Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Anti-Racism

The IDEAA task force was established in 2020, and is responsible for driving Holland Bloorview’s social justice-seeking work plan and key activities. The task force is an interdisciplinary body, comprised of employees, family and youth leaders, and provides valuable insights to bring Holland Bloorview 2030 to life in the most meaningful and equitable ways possible. There are three sub-committees: Data Action, Education, Training and Transformative Practice and Accessibility Planning Advisory Committee.

Over the past three years, the task force has been involved in key initiatives such as the social needs screening for families and advocating for the inclusion of equity based questions in the 2020 Employee Engagement Survey. The report “Representation, access to opportunities and feeling safe to report are not equal across identity groups at Holland Bloorview” provided data-driven analysis into the experiences of those who work at our hospital.

Holland Bloorview is committed to advancing Truth and Reconciliation by fostering culturally safe spaces, delivering inclusive education, and implementing supportive policies that ensure Indigenous clients and families can access the healthcare they need and deserve. Here are some of the actions we have undertaken: 

Decolonizing spaces - seeing is believing

• Keeping the Every Child Matters flag raised, year-round.
• Adding Indigenous languages (Ojibwe, Cree, Mohawk, Mi’kmaq, Inuktitut, and Métis) to welcome signage at main reception.
• Development of a Smudging policy for Indigenous clients and families to enable culturally and spiritually appropriate care and to familiarize staff with an understanding and appreciation for this cultural and spiritual practice. We have now established outdoor smudging areas for families and additional indoor spaces.
• Ongoing consultation around developing a role centered around an Indigenous Health Equity and Experience Navigator.

Creating culturally safe spaces for clients and families

• In-house, we continue to create Inpatient, Day Program and outpatient program awareness of the Indigenous, Métis, and Inuit children and youth using our services to provide culturally applicable care. This can look like:connecting with individual staff and telling stories with which they connect to build an understanding of Indigenous patients and their families and their rehab needs; offering traditional beading through therapeutic recreation, and music therapy offers drumming; incorporating being outdoors in nature daily and offering bannock with meals.
• We seek to create sustainable connections with local organizations to ensure that Indigenous inpatient families who live outside of Toronto have access to organizations that are supportive of their needs while staying in the hospital, including Anishnawbe Health, NishDish, and the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto.

Education and Awareness: the why of doing this work

• Our annual anti-racism education series incorporates considerations of Indigenous anti-racism and health inequities.  This year, The Virtual Talking Circle resource was developed for staff and volunteers.   We also amplify key observance dates and monthssuch as Ribbon Skirt Day, Red Dress Dayand National Indigenous History Month.
• A land acknowledgement resource guide specific to the  Canadian healthcare context, has been created and can be accessed by all staff, students, volunteers and researchers.
• Indigenous Days of Significance including National Indigenous People’s Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are commemorated annually, year-round.  Resources are created for staff, clients and families and where appropriate community educational events are identified for staff and patients. See IDEAA's annual September 30 newsletter,  a summary of IDEAA resources  and resources on Jordan's Principle  to help support personal learning and to take individual steps towards reconciliation.
• Different learning formats sought to expand access to knowledge: immersive experiences as with the  Snake Island Drum Group provided education on the cultural and spiritual importance of the drum; and in-house screenings created generative learning opportunities and the organic creation of supportive resources. ​

Build Cultural Competency: Knowledge to Action

Assisting staff in understanding how this learning can be applied to improve the healthcare experience is crucial to the process. An important part of this is the San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety online training.

• Since 2021, over 115 staff , have taken the San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety online training including 100% participation from the Executive Leadership Team.We are committed to providing additional access to broader cultural safety training for staff and volunteers in the 2025-2026 fiscal.
• For the first time, a Holland Bloorview poster was accepted for presentation at the 11th International Meeting on Indigenous Child Health in Winnipeg (March 28–30, 2025). Walking towards each other: Stories from pediatric rehab explores the shift from a colonial healthcare model to co-creating rehabilitation experiences with Indigenous children and their families, allowing them to share their stories.
   

Anti-Black racism is systemically embedded in Canadian society and across our healthcare system. At Holland Bloorview, we have committed to confronting anti-Black racism across our hospital and beyond our walls and working to develop an anti-Black racism strategy. Our efforts are aligned with Ontario Health, the Toronto Academic Health Science Network, and other health system organizations that have committed to coordinating broad anti-racist education and action. 

The Black Employee Experience Report

In the summer of 2022 we commissioned Dr. Notissa Massaquoi, an independent, highly respected expert on anti-Black racism, to help us better understand the experience of Black employees at all levels of the hospital - from clinical and non-clinical staff at the point of care, to hospital leadership, and all points in-between. The Black Employee Experience Report was released to hospital employees in March 2023. Created with input from Black staff at Holland Bloorview, the report highlighted the need to urgently address structural anti-Black racism to create an inclusive and equitable environment where everyone can enjoy a sense of mutual belonging and respect.

