October is Disability Employment Awareness Month

October is Disability Employment Awareness Month and local officials are getting the word out about an un-tapped labour pool and how businesses can become more inclusive.

Community Living North Bay’s Employment Service’s Manager J.C. Doyle says they help to identify business needs and help to match people that can match those business needs.

“It’s quite a dynamic process where we work with employers to help them become disability competent and basically help realize the economic benefit of being an inclusive employer,” he says.

Doyle says they will be at Wednesday’s Battalion game recognizing local employer champions and their employees, and drawing attention to their contributions to the local economy.

John McLellan is the Troops’ Senior Manager Marketing & Business Development.

He says they’re looking forward to the event.

“Disability Employment Awareness night is just another way for the North Bay Battalion to help the Association for Community Living to get their message out, what better way at a hockey game where there’s 2,500 fans in the building and they can learn a lot,” he says.

According to the 2012 Canadian Survey on Disability, Canadians with disabilities were employed at a rate of 47 percent compared with 74 percent for Canadians without disabilities.

There are approximately 411,600 working-aged Canadians with disabilities who are not working, but whose disability does not prevent them from doing so.

Official say almost half of these potential workers are post-secondary graduates.