According to a BMO survey, 80% of Canadians think that employers in the public and private sectors should put in place more actions to help disabled workers integrate into their workforce.
The BMO survey also revealed that 45% of Canadians think that more initiatives in favour of employing disabled persons would save money for taxpayers, compared to 20% who think it would cost them money. This logical reasoning, according to the study, proves that Canadians understand that offering a job to someone is necessarily more productive and economical than offering them an allowance.
Among the companies that have integrated employees with disabilities, 62% have noted that these employees had perfectly met their expectations and 15% that they exceeded them. With a new look, a certain diversity and an often higher motivation than others, employees with disabilities indeed have much to contribute to the company.
Greatly overestimated costs
Nonetheless, at the current time, just over half of people with disabilities who are able to work are employed. The main obstacle to their recruitment is prejudice, particularly as to the cost of arrangement of the workplace: most participants of the survey estimated it at $10,000 dollars, while 20% of workers with disabilities don’t need any arrangement… and for those who actually do, the average cost is no more than $500 dollars.