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Writing and coordinationDirection générale adjointe des politiques d’emploiMinistère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale

PublicationDirection des communicationsMinistère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale

This document may be consulted on the departmental Web site (www.mess.gouv.qc.ca).

To obtain a copy of this document, contact the Bureau des renseignements et plaintes at the Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale, at one of the following numbers:

If you are calling from the Québec City area418 643-4721

Elsewhere in Québec, toll-free1 888 643-4721

You can obtain a copy of this document in certain adapted media by contacting the Bureau des renseignements et plaintes.

Legal deposit – Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 2008Legal deposit – Library and Archives Canada, 2008

ISBN 978-2-550-52115-0 (printed paper)ISBN 978-2-550-52116-7 (PDF)

© Gouvernement du Québec

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MESSAGE FROM THE PREMIER

In modern societies like ours, employment is an important factor for personaldevelopment and social integration. It is also a way for citizens to contributeto the economic development of their society. By adopting the Act to securehandicapped persons in the exercise of their rights with a view to achievingsocial, school and workplace integration, our government has set itself theobligation to favour greater labour market participation by people withhandicaps.

Québec has to be able to tap into all its vital forces. With the National Strategy for Labour Market Integration andMaintenance of Handicapped Persons, the government has given itself the means to reduce the gap between theemployment rate for handicapped persons and the rest of the population by 50% between now and 2018. As a society,it is crucial that we join together behind pivotal, inclusive efforts to achieve equal employment opportunities.

It goes without saying that the government has a role to play in creating favourable conditions for labour forceparticipation. The desired major changes will be possible, however, only to the extent that employers, trade unionsand workers show greater openness to the potential offered by people with handicaps.

Together, we can ensure that people with handicaps take their rightful place in the labour market and contribute morethan ever to Québec’s prosperity.

Jean CharestPremier of Québec

for Labour Market Integration and Maintenance of Handicapped PersonsNational Strategy

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MESSAGE FROM THE MINISTER

At a time when Québec is facing major labour market challenges, theimplementation of the National Strategy for Labour Market Integration andMaintenance of Handicapped Persons is crucially important. The Strategy willnot only allow us to improve the standard of living of many people withhandicaps, it will help us achieve a better balance between labour supply anddemand.

With a specific objective for 2018, the Strategy sends a clear signal to labourmarket stakeholders. We have to combine our efforts to make the labour market more inclusive. In this sense, themeasures contained in the Strategy, which are based to a large extent on the public consultation carried out by thegovernment, will help mobilize labour market players behind the shared goals of helping people with handicapsbecome job ready and supporting employers who recruit and maintain handicapped employees.

In an aging society with growing labour needs, the labour market has to become more open to people with handicaps.Québec has to ensure that all individuals can find and retain employment equal to their ambitions.

Sam HamadMinister of Employment and Social Solidarity


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FOR EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

MESSAGE FROM CHAIR OF THE CPMT

Convinced that increasing the labour market participation of people withhandicaps is a solution to labour needs, the Commission des partenaires dumarché du travail (CPMT) supports the National Strategy for Labour MarketIntegration and Maintenance of Handicapped Persons.

The CPMT is committed to helping Québec rise to labour market challenges andfeels that it is important not only to boost the employment rate of people withhandicaps, but also to support skills development and recognition for thissegment of the labour force.

The Strategy calls upon all labour market players. The CPMT therefore invites the regional councils of labour marketpartners, in particular, to help mobilize regional players and identify collaborative efforts and mechanisms favourableto the hiring and retention of handicapped employees. In so doing, the CPMT and regional councils will contribute tomeeting labour market needs in all regions of Québec.

Marjolaine LoiselleChair, CPMT


CONTENTS

LIST OF ACRONYMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

1. MOBILIZING STAKEHOLDERS AROUND A SHARED OBJECTIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31.1 Shared objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31.2 Stakeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31.3 National tools and regional collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41.4 Guiding principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

2. A GOVERNMENT IN ACTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72.1 Action plans in favour of handicapped persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72.2 Equal employment opportunities in the public service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72.3 Contractual obligation program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82.4 Equal access to employment in public bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

3. HEIGHTENING THE AWARENESS OF CITIZENS AND LABOUR MARKET PLAYERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103.1 Mobilization campaign in favour of handicapped persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103.2 Québec handicapped persons week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103.3 Public recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

4. RECOGNIZING AND DEVELOPING THE POTENTIAL OF HANDICAPPED PERSONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124.1 Better initial education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124.2 Importance of educational and vocational counselling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154.3 Transition from school to working life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164.4 Adult education for people with handicaps and access to continuing education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164.5 Other measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

5. NEUTRALIZING BARRIERS TO JOB ENTRY AND JOB RETENTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205.1 Encouraging and supporting employers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205.2 Measures to support and accompany handicapped persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225.3 Complementary efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

6. FOLLOW-UP MECHANISMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286.1 Mechanisms provided for by law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286.2 Following up regional collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .296.3 Two reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .296.4 Changes in the labour market situation of handicapped persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

APPENDIX: LIST OF ACTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31


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FOR EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESii

LIST OF ACRONYMS

AFE Aide financière aux études

CABQ Centre d’action bénévole de Québec

CAMO–PH Comité d’adaptation de la main-d’œuvre pour personnes handicapées

CDPDJ Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse

CIT Contrat d’intégration au travail

CPMT Commission des partenaires du marché du travail

CQEA Conseil québécois des entreprises adaptées

CRPMT Conseils régionaux des partenaires du marché du travail

CSSS Centres de santé et de services sociaux

MAMR Ministère des Affaires municipales et des Régions

MDEIE Ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation

MELS Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport

MESS Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale

MFA Ministère de la Famille et des Aînés

MFQ Ministère des Finances du Québec

MSSS Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux

MTQ Ministère des Transports du Québec

OCCOPPQ Ordre des conseillers et conseillères d’orientation et des psychoéducateurs et psychoéducatrices du Québec

OPHQ Office des personnes handicapées du Québec

PDEIPH Programme de développement de l’employabilité à l’intention des personnes handicapées

PREB Programme de reconnaissance des expériences bénévoles

PSEA Programme de subventions aux entreprises adaptées

ROSEPH Regroupement des organismes spécialisés pour l’emploi des personnes handicapées

SACAIS Secrétariat à l’action communautaire autonome et aux initiatives sociales

SARCA Services d’accueil, de référence, de conseil et d’accompagnement

SCT Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor

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INTRODUCTIONPeople with handicaps face daily barriers to theirparticipation in society, especially in terms of labourmarket access. Indeed, they make up one of the mostdisadvantaged segments of the workforce when it comesto training and employment. Statistics confirm theongoing gap between the situation of handicappedpersons and that of people without disabilities.Handicapped people are under-represented in thelabour force and the employed population, and, onaverage, are less educated. This means that they are oneof the population groups most affected by poverty andsocial exclusion.

In adopting the Act to secure handicapped persons inthe exercise of their rights with a view to achievingsocial, school and workplace integration, in 2004, thegovernment wanted to inject new momentum into itsefforts to help handicapped citizens. The NationalStrategy for Labour Market Integration and Maintenanceof Handicapped Persons flows from the government’sdesire to actively promote greater labour marketparticipation by people with handicaps. Achieving asubstantial improvement in the historically disadvantagedsituation of people with handicaps requires concertedefforts and sufficient resources. The new impetus has tocome not only from the government, but from all labourmarket stakeholders. This mobilization is essential.

Given the greying of the population and emerging labourshortages in certain sectors of the economy, Québeccannot afford to overlook people with handicaps. Thelabour market contribution of this segment of society isjust as decisive as that of other population groups. Wehave to see handicapped citizens as a valid labour pool,and it is therefore urgent that people with handicaps be

given an equal opportunity to become financially self-reliant through employment and contribute to the futureof Québec society. We have to offer them an appropriateenvironment to develop their full potential and enter andremain in the labour market.

The National Strategy for Labour Market Integration andMaintenance of Handicapped Persons is based on extensivedialogue. In early 2007 the government consulted repre -sen tatives of associations, employers and trade unionsabout the best ways of increasing the labour marketparticipation of people with handicaps. Over a hundredindividuals and organizations were consulted in sixregions of Québec and about 20 national organizationstook part in meetings held in Montréal. In addition to theMinistère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MESS),which coordinated the preparation of the Strategy, 12 government departments and agencies took part inthe consultations. Following this step, the MESS invitedthe Commission des partenaires du marché du travail(CPMT) to collaborate in identifying a unifying nationalobjective and in mobilizing regional stakeholders.

The National Strategy for Labour Market Integration andMaintenance of Handicapped Persons sets a ten-yearobjective, to be met between now and 2018. It alsoincludes follow-up and reporting mechanisms. Given theneed for effective action and the importance of beingable to correct and adjust efforts over the next ten years,the measures described in this document cover only thefirst five years of the full period. Other measures will beproposed and implemented at the end of this first phase.



for Labour Market Integration and Maintenance of Handicapped PersonsNational Strategy 3

1 MOBILIZING STAKEHOLDERSAROUND A SHARED OBJECTIVE

The National Strategy for Labour Market Integration and Maintenance of Handicapped Persons is aimed at ensuringthat people with handicaps enjoy equal employment opportunities and at boosting their labour market participation.It balances the responsibilities of labour market players, in areas such as hiring and reasonable accommodation in theworkplace, with aspects requiring government contributions or action. One of the cornerstones of the Strategy consistsin mobilizing labour market players and involving them in essential efforts to ensure that more handicapped peopleenter and remain in the labour market.

1.1 Shared objectiveTo achieve significant results, it is important that allstakeholders who can take action in favour of peoplewith handicaps rally together behind a shared objective.In order to identify this objective, the Minister ofEmployment and Social Solidarity has joined forces withthe Commission des partenaires du marché du travail(CPMT), given the CPMT’s representative nature andstrategic role. Indeed, the CPMT groups togetherQuébec’s main employer and trade union associations,along with representatives of the world of education andcommunities. The CPMT’s mission includes advising theMinister about labour force and employment orientations.Together, they have agreed to:

set a single ten-year objective;use the employment rate as an indicator, as it isunderstood by most individuals and is directly linkedto labour market activity;measure the employment progress of people withhandicaps via the decrease in the gap between theirsituation and that of people without handicaps;target a 50% reduction in the gap between theemployment rate for people with handicaps and thatfor people without handicaps.

1.2 StakeholdersMeeting this objective requires the participation of thegreatest possible number of players. A number oforganizations already provide active support for effortsby handicapped people to enter the labour market; thesestakeholders include organizations devoted toautonomous community action and the defence ofhandicapped people’s rights, specialized manpowerservices for handicapped people and certain organi -zations that belong to the health and social servicessystem, such as rehabilitation centres. Their unflaggingefforts are crucial for the success of the Strategy.

Through its programs and measures, the Government ofQuébec and its service networks provide handicappedpeople with assistance and support related efforts byother organizations. The government is a major player,and is committed to its Strategy in its twofold capacityas a supplier of services and an employer.

