Tourism HR Canada and Ready, Willing and Able have formed a partnership aimed at increasing participation in the Canadian tourism workforce.
“We are very excited about this partnership with Tourism HR Canada,” says Don Gallant, National Director, Ready Willing and Able. “Within this partnership we will explore opportunities to increase the employment rate of persons with an intellectual disability or ASD within the tourismsSector across the country. We view the tourism sector as being a very positive and supportive industry, with much potential for increased employment for the people we support. We will be able to help employers secure valuable employees, and persons with an intellectual disability or ASD will gain needed employment. A win-win situation.”
Tourism is a major economic force in Canada, employing over 1.7 million people including 500,000 youth, and generating over $88 billion in economic activity. Tourism HR Canada’s goals include improving the quality of the tourism labour force and assisting tourism employers in being more flexible to meet changing competitive demands.
Ready, Willing and Able is a national partnership of the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL), the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorders Alliance (CASDA) and their member organizations. Ready, Willing and Able is active in communities across the country, and exists to increase the labour force participation of people with an intellectual disability or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
In the coming decade, an aging population, along with other factors, will mean increased labour shortages in the Canadian tourism sector. Canadian tourism employers will need to look to under-represented labour groups to meet growing labour demands. Today, 12.3% of the tourism workforce report a disability, a number slightly lower than the average in the overall Canadian workforce. 
This partnership will see Tourism HR Canada and Ready, Willing and Able work with employers to diversify their workforce, by finding ways to accommodate and increase labour force participation of people with an intellectual disability or ASD in the tourism sector.
“This partnership is important for a number of reasons,” says Tourism HR Canada President Philip Mondor. “First, it promotes a group of potential employees from an under-represented labour group to employers who are having trouble filling positions. Second, and more importantly, it will help individuals facing barriers to employment find secure, meaningful work, improving their lives, the live of their families and loved ones, and the communities where they live and work.”
