Turning Research Into Action: A Co-Design Workshop for New Grads
Recent graduates with disabilities in Canada face persistently high unemployment rates, with new research highlighting barriers that leave many sidelined from the workforce despite qualifications.
Key takeaways
- •The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work's SURF research has exposed ongoing challenges for post-secondary students and recent grads with disabilities transitioning to employment, prompting direct action to translate findings into practical tools.
- •Unemployment among working-age Canadians with disabilities remains around 20-25% higher than for those without, with youth facing even steeper hurdles amid economic pressures and employer hesitancy.
- •Involving those with lived experience in co-creating resources addresses a key gap where traditional supports often fail to reflect real-world needs, risking continued exclusion without such targeted, participatory efforts.
Barriers Persist for Disabled New Grads
Canada's labour market continues to underserve people with disabilities, even as post-secondary attainment among this group has risen. Recent data show that while more individuals with disabilities are completing college and university programs, their transition into paid work lags significantly behind peers without disabilities. Unemployment and underemployment rates for working-age adults with disabilities hover substantially above national averages, often by 20 percentage points or more, with younger entrants encountering compounded obstacles like limited professional networks, disclosure concerns, and inaccessible hiring processes.
The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW) has produced targeted research through its SURF project, documenting these lived realities for current students and recent graduates. This work builds on longstanding evidence of systemic gaps but arrives at a moment when economic uncertainty amplifies risks: post-pandemic recovery has not evenly benefited marginalized groups, and employers report ongoing challenges in inclusive hiring despite stated commitments.
Co-design approaches, where those directly affected collaborate on solutions, represent a shift from top-down program development. For new graduates with disabilities, this matters because generic career resources frequently overlook specific barriers—such as accommodation negotiations or stigma in workplaces—leading to higher dropout from job searches or mismatched roles. The stakes include not just individual livelihoods but broader economic costs: untapped talent contributes to productivity losses estimated in billions annually across Canada.
Non-obvious tensions arise in balancing lived experience with scalability. While participatory methods yield authentic insights, they demand time and resources that organizations like CCRW must weigh against urgent needs. There's also the risk that without sustained follow-through, co-created tools remain underused, perpetuating cycles of exclusion even as awareness grows.