The gradual improvement in the employment rate forhandicapped persons is a sign of employers’ increasingopenness to this segment of the population. Employerswho hire people with handicaps can influence theirpeers. They are also encouraged to remain vigilant andtake the necessary steps to ensure that theirhandicapped personnel can remain employed for aslong as possible.


FOR EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES4

Despite this increasing openness, some workers andemployers believe that today’s labour marketrequirements, which emphasize productivity and higherdemand for a qualified, flexible labour force, areincompatible with the adaptation required byhandicapped people. More often than not, this type ofresistance may be explained by a lack of familiarity withhandicapped people and their potential, combined withunawareness of the available measures and services. TheStrategy targets these employers and employees. Effortswill be devoted to reach them, raise their awareness andinvolve them in the desired changes. Increasing thelabour force participation rate of people with handicapsis closely linked to rectifying people’s pre-conceivedideas, which can constitute barriers to employment.

Adapted enterprises offer jobs and a work environmentfor people with major disabilities that prevent them frombeing competitive in the marketplace. The role of thesebusinesses is essential. They are a crucial element forensuring the labour market participation of the greatestpossible number of handicapped people.

The Comité d’adaptation de la main-d’œuvre pourpersonnes handicapées (CAMO–PH: labour forceadaptation committee for people with handicaps) is partof the sectoral structures supported by the CPMT. As partof its mission, it can prepare and implement actionstrategies and tools to favour job access for handicappedpeople or training to help them enter the labour force. Itworks closely with handicapped people’s associations,trade unions, employers and employer associations, andthe concerned government departments and agencies.Within the framework of the Strategy, CAMO–PH’sexpertise and representative membership will be put togood use.

It goes without saying that handicapped people are alsoresponsible for efforts to enter and remain in the labour

market. Whether or not they are supported by familymembers or organizations, it is essential that theypromote their abilities and play an active role indeveloping their skills. Their families and friends alsohave a role to play, by encouraging this personalmobilization.

Other players, such as employer associations, tradeunions and national groups of organizations are alsoinvited to contribute to the National Strategy for LabourMarket Integration and Maintenance of HandicappedPersons. Depending on their respective missions, theycan use their influence in society, among theirmembership, within other organizations and in thevarious tribunes to which they have access to advancethe Strategy.

Contributions by all of these players are essential inorder to make the Strategy a success and achieve itsobjective. Together, we have to create favourableconditions for the participation of people with handicapsin the labour market and Québec society in general.

1.3 National tools and regional collaboration

The individuals and organizations consulted about thebest ways of increasing the labour market participationof people with handicaps have confirmed that action hasto be taken in a variety of areas: heightening theawareness of the population and labour marketstakeholders, recognizing handicapped people’spotential and developing their skills, neutralizing barriersto job-entry and retention. The Strategy has adopted thisframework. It comprises a number of tools to encourageemployers to hire workers with handicaps and help themmanage these human resources. Means will be madeavailable to employers across Québec and efforts will bedevoted to encourage their use.


5

Though its goals and content, the National Strategy forLabour Market Integration and Maintenance ofHandicapped Persons is associated with the Pacte pourl’emploi (Commitment for Employment). Indeed, theStrategy may be seen as a sort of extension of thisCommitment to people with handicaps. The purpose ofthis ambitious project, launched in March 2008, is topromote greater cohesion between labour needsidentified by employers and the conditions forQuebecers’ labour market integration and maintenance.The combination of the Strategy and the Commitmentfor Employment will maximize the positive impact forpeople with handicaps.

Meeting the national objective will require contributionsfrom all regions. The context differs from one region to another in terms of job openings, industries,unemployment, available training, organization andaccessibility of services, etc. These aspects can constituteobstacles or, on the contrary, make it easier to meet theobjective. They can have a decisive impact on theemployability, hiring and job retention of people withhandicaps.

In order to create favourable conditions for greaterlabour force participation by handicapped people in allregions of Québec, regional players are invited to joinforces to favour the hiring and retention of handicappedworkers. The Emploi-Québec regional branches,associated with the regional councils of labour marketpartners, are responsible for promoting active effortsand collaboration by the pertinent players. The meansand mechanisms for supporting these collaborativeefforts will be set by the regions for the next five years.An initial progress report will be prepared in 2011 inorder to inform the Minister of Employment and SocialSolidarity about the efforts deployed in each region.A second progress report will be prepared at the end ofthe period, in 2013.

For a certain number of years, a Table de concertationpour l’intégration au travail des personnes handicapées(consultation and coordination committee for integratingpeople with handicaps into the labour market) hasexisted in each region of Québec. Generally coordinatedby personnel from the Office des personnes handicapéesdu Québec (OPHQ) or Emploi-Québec, these consul -tation and coordination committees bring togetherpartners from associations and the employment, educationand rehabilitation sectors. They are encouraged toparticipate actively in regional mobilization and collabo -ration. The Comité d’adaptation de la main-d’oeuvrepour personnes handicapées (CAMO–PH: labour forceadaptation committee for people with handicaps) is alsoa major player, and will contribute to the mobilizationefforts launched by the regions as of 2008.

1.4 Guiding principlesIn order for the efforts deployed under the Strategy andin the individual regions to be coherent and effective andbear promise for the future, they have to be aligned witha shared set of guiding principles.

Integrating people with handicaps into the labourmarket is both an investment in human capitaland a source of savings for Québec. Developinghuman capital is a strategic priority in modern societies. Despite investments in Québec, particularlyin education, the situation of people with handicapshas not improved at the same pace as that of theoverall population. By investing in developing the potential of handicapped persons and, by extension,allowing this segment of the population to contributemore to Québec society, we can contribute to an increase in our collective wealth.




Choice of an inclusive approach. An inclusive approachapplied as of the design phase for measures, servicesand programs enables a social and physical environmentsuited to the needs of the entire population, includingpeople with handicaps. This eliminates the need forsubsequent adaptations and special efforts. In thecase of existing measures, services and programs,adaptations and accommodation measures arerequired in order to avoid discrimination againsthandicapped persons.

Deployment of gender-specific approaches. Amonghandicapped persons, the situations of women andmen are different in various ways. The labour forceparticipation rate and employment rate for women,for example, are lower than those for men. Womenare more likely than men to be employed part-time. Theunionization rate for men, on the other hand, is lowerthan that for women. The global rate of participationin continuous training activities is also slightly lowerfor men than for women.1 The different situations ofhandicapped men and women have to be taken intoaccount in the design and deployment of activities,measures and programs.

Flexible development and deployment of efforts.Problems and needs vary depending on the type andseverity of a person’s handicap. This means that therequired solutions and adaptations may also be different. It is essential to consider the specific needs of people with physical disabilities, cognitive impairments, pervasive developmental disorders and mental health problems. Applying a single solution orstandard measures is not an adequate response.

Participation of handicapped people or their rep-resentatives in developing and deploying projectsand efforts that concern them. The vitality of thehandicapped persons autonomous community move-ment is a sign of the ability of people with handicapsto take action to improve their living conditions withintheir communities. It is therefore important to call onthe knowledge and expertise of handicapped peopleand the organizations that represent them, and to involve them in choosing and implementing solutions.

Personal responsibility of people with handicapswith respect to entering and remaining in thelabour market. A significant increase in the labourmarket participation rate of people with handicaps isimpossible without the personal involvement ofhandicapped individuals, particularly with respect toacquiring skills and developing their potential.

1. Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale, Les personnes avec incapacité et le marché du travail, Direction de la recherche et de la prospective, Québec, 2006.


2 A GOVERNMENTIN ACTION

The public consultation process was a chance to assess people’ expectations of the government as a service supplier,employer and legislator. For most of the individuals and organizations consulted, the government has to set an examplein hiring handicapped people, be a leader in this area and guarantee respect for handicapped people’s rights andequal access to employment.


instance, is set at 2% of regular personnel, and the hiringtarget for members of all of the target groups is 25% forall job categories. Since March 2007, the government’sSecretary General has been responsible for notifying thedeputy ministers and heads of public agencies that thesehiring targets have been met. Centralized managementof offers for regular positions also enables systematicchannelling to these jobs of target-group applicants,including people with handicaps, as well as advanceauthorization to hire individuals for regular positions. InSeptember 2007, the government began to renew itsprocess for gathering information about target groupmembership, in order to support the governmental anddepartmental reporting processes with respect todiversity management. Other measures have also beenadded:

deployment of a diversity management training pro-gram for human resource managers and consultants(2008-2009 to 2012-2013);implementation of a program to promote jobs in thepublic service (2008-2009 to 2012-2013);preparation of a global balance sheet on equal employment opportunities, with a view to identifyingrequired changes (2008);preparation by government departments and publicagencies of an action plan for diversity managementand equal employment opportunities, in line with theguidelines set by the Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor(2010);

2.1 Action plans in favour of handicapped persons

By virtue of the Act to secure handicapped persons inthe exercise of their rights with a view to achievingsocial, school and workplace integration, governmentdepartments and public agencies with 50 or moreemployees and local municipalities with at least 15,000inhabitants are obliged to adopt an action plan forpeople with handicaps.2 These plans may also includemeasures to promote the hiring and retention ofhandicapped employees. An analysis by the Office despersonnes handicapées du Québec (OPHQ) of the initialaction plans has shown that 44% of the 97 plans studiedcomprise measures in favour of equal employmentopportunities. The OPHQ will publish periodic reportson the action plans adopted by governmentdepartments, public agencies and municipalities; amongother things, these reports will make it possible to assessthe presence of equal employment opportunitymeasures and other initiatives to favour job entry andretention for people with handicaps.

2.2 Equal employment opportunitiesin the public service

The public service has already adopted certainorientations with respect to equal employmentopportunities and measures aimed at hiring morepeople in certain target groups, including handicappedpersons. The target for handicapped persons, for

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2. Under section 61.1 of the Act, government departments, public agencies and municipalities are obliged to adopt an annual action plan identifying the barriers tointegration encountered by handicapped persons in their respective sector of activity and measures to reduce these barriers.



improved reporting tools in the area of equal employ-ment opportunities (2008).

The Programme de développement de l’employabilité àl’intention des personnes handicapées (PDEIPH: employa -bility development program for handicapped persons)helps people with handicaps obtain employment in theQuébec public service by allowing them to develop theirskills in the workplace during 12-month internships. Itenables them to participate in closed competitions andbe hired by government departments and agencies forcasual or regular employment corresponding to theposition they held during their internship. To bring abouta gradual increase in the number of PDEIPH interns as ofApril 2009, the Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor (SCT) will step up its efforts to promote the program togovernment departments and agencies. In addition, asof January 2009, the SCT and public employment servicewill work together to identify potential interns and referthem to the program.

