AODA Alliance
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update
United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities
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Toronto Star Reveals Scandalous Failures in the Ford Government’s Program Touted to Move People with Disabilities from Social Assistance to Work
June 29, 2026
SUMMARY
Last Month, in its May 7 and May 8, 2026 editions, the Toronto Star published two very disturbing articles. They show scandalous problems with the Ford Government’s multi-million-dollar program aimed at moving people with disabilities from social assistance to employment. We set out those articles below. This is part of our effort to catch up on important recent developments that have been eclipsed in AODA Alliance Updates, with so much going on.
The AODA Alliance has been advocating for many years for the Ontario Government to enact a strong and effective Employment Accessibility Standard under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. We have also advocated for new initiatives to tear down the many disability barriers that impede people with disabilities from equal access to competitive employment. Many times, the late Lieutenant Governor of Ontario David Onley said that the unemployment rate facing people with disabilities in Canada is not only a national crisis – It is a national shame.
In 2011, the previous Dalton McGuinty Government enacted a helpful but weak and very limited Employment Accessibility Standard under the AODA. On January 22, 2019, the Ford Government received the final report and recommendations from the Government-appointed Employment Standards Development Committee. Yet in violation of the AODA, the Ford Government improperly kept that report secret for two full years. Sections 10 and 11 of the AODA required the Government to make that report public upon receiving it.
That report recommended some limited revisions to the Employment Accessibility Standard. Yet much more has been needed to strengthen that accessibility standard. Read the May 7, 2018 AODA Alliance brief to the Employment Standards Development Committee. We regret that the Employment Standards Development Committee did not use most if not all of our feedback and recommendations.
The Ford Government has never done anything in all the years since then to strengthen the Employment Accessibility Standard. It has never consulted the public, including the disability community, on what is needed in that regard. It has also done a very poor job of enforcing any and all AODA accessibility standards.
As seems obvious from the news stories set out below, Ontario needs a new initiative, in addition to the Employment Accessibility Standard, to end that national crisis and national shame of which David Onley spoke. We have always been ready to offer ideas. The Ford Government has never seemed interested.
How You Can Help
- Write your member of the Ontario Legislature. Tell them it’s high time the Ford Government substantially strengthened the weak and limited Employment Accessibility Standard enacted under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act You can find the contact information for all MPPs on the Ontario Legislature’s website.
- Learn more about the AODA Alliance’s advocacy efforts in this area by visiting the AODA Alliance website’s employment page.
MORE DETAILS
Toronto Star May 7, 2026
Jobs plan fails those with disabilities, surveys show
Ministry’s research reveals flaws in program touted as a success in getting people off social assistance
Moira Welsh Queen’s Park Bureau
Premier Doug Ford’s controversial plan to move people with complex disabilities off social assistance and into jobs is being hailed as a success, despite the government’s own research that exposes failures.
A Ministry of Labour slide show presentation from late last year, obtained by the Star, details how the province’s new Employment Ontario model has led to clients being rushed into jobs before they are ready, while organizations report diminished capacity to provide specialized supports.
The ministry conducted two surveys, one for people with disabilities and one for employment-service providers, which identified more than a dozen barriers hurting outcomes. Yet despite the findings, the province has not changed the system.
The presentation, summarizing feedback from organizations, said service providers have been underfunded for 15 years, employers “don’t know how to support” workers with disabilities, and performance targets are pressuring agencies to place clients into jobs too quickly – even when those with “complex barriers” need more time to prepare.
One of the surveys also found opposition to a rule requiring jobs to be at least 20 hours a week to count as successful employment, despite advocates saying many people with disabilities cannot manage those hours.
Operating funding for employment providers “has not increased in 15 years,” one ministry slide stated, leaving agencies “unable to meet the needs” of clients with disabilities and “compromising service quality and outcomes.”
The slides, however, also suggest the ministry believes it has made some progress, outlining a shift toward a “people first” model focused on flexible, person-directed supports and more equitable, needs-based funding.
The government research involved more than 200 sector stakeholders and interviews with 31 people with disabilities about their experiences finding work through the Integrated Employment Services (IES) system.
The Star asked Labour Minister David Piccini’s office why the government conducted the surveys only to ignore the opinions it sought.
Piccini’s spokesperson did not directly answer the question.
Instead, Michel Figueredo said the program reached “full province-wide operation over the past year and is already helping connect thousands of people to the support they need to find and keep meaningful work, and we are building on that progress.
“Our government will continue listening, consulting and carefully assessing any potential changes to strengthen service delivery and improve employment outcomes,” Figueredo said.
Piccini’s office previously called its program a success, leading to roughly 390,000 jobs at 20 hours a week, a number that includes nearly 124,000 people who “self-identified” as disabled on the program’s intake assessment form. The disabilities on the assessments can range from the use of hearing aids to one’s level of hyperactivity.
The ministry did not say how long a worker had to be employed to be defined as working. Nor did it respond when asked if those employment numbers back up the survey complaints that people are rushed out of employment preparation programs and into jobs.