Anti-Black racism e-module

As a first of the many steps required to dismantle anti-Black racism in healthcare, as of April 2023 onwards, all Holland Bloorview staff and volunteers are required to complete an Introduction to Anti-Black racism e-learning module. The e-module was developed by the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN) and shared with all partner hospitals for their use.  and was assigned to all staff from April 2023 onwards.

Roadmap to Confront Anti-Black Racism at Holland Bloorview

In order to address the harmful experiences that Black employees have had, an organization-level response, inclusive of activities to implement over the next 18 months was launched in September 2023. The Roadmap to Confront Anti-Black Racism at Holland Bloorview (PDF) is based on recommendations that were generated by the participants from individual interviews, focus groups and suggestions provided anonymously by Black employees. The Roadmap can therefore be regarded as a Black employee informed guide to direct future education, decision making and long-term strategies for addressing anti-Black racism at all levels of the hospital.

The Roadmap requires accountability across the hospital and identification of actions across teams to proactively implement changes to address anti-Black racism within the various portfolios.  The anti-racism implementation specialist provides ongoing consultation and education at the individual and group level.

Staff education

An anti-racism implementation specialist was hired in March 2024. Part of their role involves providing ongoing consultation and education at the individual and team level around embedding anti-racist practices in their work with clients, families and colleagues.  (See Anti-Racism Education for more information)

Education

• We host an annual Anti-Racism Education Series (now in its 4th year) which presents topics focusing on intersectionality, the effect of racist structures and practices on Black and Indigenous peoples and how to advocate for anti-racist practices.
• Additionally, we develop ongoing resources for staff families, clients and staff that address racism such as the
  • Family Tipsheet: How to Talk to Your Child About Racism;
  • Tipsheet for Black History Month: Educate. Participate. Celebrate;
  • IDEAA's annual September 30 newsletter with resources to help support personal learning and to take individual steps towards reconciliation.
  • International Holocaust Remembrance Day
  • National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia
  • Black History Month - the symbolic meaning of the Pan African Flag
  • Canadian Black History 101
• Our People and Culture team provide monthly unconscious bias in recruitment training to all hiring managers and hiring panels.

Employee Wellbeing and Belonging

• We recognize that empowering and elevating diversity is critical to fostering a healthy team. Creating a sense of well-being and belonging for all employees, volunteers, and students is an important part of this work. We're doing this by supporting the formation of employee resource groups (ERGs) or interest groups. The IDEAA office has a toolkit with instructions for staff members who want to form a resource group. we currently have a 2SLGBTQ+, Jewish, Black and Disability employee resource group(s).
• We are also committed to creating tipsheets that acknowledge the intersectionality of our lived experience. This can look like educating staff and volunteers on how to accommodate clients and families during religious holidays or raising awareness around events of cultural significance. Here are just a few of the resources that have been created to date:
  • Celebrating Hannukah
  • Celebrating Kwanzaa
  • Days of Significance Calendar (2024, 2025, 2026)
  • International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
  • Red Dress Day
  • Ramadanand Passover tipsheets for inpatients
  • Emancipation Day
  • Diwali
  • Lunar New Year
  • Nowruz
  • Holi
  • Purim

Holland Bloorview pledges zero tolerance with respect to acts of prejudice, discrimination or racism and signed the BlackNorth Initiative pledge in 2020, to dismantle anti-Black systemic racism and create opportunities for the Black, Indigenous and racialized communities. To date, we have established a Workplace Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Policy, updated the Workplace Anti-Harassment Policy; launched an independent and confidential process for reporting experiences of workplace discrimination, racism and harassment; and created a human rights and equity navigator role to provide support, guidance and training to Holland Bloorview stakeholders about the reporting process.

We also work closely with our system partners and have representatives at the Toronto Academic Health Sciences Network (TAHSN) anti-racism advisory committee, Kids Health Alliance EDI Community of Practice and a provincial Paediatric Health Equity Data Working Group which focuses on creating guidance to planning and implementing demographic data collection in healthcare settings.

Given the nature of the clients we serve, accessibility is foremost in our built environment, planning, program development and services. Holland Bloorview works closely with other community providers to help increase accessibility for our clients outside of Holland Bloorview’s programming. Our commitment to accessibility is an ongoing focus for Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, and we will continue to monitor the external innovations related to accessibility that may be relevant for Holland Bloorview.

Go to our Accessibility page to learn more about our Accessibility Policy, 2021-2026 Accessibility Plan and Accessibility Status report for 2023. We also have an Issues resolution process by which accessibility issues can be identified and addressed. In 2022, the Rick Hansen Foundation conducted an accessibility audit on Holland Bloorview, examining the hospital’s infrastructure from the parking lot to the workspaces and pool change rooms. The audit awarded Holland Bloorview with a gold certification.