2.3 Contractual obligation programFurther to the 2004 update of the Act to securehandicapped persons in the exercise of their rights witha view to achieving social, school and workplaceintegration, handicapped persons were added to thegroups of victims of discrimination in employmentidentified in the Act respecting equal access toemployment in public bodies. The government did not,however, amend the Programme d’obligation contrac -tuelle (contractual obligation program), which obligesenterprises that employ more than 100 people toimplement an employment access program for women,visible minorities and Native people, where suchenterprises obtain a government contract or subsidy of$100,000 or more. As of 2008, the government will makethe necessary changes to include handicapped peoplein the program target groups. This means that the

enterprises covered by this program will have to ensurethat people with handicaps are fairly represented withintheir personnel, in the same way as members of theother three target groups (generally speaking, this willmean a gradual increase in the number of handicappedemployees). Employers will have to make sure that theirhuman resource management practices and guidelinesdo not discriminate against handicapped persons.

2.4 Equal access to employment in public bodies

The Act respecting equal access to employment in publicbodies3 obliges public bodies with 100 or moreemployees to establish an equal access employmentprogram designed to favour the hiring of members ofgroups that are discriminated against in employment.Based on a workplace analysis carried out by the publicbody and corrective targets for the various occupationalcategories, an equal access employment programprovides for the hiring, promotion, reclassification,career reorientation and job retention of target groupmembers. Preferential measures with respect to thehiring and promotion of people with equivalentqualifications are non-discriminatory, as they are a wayof correcting systemic discrimination. Since 2004,handicapped persons have constituted one of the groupstargeted by the Act, along with women, Aboriginalpeople and members of visible and ethnic minorities.

The Commission des droits de la personne et des droitsde la jeunesse (CDPDJ) is responsible for applying theAct. In this capacity, it sets the time limit for receipt of aworkforce analysis from public bodies. It determineswhether the target groups are under-represented, bycomparing the workforce analysis with data aboutmanpower qualified or capable of becoming qualifiedfor each type of occupation or occupational group withina reasonable time in the relevant recruitment area. The

3. Municipalities, educational institutions, health and social service institutions, government corporations, Sûreté du Québec.


CDPDJ also helps public bodies prepare equal accessemployment programs and is responsible for followingup and evaluating the programs.

In February 2008, 487 public bodies were covered bythe Act. Other than the 226 bodies belonging to thehealth and social services system, for which a newstrategy for implementing equal access employmentprograms is being developed due to the majorrestructuring undergone by this system, 261 publicbodies in other networks were subject to the Act. Amongthese 261 bodies, 96% had completed their workforceanalyses for the handicapped persons group.4 Theremaining steps are as follows: comparative analysis bythe CDPDJ of the data provided by the individual bodiesand labour force data, and preparation and implemen -tation by each body of an equal access employmentprogram. The CDPDJ Web site displays the results forunder-representation of the four target groups in publicbodies since the filing of their workforce analyses.

The Act respecting equal access to employment in publicbodies also applies to municipalities with 100 or moreemployees (a total of 55 municipalities). Over the nextfive years, the Ministère des Affaires municipales et desRégions (MAMR) will encourage the other municipalitiesto adopt hiring policies and practices designed to preventdiscrimination toward handicapped persons.

To better support efforts aimed at ensuring equal accessto employment in public bodies and monitor progress,the government is currently considering variousapproaches focusing on aspects such as improvedreporting in this area, heightening managers’ awarenessof diversity management, promoting the principles ofequal access to employment and increasing the visibilityof the results achieved thanks to the existing guidelinesand mechanisms.


4. CDPDJ Web site: www.cdpdj.qc.ca.



3 HEIGHTENING THE AWARENESS OF CITIZENSAND LABOUR MARKET PLAYERS

Preconceived ideas about handicapped persons exist to this day. The consultation process revealed that, like thegeneral population, certain employers lack knowledge about the potential and capacity of people with handicaps.This partially explains the under-representation of handicapped people in the labour market. In order to achieve ourtarget results, it is therefore essential to raise people’s awareness.

also be able to contribute to efforts to highlighthandicapped people’s potential, in their respectivepromotional activities (e.g., the national populationawareness campaign aimed at reducing stigmatizationand discrimination related to mental illness). For the firstyear of this campaign, the Ministère de la Santé et desServices sociaux (MSSS) has decided to focus onpreconceived ideas about depression, particularly in theworkplace.5

3.2 Québec handicapped personsweek

Since 1996, the OPHQ has devoted a full week toheightening awareness and promoting the rights ofpeople with handicaps. Québec Handicapped PersonsWeek is an important component of the OPHQ’scommunication strategy. It is aimed at enhancing theentire population’s awareness of and respect fordifferences within society and at informing people aboutthe situations experienced by handicapped persons.

The OPHQ is currently reviewing the concept ofHandicapped Persons Week, as part of its strategiccommunication plan for the coming years. In order toboost its impact on employment integration, it will joinforces with Emploi-Québec and the Comité d’adaptationde la main-d’oeuvre pour personnes handicapées(CAMO–PH: labour force adaptation committee forpeople with handicaps) to organize specificallyemployment-related activities for the week.

3.1 Mobilization campaign in favourof handicapped persons

The greying of the population and anticipated labourneeds in certain sectors of the economy constitute anexcellent opportunity to encourage employers and tradeunions to recruit and retain more handicapped workers.It is important to provide these stakeholders and thegeneral population with a positive image of people withhandicaps, focusing mainly on the abilities of suchpersons. We need to highlight the contribution to thelabour market of this segment of the workforce.

In order to change perceptions of handicapped persons,we have to show examples that “hit home” with people.The Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale(MESS) therefore supports the organization of regionalpromotional activities designed to raise awareness andmobilize the population and regional stakeholders.Handicapped people’s associations will be invited to takepart in these activities.

To support regional mobilization, the MESS will preparea certain number of communication products. Theseproducts will be linked with the employment awarenesscampaign provided for the Pacte pour l’emploi(Commitment for Employment). Links will also beestablished with the Office des personnes handicapéesdu Québec (OPHQ), which will prepare and deploy anawareness campaign for the population, focusing inparticular on the employment potential of people withhandicaps. Government departments and agencies will

5. The campaign is part of the Plan d’action en santé mentale 2005-2010 : La force des liens (MSSS, 2005).


3.3 Public recognitionPublic recognition for successful initiatives encouragesand rewards the individual or organization behind theeffort and influences other stakeholders. To encourageemployers to take action in favour of handicappedmembers of the labour force, the MESS, in collaborationwith the OPHQ, CAMO–PH and the Commission despartenaires du marché du travail (CPMT), will targetemployers who have devoted special efforts to hiring,training or retaining handicapped employees and, tohighlight these efforts, organize special recognitionactivities. Partnerships with social economy enterprisesthat employ a majority of handicapped workers (e.g.,adapted enterprises) will also be underlined. Publicrecognition activities will be held once a year as of 2009.

The MESS will also create a Web showcase that, as ofSeptember 2009, will promote and broadcast currentpositive actions and efforts to be launched under theStrategy in order to boost the labour market participationof handicapped persons. Content could be provided byvarious Strategy partners, and the showcase could beused to report news and progress in the area ofemployment integration for people with handicaps.




4 RECOGNIZING AND DEVELOPINGTHE POTENTIAL OF HANDICAPPED PERSONS

In Québec, as in most developed societies, education has become the key to entering the labour market and playinga full role as a citizen. Sufficient mastery of basic skills is essential for holding a job, career advancement and lifelonglearning. The level of schooling of handicapped people, however, is significantly lower than that of people withouthandicaps: indeed, the percentage of handicapped persons who have completed their basic schooling is significantlylower than that for the overall population. The gap is greatest for the youngest and oldest members of society, andthe situation of handicapped women is less favourable than that of handicapped men and of women withouthandicaps.

As a low level of qualification is a significant obstacle to social integration and labour market participation and tendsto accentuate inequality, it is important to promote better school integration of young people with handicaps as earlyas possible and to offer handicapped adults the necessary means to upgrade their qualifications and skills. We haveto recognize and develop handicapped people’s potential in order to ensure equal access to employment.

assistance measures: the allowance for the integrationinto a childcare service of a disabled child and theexceptional measure to support the childcare integrationof handicapped children with major needs.6 Both ofthese measures are currently under evaluation. The MFAis also revising and updating its childcare integrationpolicy for children with handicaps. Over the next twoyears, it will also inform the educational childcarenetwork about measures to facilitate the hiring ofhandicapped workers.

Elementary and secondary school education

Everyone acknowledges the fundamental role of schoolas an agent of integration, as well as its impact on thequality of vocational and social integration. In order toacquire skills that correspond to their maximum abilities,develop a variety of interests and prepare themselves forthe labour market, all handicapped children have to beable to access the services they need for their schoolintegration and success.

4.1 Better initial education To ensure equal employment opportunities, we have tostart by ensuring educational equality. Without realschool integration or qualifying training, vocational andsocial integration are unattainable. Equality in educationis thus an essential prerequisite for the future labourmarket integration of young people with handicaps.

The majority of youngsters begin to socialize duringchildcare, even before they start school. In the case ofhandicapped children, childcare integration is anopportunity for development and increased autonomy;this explains the interest in improving the conditions oftheir participation. Like school, childcare services raiseyoungsters’ awareness of differences — and, as we allknow, children are tomorrow’s workers and employers.The Ministère de la Famille et des Aînés (MFA) offerssupport for educational childcare providers whowelcome youngsters with handicaps. In order to facilitateaccess to these childcare services and the fullparticipation of handicapped children in the availableactivities, childcare providers have access to two financial

6. The latter measure covers part of the expenses incurred due to the presence of a person responsible for accompanying and helping a handicapped child who par-ticipates in educational activities and other regular childcare activities.


School integration for handicapped children ischannelled and supported by a variety of orientations,programs and measures, including an educationaladaptation program called “Une école adaptée à tousses élèves,” which offers schools avenues forcontributing to the success of students with handicaps,adaptation problems and learning problems, educationalprograms for students with cognitive impairments,support documents for school intervenors and varioussupport measures (adapted school transportation,higher basic funding for school boards for handicappedstudents, various supplemental allowances to organizeeducational services and purchase specializedequipment). It is also important to underline the recentaddition of financial resources to help students withhandicaps and other problems.

In order to provide education that meets the needs ofand is in the best interest of young people, particularlythose with special needs, the Ministère de l’Éducation,du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) is currently implementingan employment-focused approach at the SecondaryCycle Two (upper secondary) level. This approachcomprises two types of training, namely preparatorytraining for employment and training leading to a semi-specialized trade. This training is offered to students whoare experiencing major difficulties, in order to offer themaccess to vocational qualification. Bridges will allowstudents to return to the general education program oraccess more complex training, leading for example tovocational studies, if they meet certain criteria.