“The government is not listening,” said Mark Wafer, who helped write Canada’s 2024 disability employment strategy and employed people with disabilities as an owner of Tim Hortons restaurants.
“The new model is a disaster,” Wafer said. “The strategies the government put in place will undo all the work we have done over the past few decades.”
Ontario’s 2019 launch of the “integrated employment services” system (IES) took employment training for those on the Ontario Disability Support Program away from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, and merged it with training for people on Ontario Works benefits, who Wafer said have much different needs.
Instead of relying on the public servants, the Ford government hired third-party operators to oversee the program’s new rules for funding and contract renewals for the organizations that, for decades, provided employment training for people with disabilities.
A long-time Progressive Conservative supporter, Wafer calls the external oversight a “total waste of money.”
In a sector that is reliant on government money, Wafer is one of the few willing to speak out based on his years as an employer, but made clear that he was not speaking in his capacity as chair of Canadian Hearing Services (CHS), which closed its program in April after 81 years of service but still gets provincial funding for other programs. Its staff refused to be interviewed although a CHS note to its clients said the program could not continue because the current system fails to recognize the needs of people with complex disabilities.
Many leaders the Star contacted agreed with that assessment, but said they are silenced by non-disclosure agreements and, more recently, a “non-disparagement” media protocol issued by WCG Consulting International Ltd., the largest third-party operator.
After the Star began asking questions, WCG reminded organizations of “Section A8.3,” which requires program leaders to ensure “their employees do not publicly disparage” the company, the Employment Ontario program or “the province.”
WCG oversees Ontario’s most populated areas including Peel and York regions, Ottawa and Toronto. Despite launching in Canada more than 30 years ago, WCG is now owned by Australia’s APM Group, which has minority U.S. investment from the Chicago-based Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity firm.
The ministry transferred $224 million to WCG in 2024-2025, according to the public accounts. At least part of that money is used to disburse funding to employment services providers but when asked, the ministry did not provide the breakdown, nor did WCG.
Some of the third-party operators are not-for-profit or fall under municipal governance. They all uphold the ministry rules – including job targets – and award contracts based on the success of service providers meeting those requirements.
Along with WCG, a subsidiary of the U.K. based Serco Group received $73.8 million in transfers from the ministry in the previous fiscal year, according to public accounts. Serco Canada did not respond to repeated questions.
Toronto Star May 8, 2026
Originally posted at https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/longtime-job-trainer-for-people-with-disabilities-quits-ontarios-program/article_8df922da-0828-4e2e-b4d0-4323cb73ea64.html
Training service parts with provincial initiative
Move comes after advocates slammed Tories’ job program
Moira Welsh Toronto Star
After 40 years providing employment services training to people with developmental disabilities, Community Living Mississauga says it will no longer work under Ontario’s job training program.
In a statement Wednesday, the organization said it made the decision “after careful consideration.”
Community Living Mississauga did not cite a reason for becoming the latest organization to exit Premier Doug Ford’s much-criticized Employment Ontario program. The organization will continue to operate other government-funded programs.
Unlike others that left and posted criticisms of the Labour Ministry’s “integrated services program” system (IES), Community Living Mississauga called it a “privilege” to work alongside “community partners, stakeholders and the Employment Ontario network …” It did not respond to interview requests.
A Star story published Thursday cited criticisms raised by advocates after the new program started rolling out in 2021, part of the Ford government’s goal of getting Ontarians off social assistance and into jobs. It merged programs for people with significant challenges on the Ontario Disability Support Program with recipients of Ontario Works and other supports, many of whom, advocates say, have few if any significant disabilities.
The Labour Ministry’s own research found more than a dozen barriers that limit the outcomes, including clients rushed into jobs before they are ready, while organizations report diminished capacity to provide specialized supports and performance targets are pressuring agencies to place clients into jobs too quickly – even when those with “complex barriers” need more time to prepare.
A November slide show of the government findings also suggested it is making some progress, outlining a shift toward a “people first” model focused on flexible, person-directed supports and more equitable, needs-based funding.
On Thursday, Labour Minister David Piccini’s office said employment providers receive “enhanced funding” for clients with higher needs, “recognizing that people with disabilities often require additional time, co-ordination and specialized supports to secure and maintain employment.”
Employment service providers that “fail to meet expectations face consequences,” Piccini’s spokesperson said, adding that organizations with decades of experience “continue to operate” in the program. “What has changed is the addition of clearer accountability measures and stronger oversight of public dollars.”
Last month, after 81 years, the Canadian Hearing Services ended its employment training. A note to clients said the government’s current program design made it impossible to meet the new performance rules. Two years earlier, Community Living Oshawa-Clarington ended its long-time program, saying the model “no longer aligns with our values and mission, as it fails to address the unique employment barriers faced by people with developmental disabilities.”
At Queen’s Park, New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles called Ford’s use of third-party contractors “appalling,” saying it takes money from programs for vulnerable people.
Liberal interim Leader John Fraser said the employment program controversy shows the premier is “abdicating his responsibility to people with disabilities to help them get in the workforce, and allowing profit to be a motive in this situation when it shouldn’t be there at all.”