Disability and work

Climate change, artificial intelligence, robotics and automation. The world of work will look very different in the next two decades as a result of major system-wide changes. What might it hold for vulnerable workers?

Published: April 2021

In 2020, an Institute for Work & Health research team, using a method from the field of strategic foresight called horizon scanning, began exploring what the future may hold for workers, especially those in vulnerable conditions. Its findings are included in this report, which identifies nine future trends that may have a particular impact on vulnerable workers—both positive and negative.

Published: April 2021

An IWH study finds the risks of working in precarious jobs are the same for people with and without disabilities. But among people with disabilities, precarity is more likely when people are older or have less job tenure.

Published: March 2021

The future of work is characterized by diverse social, technological, economic, environmental and political changes, including artificial intelligence and the automation of jobs, an aging workforce, climate change. These are expected to disrupt every industry, transform working conditions and affect the types and availability of jobs. Despite a growing discourse on the changing nature of work, there is a limited understanding of how the future of work will impact vulnerable labour market groups. In this presentation, Dr. Arif Jetha outlines nine major trends that may shape the future of work and have a specific impact on vulnerable workers.

Published: February 2021

Workers with disabilities are no more likely than those without to work in precarious jobs. However, some subsets of people with disabilities are more likely to work in precarious jobs—older people or people with shorter job tenure. Contrary to expectation, younger people with disabilities are not more likely than older people with disabilities to have precarious jobs. Among people with and without disabilities, having better health is linked to a lower likelihood of working in precarious jobs.

Published: February 2021

An IWH-led project is determining what we know about the foundational and transferable skill levels of persons with disabilities and how to fill the gaps.

Status: Ongoing

An IWH project is bringing together disability-focused organizations to develop a toolkit to build capacity among Canada's financial-sector employers to hire and accommodate persons with disabilities.

Status: Ongoing

Research shows people with disabilities are often not permitted to, and/or are prevented from, participating in various activities in society, including employment. Culture change is needed to make substantive and sustainable change. This project aims to develop a set of clear and robust measures to track culture change as part of efforts to advance social inclusion and accessibility.

Status: Ongoing

If walking and talking robots are coming to replace employees at counters, desks and tills, Canadians don’t appear to be too concerned about it. The Toronto Star's Kieran Leavitt reports on a survey by the Environics Institute, with comments from IWH's Dr. Arif Jetha.

Published: Toronto Star, December 2020

Published: BMC Public Health, December 2020