MELS has also implemented measures aimed atadapting the conditions for departmental examinationsin order to allow students with special needs todemonstrate their knowledge in a fair context, and isworking on areas such as the following:

identifying courses of action to enhance support inthe area of school integration for students withhandicaps and other problems, define indicators andprepare an approach and tools for reporting, to beready by June 2008;evaluating the application of the school adaptationpolicy; based on the conclusions, MELS will be able tomake any required adjustments. The final report willbe released in May 2008;providing better support for the educational milieuwith respect to distinguishing between learning andevaluation, in order to take into account students’individual abilities.

Current processing of data about school success doesnot enable us to identify whether or not students whograduate are handicapped. MELS will henceforth carryout the necessary cross-referencing in order to obtainthis information. While respecting the notion ofconfidentiality for small numbers, we will be able to trackstudents’ official qualification,7 the rate of integration intoordinary classes and the graduation rate per type ofdisability.

Vocational and technical education

Young people with handicaps have to be able to tap intothe same educational possibilities as the rest of thepopulation, at all levels. We have noted, however, thatthe level of participation of handicapped youth andadults in vocational and technical training is very low,despite the promising employment outlook for peoplewith this type of training.


7. Official qualification: diplomas and certificates awarded by MELS .



In November 2007, the Comité d’adaptation de la main-d’œuvre pour personnes handicapées (CAMO–PH:labour force adaptation committee for people withhandicaps) published a promotional brochure onvocational and technical training for handicappedpersons. Prepared with the collaboration of MELS, thisdocument provides workforce forecasts, notes the lowparticipation of people with handicaps and proposesefforts to correct this situation. It describes thepossibilities offered by the various vocational andtechnical training programs, access to this type oftraining and resources to favour such access, andprovides first-hand accounts by people with handicapswho hold a vocational studies or technical trainingdiploma. MELS has agreed to collaborate in updating thisbrochure at the request of CAMO–PH.

MELS also plans to carry out inventories and analyses, bysocioeconomic sector and study program, of thetechnical occupations and trades that are the mostaccessible to people depending on their type ofdisability. This information will be made available to thepeople in charge of school and occupational informationin the education system in early 2009, and will be postedon the Web.

Handicapped persons’ access to vocational training is notlimited by the Education Act, the basic school regulationsor the vocational training directives. Generally speaking,needs are related to the application of financialguidelines, particularly for training for specific groups ofstudents.

A technical training program in machining for tenhearing-impaired students, for example, is currentlybeing developed by the Commission scolaire de laPointe-de-l’Île, with support from MELS. While thisproject does not involve any changes to the basic school

regulations currently in force, it requires the consider -ation of special application of the budget rules.

In the fall of 2008, MELS will therefore study thepossibilities offered by the budget rules in order todeploy special training projects for groups of people withsimilar disabilities, on a trial basis.

Expanding on the Défi de l’entrepreneuriat jeunesse8

strategy, particularly aspects involving the creation of anenvironment conducive to the emergence of a trulyentrepreneurial culture among young people, MELS willanalyse the potential offered by entrepreneurship forfavouring the contribution of handicapped persons totheir communities’ socioeconomic development. Anadapted tool for developing entrepreneurship amongpeople with handicaps will be prepared in 2008 andtested in 2009.

Higher education

Colleges and universities receive financial support foroffering adapted services to students with physicaldisabilities. These institutions are receiving a growingnumber of requests with respect to students with seriousmental health problems. The Direction des affairesétudiantes universitaires et collégiales at MELS iscurrently preparing a global overview of the situationwith respect to handicapped students, especiallystudents with learning disorders and serious mentalhealth problems. In addition to a pilot project9 currentlyunder way, aimed among other things at preparing newintervention models for these groups, two researchershave been assigned the task of gathering knowledgeabout the type and scope of services required by thesegroups. The results will enable MELS to prepare a planfor improving services for students grappling with thesespecial problems in the fall of 2008, in order to enhancetheir success and favour their access to the labour

8. Défi entrepreneuriat jeunesse is a government strategy deployed with the collaboration of partners in the Québec entrepreneurship network and financial supportfrom the Fonds Jeunesse Québec. It is aimed at promoting an entrepreneurial culture among young people.

9. This project is divided into two sections: a service offering, aimed at defining and meeting the needs of the target groups, and preparation of and support for thenew intervention models for the target groups.


market. The results will also allow the department todecide on possible official recognition of these groupsfor the purposes of funding for adapted services.

In the specific case of young people and adults withmental health problems, the Ministère de la Santé et desServices sociaux (MSSS) plans to work with MELS andthe Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale(MESS) as of the spring of 2008 to deploy supportmeasures to help these people continue their studies.

Since September 2007, hearing-impaired university andprivate-college students who require interpretationservices no longer have to apply for an allowance fromAide financière aux études (AFE) or hire their owninterpreter. They receive the services they need directlyat their educational institution, which is funded by MELS.These students are thus freed of certain administrativeresponsibilities.

Student assistance

In the area of student assistance, MELS is working toraise awareness of financial assistance programs aimedspecifically at students with major functional defi -ciencies.10 These students can access the followingmeasures, designed to facilitate their studies:

eligibility for the Loans and Bursaries Program (nor-mally reserved for full-time students) for part-timestudents. Half of the months during which an individualis enrolled in part-time studies are taken into accountto determine his or her eligibility;entire financial assistance paid as a bursary;if applicable, parents’ contribution no longer takeninto account once student has accumulated 45 units(instead of 90 units);eligibility for financial assistance during the summer,even if the student is not enrolled in studies duringthis period of the year;


allowance granted in certain situations to cover out-lays for specialized services, adapted material oradapted transportation (Allowance for Special NeedsProgram).

Within the framework of its financial assistanceprograms, MELS will analyse measures designed tobetter meet the needs of students with serious mentalhealth problems (fall of 2009).

4.2 Importance of educational and vocational counselling

Good educational counselling contributes to successfulstudies. Handicapped students have to be able to benefitfrom educational counselling, just like their non-disabledpeers. It is important to adapt counselling services totheir needs and carefully evaluate their potential. It isalso essential to orient young people with handicaps inthe light of their potential and interests, while taking intoaccount employment opportunities.

MELS has committed itself to inform and raise theawareness of school personnel, particularly guidancecounsellors, about educational and vocationalcounselling for handicapped students, via continuingeducation sessions on applying the orientationapproach. MELS will also incorporate this concern intothe mission of the regional educational counsellingsupport teams to be created as of September 2008. Theinformation will also be posted on the Web site of theOrdre des conseillers et conseillères d’orientation et despsychoéducateurs et psychoéducatrices du Québec(OCCOPPQ), as part of the development of a virtualcommunity in the area of educational and vocationalcounselling. These efforts will be deployed on anongoing basis, in close collaboration with the MELSregional branches, school boards and the OCCOPPQ.

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10. For the purposes of the Loans and Bursaries Program, a major functional deficiency is a physical limitation that prevents a person from easily carrying out his or herdaily activities and limits the possibilities for this person to study and work. The recognized major functional deficiencies are as follows: severe hearing deficiency,severe visual deficiency, motor deficiency, organic deficiency. Source: Regulation respecting financial assistance for education expenses.



4.3 Transition from school to working life

The transition from school to working life is often adifficult time for young people with handicaps. Whenthey leave school, they generally know little about thelabour market and have seldom had to face itsrequirements. To help more young people benefit fromthe training gleaned through summer employment,Emploi-Québec, which is responsible for Placementétudiant, will adopt a specific approach targetinghandicapped students during the 2008 edition of itsannual campaign deployed in educational institutions topromote its student placement service among youngpeople.

It is important to remember that people with handicapshave different needs and require a different level ofsupport than non-disabled individuals. To make asuccessful transition from school to employment, theytherefore require specific strategies, ranging fromstandard procedures to procedures requiring specialefforts. Planning this transition involves ensuringcontinuity and coordinating the efforts of variousnetworks in order to ensure that young people withhandicaps can find work at the end of their studies, andfacilitating their integration into the workforce. In otherwords, there has to be a planned, coordinated array ofactivities focusing on support for students inimplementing their projects when they leave school,especially with respect to their sociovocationalintegration, transformation of their social network,leisure activities, community participation and, in somecases, ongoing educational activities.

In order to help handicapped students plan the transitionfrom school to working life, MELS, the MESS and theMSSS have agreed to step up their efforts in areas suchas the following:

combined efforts to promote transition planning;information about school-to-working-life projectsdeployed in the various regions;support for transition planning as part of their respec-tive services;deployment of mechanisms to facilitate collaborationand involvement by regional and local stakeholders.

In addition to these three government departments, theOPHQ, Secrétariat à la jeunesse (SAJ) and CAMO–PHwill help follow up the work.

4.4 Adult education for people with handicaps and access to continuing education

Not all handicapped adults had access to educationwhen they were of elementary and secondary schoolage. Handicapped men and women who were deprivedduring their youth of sufficient education have troublefinding and keeping employment. It thus seems essentialthat means be deployed to help them improve their levelof qualification and recognize the skills and abilities thatthey have acquired through experience.

In addition, job retention and career advancementrequire ongoing skills development and, by extension,access to on-the-job training. Handicapped employees,however, benefit less than other workers from trainingprovided by employers. They run up against obstaclessuch as lack of recognition of their potential, discrimi -nation and the absence of adapted measures. Regardlessof the nature of their disabilities, handicappedemployees need access to training activities and have tobe able to benefit from the same means as the rest ofthe labour force.


In the spring of 2002, Québec released its GovernmentAdult Education and Training Policy, which targets fourmajor objectives: ensure basic training for adults inQuébec; maintain and upgrade adults’ skill levels by instilling a culture of ongoing training; provide official recognition for adults’ acquired knowledge and skills; and eliminate obstacles to accessibility andperseverance. People with handicaps are considered toconstitute a population group with special difficultiesrequiring support and adapted responses to their needs.

The 2002-2007 action plan has drawn to an end. A goodnumber of the measures set forth in this plan havepositive effects. Some of them require ongoing efforts,particularly in terms of better responses to the trainingproblems experienced by handicapped adults. Thesecond action plan will be an opportunity to specifyobjectives and courses of action designed to favourhandicapped persons’ access to adult education andcontinuing education; this includes correcting gaps intraining, part-time training and recognition of experienceand skills. The new action plan should be released inNovember 2008.

The Basic Adult General Education Regulation providesfor social integration services designed to provide adultsexperiencing adjustment difficulties of a psychological,intellectual, social or physical nature with access toindividualized learning that helps them acquire basicsocial skills and prepares them for further studies, if theywish to continue their education. The Regulation alsoprovides for sociovocational integration services, aimedat enabling adults to acquire the competencies, attitudesand behaviours required to enter or remain in the labourmarket in a non-specialized job or semi-specialized trade.

In order to raise the level of skills of handicapped adults,MELS will join with partners to explore ways offacilitating the transition, for handicapped adults, from


adult education to vocational training and highereducation and, to the extent of its means, will implementthe chosen measures. The recommendations are to besubmitted in the spring of 2008 and implementation maybegin as early as September 2008.

