National Disability Employment Awareness Month, held in October, was established to increase awareness of the positive outcomes of hiring persons with disabilities in Canada.
- An estimated one in five Canadians (or 6.2 million) aged 15 years and over have one or more disabilities that limit them in their daily activities.
- An estimated 4 in 10 Canadians with disabilities have a severe or very severe disability.
- Only 20% of people with disabilities require any special installations in the workplace and more than half of those who do were able to get custom installations for less than $1000.
- An estimated 59% of working-age adults with disabilities are employed.
We wanted to take this opportunity to highlight a few of the Canadian Paralympic athletes from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. More than 4,500 athletes from 162 countries competed in the biggest Paralympics in history. Overall, 128 para-athletes attended the Tokyo Olympic and brought home 21 medals.
Please click on this link for a video summary of the 21 Paralympic medals won by Canadian para-athletes in Tokyo.
Aurélie Rivard
Aurélie Rivard is from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec. Aurélie was born with an underdeveloped left hand. She began learning to swim at age three, took up swimming properly at age eight, and started competing in the sport at age 11. Rivard’s potential was spotted whilst she was training to become a lifeguard and she began competing at the age of 11.
Aurélie Rivard won 5 medals at the Tokyo Paralympics:
- Gold Medal in the S10 100m freestyle, setting a world record.
- Gold Medal in the S10 400 m freestyle.
- Silver medal in S10 100 m backstroke.
- Bronze medal in the S10 50 m freestyle.
- Bronze medal at women’s S10 4x100 m freestyle relay.
Please click on this link to see Aurélie Rivard win Gold in the S10 100m freestyle.
Greg Stewart wins gold with his first-ever Paralympic throw
Greg Stewart is a 35-year-old from Kamloops, BC. He was born without the lower part of his left arm. Greg is seven feet, two inches tall and weighing 350 pounds. He began training in shot put in September 2017. Greg Stewart won gold in the men's F46 shot put and set a Canadian record of 16.75 metres.
Please click on this link to see Greg Stewart win gold.
