diversity roundtable, Mark spoke about how his hiring and supporting people with disabilities has been a successful endeavour for the business.
When Mark and Valarie opened their first Tim Hortons franchise in 1995, they realized they needed more employees. “I asked a local high school teacher who worked at a school for people with disabilities. She encouraged me to hire a young man with Down syndrome. I hadn’t had much experience with people with disabilities at that point,” explains Mark.
Once they hired the young man, “we brought in Community Living Toronto to work as job coaches because I didn’t have the experience and I didn’t have the time to train him. Community Living Toronto was the cornerstone of making this successful for us. He was a major success and it was a meaningful position – it wasn’t charity.”
This particular employee has worked with Mark for 15 years although turnover in the food service industry is high. “The average tenure of the people who are working for me now is seven years versus one year and three months for the rest of the population – that’s a really tangible benefit, when you consider
the cost of training, lost productivity and everything else,” says Mark. “Because of our success, we’ve continued working with Community Living Toronto. When I identify the need to hire someone, I go to them and they find the right person and make the right fit. I also encourage that everyone I hire – at all levels – to understand they will be working side-by-side with people with disabilities. If they are uncomfortable with that idea, they don’t get hired.”
What Can Your Organization Do?
- 1. Build your business case. Ensure that senior leadership as well as middle management and recruiters understand the business case for diversity – and understand why it is a priority for your organization. By encouraging and celebrating diversity, organizations will ultimately benefit from the talents and skills of people from all communities, including people with disabilities.
- 2. Change the dialogue. Help people at all levels feel open to express their concerns when it comes to dealing with people with disabilities in the work environment. What are they self-conscious about? What don’t they understand? What stereotypes do they hold? Via training and open dialogue, everyone can become comfortable discussing workplace disability in an open and honest fashion.
- 3. Build awareness about people with disabilities in your workplace. As employees begin to understand the business case and learn that people with disabilities can make a positive contribution to business at all levels, attitudes will change. Again, employee and leadership sensitivity training can be a real asset.
- 4. Be accommodating. Many businesses already make accommodations for their employees, such as flexible work hours, subsidized daycare or fitness memberships. Be willing to speak with disabled people about their needs and understand the level of accommodations, if any, required to help them succeed in the workplace.
Communicating with all your employees will remove barriers by getting any challenges and issues into the open before they become serious problems. “A lot of businesses today are already accommodating employees, whether they have disabilities or not and that’s something to remember,” said a Dialogue participant.
Other suggestions from roundtable participants include:
- 1. Review and rework the recruitment process and embed the need for hiring people with disabilities into all strategic and planned hiring. Partner with community organizations and disability support groups at colleges and universities to find the right network connections.
- 2. Look for alternative recruitment methods that will include people in the disabled community
- 3. Accommodate potential hires by considering job carving – allowing a person with a disability the opportunity to do the portion of the job they are capable of and reassigning what they cannot do.
- 4. Create an internship/mentorship program for people with disabilities.
- 5. Connect with community organizations that assist people with disabilities in their job search
- 6.Develop a business leadership network where organizations can share best practices and work to bring more people with disabilities into the workforce.
- 7. Create disability forums were people with disabilities can discuss their issues and concerns.
- 8. Create progressive career development plans for people with disabilities within the workplace as well as highlighting their successes to build awareness.
The goal: to create an inclusive culture that favours all employees. Creating that culture is not going to happen quickly or easily – there is a lot of work to be done by corporate Canada and by the disabled community. If we are committed to integrating people with disabilities into the workforce, we will
truly be able to make a difference in the Canadian workplace.
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Why Dialogue on Diversity?
Deloitte is strongly committed to diversity and was a sponsor of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver. As part of that sponsorship, the firm also ran an internal contest we called Change your world which donated $14,000 to fund five projects that will help organizations supporting people with disabilities
in communities across Canada. Coupled with the Paralympic Games sponsorship, it made sense that this year’s Dialogue on diversity roundtable series would be used to focus attention to the critical issues which affect people with disabilities in the business community.
The roundtables began March 3 in Halifax and traveled to six other cities throughout the period of the Paralympic Games, including Toronto, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Montreal Edmonton, and concluded in Vancouver on March 19.
Each session included representatives of business, community-based diversity and disability organizations, current and former paralympic athletes and Deloitte partners and colleagues. A complete list of attendees can be found below.
Dialogue on Diversity Participants
Edmonton
- Teren Clarke Canadian Paraplegic Association (Alberta)
- Nadine Fulmer Alberta Association for Community Living (AACL)
- Dr. Donna Goodwin University of Alberta
- Lynn Groves-Hautmann Chrysalis
- Lynne Heffel HR WORKS Inc.