It is also important to mention the existence since June2007 of the Réussir section of the Social Assistance andSupport Program administered by the MESS. Thissubprogram provides support for social solidarityrecipients, the majority of whom are people withhandicaps who want to enrol in or continue vocational orpostsecondary studies. It has been specifically developedto meet the needs expressed by handicapped personsenrolled in training who were unable to maintain thepace normally required to be entitled to income support.Participants in Réussir have been eligible for MELS’sLoans and Bursaries Program since September 2007 andmay receive supplement financial assistance under theMESS’s Social Solidarity Program. Thanks to theharmonization of the two programs, they can pursuetheir studies while continuing to receive the same level offinancial assistance under the Social Solidarity Program.

With respect to official recognition for experience andskills, it is interesting to point to a program implementedby the Centre d’action bénévole de Québec (CABQ)aimed at favouring recognition of skills acquired throughvolunteer work. The Programme de reconnaissance desexpériences bénévoles (PREB: volunteer experiencerecognition program) could be especially beneficial forhandicapped persons. This program is currently offeredonly in the Québec City area. Emploi-Québec and theSecrétariat à l’action communautaire autonome et auxinitiatives sociales (SACAIS) will assess the possibility,between now and March 2009, of extending theprogram to all regions of Québec.

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In order to reduce barriers to accessibility andperseverance, MELS will ensure that, as of the fall of2008, handicapped persons have access to the reception,advisory and support services (SARCA) offered to adults,with special emphasis on sensitivity to the special needsand characteristics of people with handicaps. MELS willalso take into account handicapped persons’ needs inthe upcoming orientations and actions with respect tocomplementary services for people enrolled invocational training and adult education.

MELS is currently rethinking the complementary servicesprovided in adult education centres, with a view toadapting them more closely to the needs of thepopulation that attends these institutions. Specialattention will be paid to the needs of people withlearning and adaptation problems and handicappedpersons. Following this, a progress report will beprepared, to guide efforts over the following year.

Diversifying training locations and approaches is anotherway of improving access to training. MELS will considerthe needs of handicapped persons in its upcomingorientations and actions in the area of distance learning.As of 2008, Emploi-Québec and the Commission despartenaires du marché du travail (CPMT) will pay specialattention to promoting the enhancement of the skills ofhandicapped persons who are already employed,including activities related to the Mesure de formationen entreprises (on-the-job training measure), the SkillsDevelopment and Recognition Framework and theWorkforce Skills Development and Recognition Fund.

Among other changes, workplace apprenticeshipapproaches need to be adapted to favour thedevelopment and recognition of handicapped persons’skills. As of 2008, the CPMT will therefore support specialtraining projects for handicapped workers, particularly

within the framework of the Workplace ApprenticeshipProgram. In collaboration with CAMO–PH and Emploi-Québec, it will also work to raise the sectoral workfacecommittees’ ongoing awareness of the importance ofsupporting the development and qualification ofhandicapped workers.

Increase in the refundable tax credit

for an on-the-job training period

The refundable tax credit for an on-the-job trainingperiod is designed to favour the enhancement ofstudents’ and apprentices’ occupational qualifications,and support efforts by businesses that contribute todeveloping trainees’ skills. This tax measure encouragesbusinesses that employ a student trainee under theresponsibility of MELS or an apprentice as part of theWorkplace Apprenticeship Program, overseen by theCPMT.

The tax credit is 30% for corporations and is applicableto the wages paid to trainees, apprentices andsupervisors.

In 2006, the government permanently renewed this taxcredit, in the light of its numerous advantages andpositive effects. Among other things, the tax creditenables better adaptation of training to growing labourmarket requirements, has a positive impact on students’success and perseverance, and favours partnershipsbetween educational institutions and businesses. Aqualitative evaluation carried out by the MESS11 showedthat the great majority of businesses interviewed felt thatthe tax credit linked to the Workplace ApprenticeshipProgram provided them with real encouragement totrain their personnel, as it reduced their training costsand had a positive impact on employee retention, thework atmosphere and productivity.

11. Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale, Crédit d’impôt pour stage en milieu de travail lié au Programme d’apprentissage en milieu de travail d’Emploi-Québec : point de vue des entreprises participantes, Direction générale adjointe de la recherche, de l’évaluation et de la statistique, 2006.


In order to encourage employers to contribute more totraining and qualification for handicapped persons, therate for the tax credit has been raised to 40% forcorporations, and the maximum credit has been boostedfrom $225 to $420 per week.12 The maximum numberof hours of supervision granted per week for ahandicapped person has been doubled.

4.5 Other measures

Stakeholder training

Education and training target more than justhandicapped persons. It is important to educate theentire population about integration. The same applies tofuture teachers and to students enrolled in humanresource management and development programs. Wealso need to raise awareness and train the peopleresponsible for hiring and managing human resourcesin companies.

In this context, the OPHQ will continue to target theeducational institutions and organizations responsiblefor training (e.g., professional orders), in order topromote the inclusion in training programs of aspectsrelated to adapting efforts and services for handicappedpersons and, at the request of these institutions andorganizations, provide advice in this area. The OPHQ iscounting on the collaboration of the professional ordersto ensure that these aspects are covered by the trainingprograms prepared by the orders. Their members willthus be able to take effective action and eliminate certainobstacles faced by people with handicaps. The results ofthese efforts will be included in the progress reportsprovided for by the Strategy.


Mentoring

The Heartfelt Action for Québec’s Seniors Programprovides support for community-based projects thatenhance seniors’ living conditions and encourage theirparticipation in Québec’s development. One of theprogram objectives is to encourage intergenerational tiesand promote the sharing of knowledge. Under thisprogram, in 2008-2009, the Secrétariat aux aînés willsupport mentoring projects between seniors andhandicapped people who are striving to enter the labourmarket.

12. The rate for individuals has been increased from 15% to 20%.



5 NEUTRALIZING BARRIERS TO JOB ENTRYAND JOB RETENTION

For most people, finding and keeping a job usually depend on their qualifications, skills and experience. People withhandicaps, however, also face barriers due to their differences and disabilities, including persistent discrimination andpreconceived ideas; environmental factors such as inaccessible work premises and workstations and lack oftransportation; organizational factors such as hiring practices, personnel selection practices, work organization andadaptation of job duties; etc.

To neutralize these barriers, we need to work with employers and non-handicapped employees. In addition toinformation and awareness, efforts have to target support and supervision. Many of the individuals and organizationsconsulted stressed the need to better inform employers about their responsibilities vis-à-vis handicapped persons. Itis also important to help employers prepare themselves to hire handicapped individuals and integrate them into theirworkforce, and to provide employers with support in managing their human resources. In short, we not only have tosupport handicapped people’s efforts to enter the labour market; we also have to support employers’ efforts tointegrate handicapped personnel.

with handicaps into the workplace. The employer-assistance service:

stores information about the programs, measures,services and resources available across Québec;offers employers information and referral servicesacross Québec;calls on the expertise of regional resource people inall sectors concerned by the employment integrationof handicapped persons;works with various employer associations, tradeunions, handicapped persons associations and themain service organizations concerned, in order toassure its visibility and accessibility.

The new service is provided by Emploi-Québec’s Centred’assistance au placement (CAP). CAP already deals withthousands of employers who use the Online Placementservices. Thanks to the availability of this infrastructureand the growing visibility of Emploi-Québec’s OnlinePlacement, the new employer-assistance service will berapidly effective.

5.1 Encouraging and supporting employers

The Québec labour market is characterized by its largenumber of small businesses: over 90% of enterprises inQuébec employ fewer than 50 people. To a substantialextent, increasing the labour market participation ofpeople with handicaps depends on the openness ofthese 230,000 employers. In order to encourage andsupport this openness, the Strategy makes a certainnumber of tools available to employers.

Employer-assistance service

Since April 1, 2008, Emploi-Québec has offered anassistance service specifically designed for employers.Accessible by telephone (1 866 640-3059) and e-mail([email protected]), theservice is aimed at facilitating access to pertinentinformation, advice and assistance for employers inareas such as hiring handicapped people, laying outworkstations, welcoming interns as part of a trainingprogram and other needs related to integrating people



employment-integration contracts, over a quarter of whichare reserved for handicapped recipients of last-resortfinancial assistance. All told, it will lead to the employmentof an additional 2,750 people with handicaps.

In order to raise employers’ awareness of the CITmeasure, in the course of 2008, Emploi-Québec willproduce and widely circulate a folder, in electronic andhard-copy format, describing the advantages and mainfeatures of the initiative. The folder will be included inthe information made available to employers via theemployer-assistance service.

Greater use of the tax deduction

for renovations or alterations to improve

access for disabled persons

Under the Québec tax system, certain capital expen -ditures to adapt a building to make it accessible forpeople with reduced mobility may be fully deducted forthe year in which they are incurred, instead of beingamortized via the capital cost allowance over a multi-year period. Purchases of equipment and material forhandicapped persons are also eligible expenditures forthis non-refundable tax credit.

The fact that these expenditures are fully deductiblemeans that businesses can take advantage of this taxbreak in the year in which the expenses are incurred,instead of over a number of years. This reduces theiractual after-tax costs for building alterations.

Year in, year out, the tax deduction for renovations oralterations to improve access for disabled persons coststhe government less than $2 million dollars. Thegovernment will maintain this tax measure and do moreto promote it, particularly via the employer-assistanceservice. Increased use of the deduction by businesseswill directly benefit handicapped workers and customers.

At the same time, the Comité d’adaptation de la main-d’oeuvre pour personnes handicapées (CAMO–PH:labour force adaptation committee for people withhandicaps), in collaboration with Emploi-Québec and thesectoral workforce committees, will adapt or developconsulting activities and tools in order to supportbusinesses interested in adopting policies for hiringhandicapped persons.

Substantial increase in funding for the Contrat

d’intégration au travail (CIT) measure

An employment-integration contract measure called“Contrat d’intégration au travail” (CIT) is designed tooffset the negative effects of workers’ handicaps on theperformance expected by their employers for specificemployment positions. This accommodation measurealso covers the costs of certain needs for handicappedworkers, such as workstation adaptation, workplaceaccessibility, interpretation, coaching, etc. With a current budget of $24.5 million, the measure enablesclose to 4,000 handicapped people to find and keepemployment.

The pertinence of this measure for integrating handi -capped people into the labour market is universallyacknowledged. CIT is an important lever for encouragingemployers to hire people with handicaps. It stimulatesemployers’ interest by eliminating the main barriers tohiring, namely the cost of physical adaptations and lowerproductivity.

The resources currently devoted to this measure areinsufficient to meet demand. This hinders the employ -ment integration of a greater number of handicappedpersons. To meet this demand, the government will injectan additional $3.3 million into the measure each yearover a five-year period, boosting the CIT budget by a total of $16.4 million (at a total five-year cost of $49 million). This investment will enable 550 additional



Creation of 825 new jobs in adapted enterprises

Québec is home to 44 adapted enterprises. The missionof these enterprises is to offer high-quality employmentadapted to the needs of handicapped persons who,while they may be productive, cannot be competitive ina standard work setting. Adapted enterprises generateclose to 4,400 jobs, 3,200 of them held by handicappedpersons. Adapted enterprises are active in varioussectors, including the wood industry and the printing,maintenance, security and sewing sectors.

The government allocates $50 million a year to theProgramme de subventions aux entreprises adaptées(PSEA: subsidy program for adapted enterprises). ThePSEA budget will be increased gradually in order to create825 new permanent jobs for severely handicappedpersons over a five year period (total cost: $33.5 million).

A deployment plan for these new jobs will be preparedin the spring of 2008. Emploi-Québec will consult theConseil québécois des entreprises adaptées (CQEA) tothis end.

Building bridges between adapted employment

and conventional employment

Among other things, the PSEA has to favour thedevelopment of handicapped persons’ employability, tohelp people who are willing and able to find long-termemployment in a “conventional” enterprise or unsub -sidized work in an adapted enterprise. In order foradapted enterprises to remain a springboard toconventional employment, they have to be able supportthis transition for their handicapped personnel.

In the spring of 2008, EmploiQuébec will join with theCQEA and the Regroupement des organismes spécialiséspour l’emploi des personnes handicapées (ROSEPH) inorder to identify various formulas for this transition.Bridges could be created on an individual basis (e.g.,through an apprentice/journeyman system), or between

businesses (by twinning an adapted enterprise with aconventional business). Adapted enterprises could alsofocus more on their training role for handicappedpersons.

5.2 Measures to support and accompany handicapped persons

Emploi-Québec offers handicapped persons and the restof the population an array of employment services,including universal services (labour market information,job placement, etc.) and specialized services (individu -alized integration, training and employment plan, activemeasures). Like other target groups, people withhandicaps can take advantage of a twofold, individu -alized plan comprising various activities, measures andservices, as well as support designed to help themremain motivated, complete their action plan,successfully contact potential employers and, ultimately,enter the labour market.

Participation in employment measures and services isone of the main ways of developing handicappedpersons’ employability and helping them enter, re-enteror remain in the labour market. If necessary, in order toensure that these people have equal access to measuresand services, Emploi-Québec pays the cost of certainservices and equipment required for their participation,up to a maximum of $10,000. These outlays can coverservices such as interpretation, adapted communicationsor any other type of accommodation that has beenshown to be required for people with handicaps toparticipate in a measure.

In 2007, Emploi-Québec began to review its measuresand services and related guides, in order to identify anynecessary additional adaptations for handicappedparticipants. The results of this review will enableEmploi-Québec to improve access to measures andboost the successful participation rate.


For people vulnerable to long-term unemployment, theWage Subsidy measure focuses on integration intosustainable jobs and the acquisition of work experience.This integration measure offers employers a subsidy tocover all or part of the wages paid to an employee. Ascertain handicapped persons have more problemsentering the labour market than other participants in theWage Subsidy measure, and therefore need a longerintegration period in order to reach the minimumnumber of hours of work per week under the measure(30 hours), Emploi-Québec will authorize up to twice thenormal participation period for the measure, on a case-by-case basis. This change will be implemented in 2008.

In addition, to ensure that all of its efforts take the needsof handicapped people into closer consideration,Emploi-Québec will include specific mechanisms tofavour job entry and job retention for people withhandicaps in its employability strategies. Strategiestargeting specific segments of the labour force, such aswomen, immigrants, members of visible minorities andrecipients of last-resort financial assistance, will thus takeinto account the special needs of handicapped membersof these target groups.

Measures to encourage employment

Last-resort financial assistance programs13 provide forconditions and measures aimed at encouraging recipientsto look for and accept employment. As part of thepreparatory work leading up to the next GovernmentAction Plan to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion,which will come into force on April 1, 2009, theMinistère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MESS)is considering abolishing the $1,500 monthly earningscap for ongoing entitlement to medication claim slips,14

for a maximum of 48 months, for recipients with aseverely limited capacity for employment who cease tobe eligible for last-resort financial assistance due to their


work income. The MESS will extend this right to allrecipients under the Social Solidarity Program, includingcouples.

The MESS also plans to rethink the structure of workincome exemptions for the purposes of last-resortfinancial assistance, and will look at potential types ofwork income supplements in order to encourage effortsand increase the disposable income of people who work.It will take into account the situation of handicappedpersons who receive last-resort financial assistance.

With the same objectives in mind, two new measuresunder the Pacte pour l’emploi (Commitment forEmployment) will also benefit people with handicaps,namely the new Work Premium for persons with aseverely limited capacity for employment (adapted WorkPremium) and the Supplement for long-term recipientsgiving up last-resort financial assistance.

The new, adapted Work Premium targets householdsthat receive benefits under the Social Solidarity Programor that have received such benefits for at least onemonth during the past five years, and households amember of which is eligible, for the current year, for thenon-refundable tax credit for a severe and prolongedimpairment in mental or physical functions. This newmeasure is aimed at ensuring individuals and familieswho receive benefits under the Social Solidarity Programthat each dollar earned will go toward boosting theirdisposable income until they leave the program. Itacknowledges that people in this situation have toovercome major barriers to enter the labour market, andwill come into effect as of the 2008 tax year.

Handicapped recipients under the Social AssistanceProgram and the Social Solidary Program may also takeadvantage of the Supplement for long-term recipientsgiving up last-resort financial assistance. Set at $200 per

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13. Social Assistance Program and Social Solidarity Program.14. Claim slips allow recipients to receive certain prescribed medication and dental care free-of-charge, subject to the earnings cap.



month for a maximum of 12 consecutive months, theSupplement is designed for people who have receivedlast-resort financial assistance for at least 36 of the past42 months and cease to be eligible because they earn$200 or more a month, provided they receive medicationclaim slips from the MESS. The Supplement has been ineffect since April 1, 2008, and the first payments will beissued retroactively as of September 2008. It offersrecipients the financial means to meet the substantialcosts of the transition to employment and encourageslong-term recipients, including handicapped persons, toenter the labour market and increase their household’sdisposable income.

High-quality support

High-quality support is one of the keys to success forhandicapped persons’ efforts to enter the labour market.A certain number of measures and resources are alreadyavailable in this area. Emploi-Québec calls on specializedmanpower services for handicapped persons, tocomplement the services provided by the localemployment centres (CLEs). In 2006-2007, agreementsworth a total of close to $14 million were signed with37 specialized resources. In most cases, these serviceagreements are recurrent. Specialized resources providesupport for handicapped persons under theEmployment-Assistance Services measure, Job Readinessmeasure and Contrat d’intégration au travail (CIT)measure, as well as under the Programme desubventions aux entreprises adaptées (PSEA). Increasedbudgets for the PSEA and CIT measure, along with therecurrent nature of employment-integration contracts,will require additional efforts from these resources interms of evaluation and follow-up in the workplace. Thishigher volume means that funding for these externalresources will have to be adjusted.

People who are unable, in the short term, to take part inan employment-assistance measure or return to workfor various reasons may opt for one of the approachesprovided for by the Social Assistance and SupportProgram. Many handicapped people meet the charac -teristics targeted by this new program, and are thuspotential participants. One of the sections of this program,called “Devenir,” is aimed at preparing people toparticipate in measures offered by the public employ -ment service. Another section, Interagir, focuses onchannelling people toward socially beneficial activities.15

As of 2009, Emploi-Québec will explore the developmentand testing of other approaches for supporting effortsby people with a severely limited capacity foremployment to enter the labour force.

The establishments that make up the health and socialservices system also offer support for handicappedpersons. Since 2001, the Ministère de la Santé et desServices sociaux (MSSS) has published a support policyfor people with cognitive impairments, orientations andan action plan for people who suffer from pervasivedevelopmental disorders, departmental orientations withrespect to physical impairments and a mental healthaction plan. The cornerstone of these documents is thedesire to integrate people in these categories into theircommunity and encourage their social participation. Allof the documents raise the issue of job entry and retention.

Generally speaking, health and social servicesestablishments assume responsibilities and provideservices in the following areas with respect to peoplewith physical disabilities, cognitive impairments,pervasive developmental disorders and mental healthproblems: home and community support, psychosocialsupport, support for social integration and participation,

15. The third section, Réussir, is discussed in Part 4.


adaptation and rehabilitation, technical assistance,community organization and consulting support forpartners. The MSSS will continue to improve access tothese services for handicapped persons. Standards forservice access, continuity, quality, effectiveness andefficiency are currently being developed in the areas ofphysical disabilities, cognitive impairments and pervasivedevelopmental disorders.

New mental health standards have been established for front-line, second-line and third-line services. In its2005-2010 mental health action plan (Plan d’action ensanté mentale 2005-2010), the MSSS sets itself the goalof favouring the labour market integration of people withmental health problems and quite rightly reiterates thatpsychosocial support activities, including evaluation,treatment, follow-up and referral, are necessarythroughout the integration process. In this perspective,the plan proposes a series of national, regional and localmeasures requiring collaboration and partnerships withthe public employment service network and its partners.For example, the MSSS asks health and social serviceagencies to support the establishment of partnershipsbetween employers and specialized manpowerdevelopment organizations, in order to favour thecreation of jobs adapted to the needs of people withserious mental problems. It also sets a specific target forhealth and social service centres (CSSSs) with respect toaccess to support services in the workplace.16 Theseservices generally include evaluation and support in theworkplace for individuals and employers, along with jobreadiness activities.

Better service linkage

Depending on the way in which services are organizedlocally, the expertise of agencies present in the region,existing partnerships, the types of disabilities of thepeople concerned and expressed needs, employmentintegration for handicapped persons often involves a


variety of individuals or organizations belonging to morethan one network. Financial resources and availabletools vary, sometimes overlap and can lead to unequaltreatment. We therefore need to see greater flexibilityand better linkage between services, measures andprograms, the organizations that provide them, and thenetworks to which these organizations belong.

Improving this type of linkage — greatly desired by bothhandicapped persons and the organizations thatrepresent them — is already under way between theMSSS and the MESS. These government departmentsare involved in dialogue aimed at ensuring thecomplementary nature of the services offered by thehealth and social services system and the publicemployment service, focusing on sociovocationalintegration services for people with handicaps. As of2008, the MSSS and MESS will clarify their roles andresponsibilities with respect to social participation andvocational integration for handicapped people. TheMSSS will then analyse the situations of people currentlyparticipating in internships and supervised by the healthand social services system. The MESS and MSSS will jointogether to plan measures in this area, in order to clearlydefine and distinguish efforts leading towardemployment and those leading toward socialparticipation. The two departments will then provide thenecessary support for the signing of collaborationagreements between their respective networks, basedon the agreed-upon sharing of responsibilities.