- Vaughn Neff Northern Alberta Regional Office, Culture and Community Spirit
- Ross Norton Paralympian, Wheelchair basketball
- Iris Saunders Employabilities
- Michael Tremblay Excel Society
- Joanne Yardley University of Alberta
Halifax
- Steve Ashton IWK Health Centre
- Tanis Crosby YWCA Halifax
- Archie Gillis Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Network
- Mary Hatcher The Parkinson Society
- Nina Haynes Laing House
- Jessica Neil Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
- Monica Jordan Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
- Paul Tingley Paralympian, Sailing
Montreal
- Annie Brouillard Banque Nationale du Canada /National Bank of Canada
- Louis Bourassa Les Amputés de guerre
- Michel Delisle CAMO pour personnes handicapées
- Gabrielle Deschamps Sanofi Aventis
- Valerie Grand-Maison Paralympian, Swimming
- Florence Pardo Regroupement des aveugles et amblyopes du Québec (RAAQ)
- Claude Séguin CAMO pour personnes handicapées
- Julie Sylvestre Société de transport de Montréal
- Chantal Taillon La Coop Fédérée
- Maya Toussaint Groupe Pages Jaunes/Yellow Pages Group Co
- Beth Tuer Agence du revenu du Canada
Ottawa
- Sharlyn Ayotte T-Base Communications
- Linda Barbetta Learning Disabilities Association of Ottawa-Carleton
Candice Botha Ottawa Independent Living Resource Centre - Leah-Anne Brown Momentus
- Barbara Brownlee Department of Justice
- Kimberley Butler RED Chair HR
- Michel David Canadian Hard of Hearing Association
- Lois Emburg City of Ottawa
- Margo Flah Ottawa Hospital
- Pierre Gourgon Canada Post Corporation
- Lise Griffith University of Ottawa
- Kathy Labrecque Alcatel Lucent
- Chelsea Lariviere Paralympian, Wheelchair racing
- Maria L’Orfano Department of National Defence
- Aaron Marsaw Citizenship and Immigration Canada
- Susan Seally OAG
- Barb Smith University of Ottawa
- Deirdre Speers YMCA-YWCA
- Nicole Synowski Canadian Hard of Hearing Association
- Elise Wohlbold Conference Board of Canada
Saskatoon
- Lori Adams Affinity Credit Union
- Michelle Amyotte-Kupusa Information Services Corporation
- Mike Bacon Paralympian, Wheelchair rugby
- Shirley Carr Vecima Networks Inc.
- Maryann Deutscher Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan
- Liz Duret SIAST
- Aaron Fornwald Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan
- Terry Foulds SIAST
- Jeannine Harlton Saskatchewan Association for Community Living
- Lee Knafelc Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan
- Heather Kuttai Saskatchewan Abilities Council
- Jenny Ly SGI Canada
- Kevin McTavish Saskatchewan Association for Community Living
- Dean Olorenshaw Vecima Networks Inc.
- Candace Wasacase-Lafferty University of Saskatchewan
Toronto
- Elaine Austin Business Take Action
- JoAnn Bentley Canadian Hearing Society
- Pinoo Bindhani Diversity Institute in Management and Technology, Ryerson University
- Loreli Buenaventura Scotia Bank
- Joe Dale ODE Network
- Tracey Ferguson Paralympian, Wheelchair basketball
- Debbie Gillespie CNIB
- Dauna Jones-Simmonds TD Canada Trust
- Jim Lawrie IBM
- Deanna Matzanke Scotia Bank
- Sharon Myatt Myatt and Associates
- Judy Quillin March of Dimes
- Tina Shier Easter Seals
- Mark Wafer Tim Hortons (multiple franchisee)
Vancouver
- Tom Burnell Open Door Group
- Melanie Crombie British Columbia Paraplegic Association
- Bruce A. Gilmour 2010 Legacies Now Disability Advisory Committee
- Mark Gruenheid Greater Vancouver Business Leadership Network
- Patrick Jarvis Canadian Paralympic Foundation
- Monica Kay City of Vancouver
- Craig Langston Cerebral Palsy Association of British Columbia
- Tom Paulik Insurance Corporation of British Columbia
- Henry Stuive CNIB
- Greg Travers The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work
- Rosamund van Leeuwen British Columbia Guide Dog Services
- Elisabeth Walker-Young Paralympian, Swimming
Need more information?
Jane Allen
Partner and Chief Diversity Officer
(416) 874-3136
janallen@deloitte.ca
Nicole Cohen
Diversity manager
(416) 601-6532
niccohen@deloitte.ca
Contact a Deloitte professional or visit www.deloitte.com/ca/workplace-diversity
Reproduced from http://www.deloitte.com/ca/workplace-diversity