5.3 Complementary effortsAs part of its efforts targeting employers, the Ministèredu Développement économique, de l’Innovation et del’Exportation (MDEIE) will provide information about thepotential of handicapped workers and the variousmeasures offered to businesses to support the hiring ofpeople with handicaps. In order to do a better job of

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16. The target is 58 persons per population of 100,000. It should be met in all regions in 2010. Source: MSSS, Plan d’action en santé mentale 2005-2010.



meeting the needs of handicapped people who want tolaunch a business, the MDEIE will hold a course forcertain departmental employees, to raise theirawareness of the needs of people in this category. Bothof these initiatives will be deployed in 2008-2009.

The Office des personnes handicapées du Québec(OPHQ) has deployed a Québec-wide reception,information, referral, support and consulting service forhandicapped people, their families and friends, andvarious partners. A significant portion of its efforts focuson employment. To give a clearer picture of requests forhelp in this area, the OPHQ has agreed to release annualreports, as of January 2009, describing efforts withrespect to reception, information, referral, support andadvice in the field of employment.

Participation in society can have a snowball effect onemployment integration, among other ways by creatingbonds between community members. Municipal familypolicies are aimed at dialogue and openness to theneeds of families and individuals. In 2008-2009, theMinistère de la Famille et des Aînés (MFA) will promotethe deployment of an approach or inclusive measuresthat take into account the needs of handicapped citizens,particularly in municipalities with a population of 15,000and under that are not obliged to prepare an action planon service accessibility.

Transportation

Transportation availability and accessibility are essentialprerequisites for labour market participation.Transportation was identified during the publicconsultation as a crucial problem and a barrier to thesocial participation and employment integration ofhandicapped persons. All of the individuals andorganizations heard during the consultation insisted onthe need to speed up the development of various typesof transportation required by people with handicaps.Their reactions show that much remains to be done to

ensure that handicapped persons can profit in a tangibleway, at the local level, from the obligations flowing fromthe Act to secure handicapped persons in the exerciseof their rights with a view to achieving social, school andworkplace integration.

Under this Act, public transit authorities had to submit adevelopment program designed to improve access totheir public transit systems for handicapped persons tothe Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ), for itsapproval, in 2005. The MTQ is responsible for ensuringcompliance with and deployment of the plan.

The same statute now obliges all Québec municipalitieswith handicapped citizens to offer adapted trans -portation (paratransit). The MTQ has therefore increasedthe budget allocated to the Programme d’aidegouvernementale au transport adapté aux personneshandicapées (government assistance program foradapted transportation for handicapped persons). For2007-2008, the budget was set at $68.4 million andactual outlays were $71 million. The MTQ is currentlyreviewing the program with a view to setting its financialframework for 2008-2010.

To be entitled to assistance under this program,municipalities are obliged to provide adapted trans -portation 52 weeks a year, at the rate of least 35 hoursper week over a period of at least 5 days. Beyond theserequirements, it is up to the municipalities to determinethe level of service that they want to offer, i.e., eveningservice, weekend service, reservation times, territorycovered, types of vehicles and other parameters that canhave an impact on waiting time and travel time.

Adopted in 2006, the Québec Public Transit Policy(entitled Better Choices for Citizens) confirms thegovernment’s determination to favour the mobility ofhandicapped persons. This policy has led to anenhancement of the Programme d’aide gouver -


nementale au transport collectif des personnes(government assistance program for public transit),intended for intended for public transit corporations, theAgence métropolitaine de transport and the City ofMontréal. A section of the program encourages publictransit authorities to eliminate physical barriers that cancompromise access to their services by handicappedpersons.

The Programme d’aide gouvernementale au transportcollectif en milieu rural (government assistance programfor public transit in rural areas) supports andconsolidates experience in pooling services on the basisof available places in adapted transportation, schooltransportation, specialized transportation offered byhealthcare institutions, etc. This pooling of services canalso be based on the possibilities offered by car-poolingand volunteer efforts.

The Québec Public Transit Policy has also enabled theimplementation, as of October 2007, of a subsidyprogram for adapting taxis and intercity coaches totransport people in wheelchairs.

The MTQ continues to offer technical support forbusinesses that belong to the employer program (alsocalled the enterprise transportation program), whichprovides for the deployment of measures to facilitateemployee travel to and from work. This program mayalso be used to facilitate travel by handicapped workers.




6 FOLLOW-UPMECHANISMS

Follow-up and evaluation of the National Strategy for Labour Market Integration and Maintenance of HandicappedPersons is based on reporting mechanisms and periodic analyses of changes in the labour market situation ofhandicapped persons.

Departmental and public agency action plans

By virtue of section 61.1 of the Act to secure handicappedpersons in the exercise of their rights with a view toachieving social, school and workplace integration, eachgovernment department or public agency employing atleast 50 persons and each local municipality with at least15,000 inhabitants must adopt an action plan identifyingthe barriers to integration that handicapped personsencounter in the respective sector of activity of thedepartment, agency or municipality, and describing themeasures taken over the past year and those to be takenin the coming year to reduce the identified barriers.

The government departments and public agenciesinvolved in the Strategy will use these plans to reportonce a year on the efforts they have deployed to favourjob entry and retention for people with handicaps, intheir capacity as an employer or service provider.

6.1 Mechanisms provided for by law

Report submitted to government

Pursuant to the Act to secure handicapped persons inthe exercise of their rights with a view to achievingsocial, school and workplace integration, the Minister ofEmployment and Social Solidarity must review theStrategy, assess and measure the employment situationof handicapped persons, the actions implemented as aresult of the Strategy and the effects of the Strategy, andsubmit a progress report to the government byDecember 17, 2009. The report must also includerecommendations concerning the integration andcontinued employment of handicapped persons.

The Strategy will have been in application for less thantwo years on this date. It will hence be difficult, if notimpossible to measure its effects. The report musttherefore provide information about the deployment ofthe Strategy and, if applicable, propose adjustments. Itwill also include an overview of the employmentsituation of handicapped persons.

The report will be prepared in collaboration with thevarious partners who have contributed to the Strategy.


6.2 Following up regional collaboration

In collaboration with the concerned stakeholders, theEmploiQuébec regional branches must report to theMinister of Employment and Social Solidarity on themeans of collaboration deployed and the resultsobtained. An initial progress report is due in March 2011and a second report in March 2013. The latter report willbe used to measure progress in each region and identifyefforts that should be continued or be added to a secondphase of the Strategy (2014-2018) in order to reach thenational objective by 2018.

6.3 Two reports The objective set forth in the Strategy is to be achievedover a ten-year period. The measures and financialcommitments contained in the Strategy cover the firstfive years. A report will therefore be submitted at the endof this first phase, in 2013, in order to provide an updateon the results achieved and regional collaboration. Thisfive-year report will describe the efforts deployed andreview the pertinence of these efforts. It will also providean overview of handicapped persons’ labour marketparticipation and measure the progress that has beenmade. Based on the results obtained, existing efforts willbe adjusted, new measures may be proposed and thesecond phase of the Strategy, covering the five-yearperiod from 2014 to 2018, will be prepared.

A final report, prepared on the same basis, will besubmitted at the end of the Strategy, in 2018. It willinclude the results of regional collaboration and measurehow well the objective set in 2008 has been met.


6.4 Changes in the labour market situation of handicapped persons

The employment rate will not be the only indicator usedto measure changes in the labour market situation ofhandicapped persons. The following variables will alsobe taken into account, according to gender and agegroup (ages 16 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54 and 55 to 64):labour force participation rate, length of unemployment,proportion of part-time employment, level of education,level of income. These data are prepared annually as partof the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID).

The analysis will also take into account type of disability(physical disability, cognitive impairment, mental health)and severity of disability (light, moderate, serious), oncethis data extracted from the SLID are available (further tothe census).

Overviews of the labour market situation of handicappedpersons will be prepared in 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2018.

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CONCLUSIONThe individuals and organizations consulted about thebest ways of increasing the labour market participationof handicapped persons have confirmed thatsimultaneous efforts are required in a variety of areas:heightening the awareness of the population and labourmarket stakeholders, recognizing and developing thepotential of handicapped persons, neutralizing barriersto job entry and job retention. This is the framework foraction proposed by the National Strategy for LabourMarket Integration and Maintenance of HandicappedPersons. One and all are invited to contribute toachieving the Strategy’s objective.

The Strategy is an ambitious project, seeing thatachieving a substantial improvement in the labourmarket participation of handicapped persons requiresvigorous efforts. As we all know, people with handicapsface substantial barriers and constitute one of the mostdisadvantaged segments of the workforce when it comesto training and employment. The Strategy is alsoambitious in that it calls for contributions from a largenumber of stakeholders. Obtaining significant resultsdepends not only on the efforts deployed, but also onmobilization in favour of handicapped persons in eachregion of Québec.

For us to rise to the challenge set forth in the Strategyand achieve our objective, all of the stakeholdersinvolved will have to pull together. We know that this ispossible, based on the work already accomplished andthe experience of numerous employers. The challengeis all the more achievable given that current andanticipated manpower needs in certain sectors of theeconomy are a golden opportunity to raise employers’and trade unions’ awareness of the potential ofhandicapped workers and, in so doing, boost the labourmarket participation of people with handicaps.


APPENDIX LIST OF ACTIONS

MOBILIZING STAKEHOLDERS AROUND A SHARED OBJECTIVE

1. Mobilize regional players and facilitate the coordination of efforts for the period 2008-2013.Responsible: Emploi-Québec regional branchesCollaboration: Regional councils of labour market partners and other stakeholders

A GOVERNMENT IN ACTION

2. Deploy a diversity management training program for human resource managers and consultants (2008-2009 to 2012-2013).Responsible: Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor (SCT)

3. Implement a program to promote jobs in the public service (2008-2009 to 2012-2013).Responsible: SCT

4. Prepare a global balance sheet on equal employment opportunities, with a view to identifying required changes (2008).Responsible: SCT

5. Prepare an action plan for diversity management and equal employment opportunities, in line with the guidelines set by the SCT (2010).Responsible: Government departments and agencies, SCT

6. Improve reporting tools in the area of equal employment opportunities (2008).Responsible: SCT

7. Step up efforts to promote the Programme de développement de l’employabilité à l’intention des personneshandicapées (PDEIPH) vis-à-vis government departments and agencies, in order to bring about a gradual increase in the number of interns as of April 2009.Responsible: SCT

8. Facilitate the identification of potential interns and refer them to the employability development program for handicapped persons (PDEIPH) as of January 2009. Responsible: SCT and Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MESS)

9. As of 2008, add the handicapped persons group to the Programme d’obligation contractuelle.Responsible: SCT




10. Over the next five years, promote the importance of adopting hiring policies and procedures designed to prevent discrimination against handicapped persons, in municipalities with less than 100 employees.Responsible: Ministère des Affaires municipales et des Régions (MAMR)

HEIGHTENING THE AWARENESS OF CITIZENS AND LABOUR MARKET PLAYERS

11. Deploy annual regional activities to encourage employers to hire and keep handicapped employees.Responsible: Emploi-Québec regional branches, MESSCollaboration: Comité d’adaptation de la main-d’œuvre pour personnes handicapées (CAMO–PH),

specialized manpower services for handicapped persons, handicapped persons associations

12. Organize and support the holding of activities specifically related to employment as part of Québec Handicapped Persons Week.Responsible: Office des personnes handicapées du Québec (OPHQ)Collaboration: Emploi-Québec, CAMO–PH

13. As of 2009, deploy public recognition activities for employers who have devoted special efforts to hiring, training or retaining handicapped employees. Responsible: MESSCollaboration: OPHQ, Commission des partenaires du marché du travail (CPMT), CAMO–PH

14. As of September 2009, create a Web showcase to promote and provide information about positive actionsaimed at boosting the labour market participation of handicapped persons. Responsible: MESS

RECOGNIZING AND DEVELOPING THE POTENTIAL OF HANDICAPPED PERSONS

15. Continue to review and update the policy for integrating handicapped children into childcare services.Responsible: Ministère de la Famille et des Aînés (MFA)

16. Increase awareness within the childcare service network of measures to facilitate the hiring of handicapped workers (2008 and 2009). Responsible: MFA

17. Identify courses of action to enhance support in the area of school integration for students with handicaps andother problems, define indicators and prepare an approach and tools for reporting (June 2008).Responsible: Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS)

18. Evaluate the application of the school adaptation policy and, based on the conclusions, make any required adjustments (final report to be released in May 2008).Responsible: MELS


19. Provide better support for the educational milieu with respect to distinguishing between learning and evaluation, in order to take into account students’ individual abilities. Responsible: MELS

20. As of 2008, monitor the success of handicapped students, using system data (rate of integration into regular classes, official qualification, graduation rate per type of functional deficiency, etc.).Responsible: MELS

21. Prepare an inventory and analysis, by socioeconomic sector and study program, of the technical occupationsand trades that are the most accessible to people depending on their type of disability. Provide this informationto the people in charge of school and occupational information in early 2009 and post it on the Web.Responsible: MELS

22. As of the fall of 2008, examine the possibilities offered by the budget rules to deploy specific training projectsfor groups of handicapped persons on a trial basis.Responsible: MELS

23. Expanding on the Défi de l’entrepreneuriat jeunesse strategy, analyse the potential offered by entrepreneurshipfor favouring the contribution of handicapped persons to their communities’ socioeconomic development. In the course of 2008, prepare an adapted tool for developing entrepreneurship among people with handicaps and test it in 2009.Responsible: MELS

24. During the fall of 2008, prepare a plan for improving services for handicapped postsecondary students,particularly those with learning disorders and serious mental health problems.Responsible: MELS

25. In the spring of 2008, launch efforts aimed at the joint deployment of support measures to enable youngpeople and adults with mental health problems to pursue their studies.Responsible: Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS)Collaboration: MELS , MESS

26. Analyse measures designed to a better job of meeting the needs of students with serious mental health problems, within the framework of student financial assistance programs (fall of 2009).Responsible: MELS




27. Raise awareness and inform school personnel, particularly guidance counsellors, about educational and vocational counselling for handicapped students, via continuing education sessions on applying the orientationapproach. Incorporate this concern into the mission of the regional educational counselling support teams tobe created as of September 2008. Post the information on the Web site of the Ordre des conseillers et conseillères d’orientation et des psychoéducateurs et psychoéducatrices du Québec (OCCOPPQ), as part of the development of a virtual community in the area of educational and vocational counselling.Responsible: MELS Collaboration: MELS regional branches, school boards, OCCOPPQ

28. Prepare a special approach targeting handicapped students as part of the 2008 edition of the annual campaigndeployed in educational institutions to promote Placement étudiant among young people.Responsible: Emploi-Québec

29. As of 2008, step up support for planning the transition from school to working life for handicapped students, by: promoting transition planning;providing information about school-to-working-life projects deployed in the various regions;supporting transition planning as part of their respective services;deploying mechanisms to facilitate collaboration and involvement by regional and local stakeholders.

Responsible: MELS , MESS, MSSSCollaboration: OPHQ, Secrétariat à la jeunesse (SAJ), CAMO–PH

30. In the next action plan for adult education and continuing education (November 2008), specify the objectivesand courses of action for favouring handicapped persons’ access to adult education and continuing education;this includes correcting gaps in training, part-time training and recognition of experience and skills.Responsible: MELS

31. Explore ways of facilitating the transition, for handicapped adults, from adult education to vocational trainingand higher education, submit recommendations (spring of 2008) and implement the chosen measures (September 2008).Responsible: MELS

32. Between now and March 2009, evaluate the feasibility of extending the Programme de reconnaissance des expériences bénévoles (volunteer experience recognition program) of the Centre d’action bénévole de Québec to all regions of Québec.Responsible: Emploi-Québec, Secrétariat à l’action communautaire autonome et aux initiatives sociales (SACAIS)

33. As of the fall of 2008, ensure that handicapped persons have access to the reception, advisory and supportservices (SARCA) offered to adults, with special emphasis on sensitivity to the special needs and characteristicsof people with handicaps.Responsible: MELS


34. Take the needs of handicapped persons into account in the upcoming orientations and actions with respect to complementary services for people enrolled in vocational training and adult education (2008).Responsible: MELS

35. Take the needs of handicapped persons into account in the upcoming orientations and actions with respect to the development of distance learning.Responsible: MELS

36. As of 2008, promote the enhancement of the skills of handicapped persons who are already employed,including activities related to the Mesure de formation en entreprises (on-the-job training measure), the SkillsDevelopment and Recognition Framework and the Workforce Skills Development and Recognition Fund.Responsible: Emploi-Québec, CPMT

37. As of 2008, support special training projects for handicapped workers, particularly within the framework of the Workplace Apprenticeship Program.Responsible: CPMT

38. On an ongoing basis, raise the sectoral workforce committees’ awareness of the importance of supporting the development and qualification of handicapped workers.Responsible: CPMTCollaboration: CAMO–PH

39. Raise the refundable tax credit for an on-the-job training period to 40% for corporations (20% for individuals)and double the number of hours of supervision granted for a handicapped person (March 2008). Responsible: Ministère des Finances du Québec (MFQ)

40. In the progress reports prepared as part of the Strategy, give the results of the OPHQ’s efforts in the area oftraining and information targeting educational institutions and professional orders.Responsible: OPHQ

41. Support mentoring projects between seniors and handicapped persons striving to enter the labour market, as part of the Heartfelt Action for Québec’s Seniors Program, for the year 2008-2009.Responsible: Secrétariat aux aînés

NEUTRALIZING BARRIERS TO JOB ENTRY AND JOB RETENTION

42. As of April 1, 2008, offer an employer-assistance service to facilitate access to pertinent information, advice andassistance for employers.Responsible: Emploi-Québec Collaboration: CAMO–PH, Regroupement des organismes spécialisés pour l’emploi des personnes handicapées

(ROSEPH)




43. Develop consulting activities and tools to support businesses that want to adopt hiring policies for handicapped persons. Responsible: CAMO–PHCollaboration: Emploi-Québec

44. Increase the funding for the Contrat d’intégration au travail (CIT) measure by $3.3 million per year, boostingthe CIT budget by a total of $16.4 million over five years (at a total five-year cost of $49 million).Responsible: Emploi-Québe

45. Do more to promote the tax deduction for renovations or alterations to improve access for disabled persons, in particular via the employer-assistance service.Responsible: MFQ, Emploi-Québec

46. Gradually increase the budget for the Programme de subventions aux entreprises adaptées (PSEA) in order to create 825 new permanent jobs for severely handicapped persons over a five-year period (total cost: $33.5 million).Responsible: Emploi-Québec

47. In the spring of 2008, prepare a deployment plan for the new jobs created in adapted enterprises.Responsible: Emploi-QuébecCollaboration: Conseil québécois des entreprises adaptées (CQEA)

48. In the spring of 2008, within the framework of the PSEA, work to favour the transition of handicapped workers from adapted enterprises to conventional jobs.Responsible: Emploi-QuébecCollaboration: CQEA, ROSEPH

49. Continue to review employment measures and services and the related guides, in order to identify anynecessary additional adaptations for handicapped participants. Responsible: Emploi-Québec

50. For handicapped persons who have more problems entering the labour market than other participants in theWage Subsidy measure, authorize up to twice the normal participation period under the measure in order forthem to reach the minimum number of hours of work (30) per week (2008).Responsible: Emploi-Québec

51. Include specific provisions aimed at job entry and retention for handicapped persons in future employability strategies.Responsible: Emploi-Québec


52. As part of the preparatory work leading up to the next Government Action Plan to Combat Poverty and SocialExclusion (April 2009):

consider the possibility of abolishing the $1,500 monthly earnings cap for ongoing entitlement to medicationclaim slips, for a maximum of 48 months, for recipients with a severely limited capacity for employment whocease to be eligible for last-resort financial assistance due to their work income, and of extending this right toall recipients under the Social Solidarity Program, including couples;rethink the structure of work income exemptions for the purposes of last-resort financial assistance and workincome supplements, taking into account the situation of handicapped persons who receive assistance underthe Social Assistance Program and the Social Solidarity Program.

Responsible: MESS

53. Implement the new Work Premium for people with a severely limited capacity for employment (as of the 2008 tax year).Responsible: MFQ, Revenu QuébecCollaboration: MESS

54. Implement the Supplement for long-term recipients giving up last-resort financial assistance (as of April 1, 2008, with the first payments in September 2008).Responsible: MFQ, Revenu Québec Collaboration: MESS

55. In early 2009, explore the development and testing of other approaches for supporting efforts by people with a severely limited capacity for employment to enter the labour force.Responsible: Emploi-Québec

56. Continue to improve access to services for handicapped persons (people with physical disabilities, cognitive impairments, pervasive developmental disorders, mental health problems).Responsible: MSSS

57. As of 2008, clarify the roles and areas of responsibility of the MSSS and the MESS with respect to social participation and vocational integration for handicapped people, and then:

analyse the situations of people currently participating in internships and supervised by the health and social services system (MSSS);jointly plan measures in this area, in order to clearly define and distinguish efforts leading toward employment and those leading toward social participation (MSSS and MESS);provide the necessary support for the signing of collaboration agreements between the two networks, based on the agreed-upon sharing of responsibilities.

Responsible: MSSS and MESS



58. As part of efforts targeting employers, provide information about the potential of handicapped workers and the various measures offered to businesses to support the hiring of people with handicaps (2008-2009).Responsible: Ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation (MDEIE)

59. Hold a course for certain MDEIE employees to raise their awareness of the needs of handicapped people whowant to launch a business (2008-2009).Responsible: MDEIE

60. As of January 2009, release an annual report with respect to reception, information, referral, support and advice in the field of employment.Responsible: OPHQ

61. Promote the deployment of an approach or inclusive measures that take into account the needs of handicappedcitizens, particularly in municipalities with a population of 15,000 and under that are not obliged to prepare anaction plan on service accessibility (2008-2009).Responsible: MFA



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