Holland Bloorview strives to include accessibility in its built structures and programs. For example, Holland Bloorview is the proud owner of Canada’s first child-friendly and fully accessible research MRI Suite. The technology delivers an experience that is simultaneously immersive and calming for patients. We also have an accessible playground with an universal design which allows accessible functionality to be seamlessly blended into the equipment.

At Holland Bloorview, we advocate for healthy futures for all kids and youth with disabilities.

Dear Everybody began as a national movement to end stigma and eliminate bias against people with disability. The campaign helps generate awareness of disability stigma and ableism and encourages deeper conversation and action. In 2022, Imagine Everybody was introduced as an evolution of the campaign. In 2023, an anti-stigma campaign Inclusion Resolutions was launched to ensure all children and youth feel welcome and included at school. In 2024, Holland Bloorview’s advocacy campaign No Piece of Cake was launched and seeks to brings attention to the difficult transition to the adult healthcare system for young people with disabilities

Holland Bloorview is a proud partner of Project SEARCH, a global transition-to-work program for youth with developmental disabilities in their final year of high school. Participating students complete co-op placements at the hospital, building social and professional skills and learning about workplace culture.

Our world class Bloorview Research Institute has research projects which focus on intersectional and lived experiences of childhood disability. For more information on research projects that the Bloorview Research Institute is leading or co-creating with community partners, please check out the following.

• Evaluation of a toolkit on workplace disability disclosure discussions for employers and managers
• Enhancing healthy and productive work for racialized youth with non-visible disabilities
• Healthy And Productive Paid work for Youth with disabilities (HAPPY)
• POND Youth Digital Stories
• Discrimination, ableism and racism hurt but inclusion can heal: Listening to the intersectional lived experience of youth with disabilities and co-creating solutions:
• Listening to the Margins (article): Reflecting on Lessons Learned From a National Conference Focused on Establishing a Qualitative Research Platform for Childhood Disability and Race

Bloorview Research Institute Ward Summer Student program

The Bloorview Research Institute’s Ward Summer Student program has two dedicated streams which are meant to expose the successful candidate to the field of research and pediatric rehabilitation while providing them with a unique mentorship experience

• One position for undergraduate and/or college students living with a disability. This position was established to enhance the inclusion of young people with disabilities in pediatric research.
• Two positions for undergraduate and/or college students who are of Indigenous, First Nations, Métis, and/or Inuit descent. These positions were established to enhance the inclusion of all young peoples in pediatric research.

EMBARK (Empowering Black Academics, Researchers and Knowledge creators)

The first program of its kind in Canada, EMBARK fills a crucial gap in amplifying diverse Black voices in disability research and aims to address barriers that Black scholars face to set them up for successful academic careers. Continue reading to learn more about Dr. De-Lawrence Lampty, the first scientist to be hired under this program.

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital is committed to building an inclusive, diverse, equitable, accessible and anti-racist environment for all clients, families and staff. We believe that every individual, regardless of their background, identity, or ability, deserves the opportunity to fully contribute, participate and thrive within our community. As outlined in our strategic plan, our goals include empowering a healthy team and providing care that’s socially accountable. The collection of sociodemographic data will help us better understand and support the unique social needs of clients and families we serve and to foster a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve.

We ask because we care

We ask because we care is aimed at building awareness around our efforts to collect sociodemographic data in order to help us personalize care to each child’s needs. This data collection initiative is led by Ontario Health and required by all hospitals in the province. As part of registration, families are asked for information such as their ethnicity, household income, number of dependents, sex and gender identity, area of residence and preferred language. Information will be seen by the child’s care team and treated with the same level of confidentiality as all other health information.

Click here for a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ). For more information on the actual questions being asked, visit torontohealthequity.ca/demographic-questions/.

Sociodemographic data collection for applicants

Holland Bloorview’s applicant sociodemographic survey is an optional survey that is part of our online application process. Responses are anonymous and confidential and will help us identify and remove barriers that may be impacting employment opportunities of historically underrepresented equity priority groups. The personal information provided through this questionnaire is collected and accessed following the guidance from the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s “Count me in!” Guide and Ontario’s Data Standards for the Identification and Monitoring of Systemic Racism.

Click here for an FAQ for applicants. Please visit our inclusive recruitment page for more information on our commitment to fostering a workforce that reflects our community.

Sociodemographic data collection for staff

As part of our commitment to fostering a healthy team that reflects the diversity of our community, all staff are asked to participate in a confidential and mandatory employee sociodemographic survey. This ongoing data collection will be used to identify opportunities to advance a representative and inclusive environment for all, as well as increase our ability to recruit and retain employees who identify as being in a marginalized community.

At Holland Bloorview we aim to provide important client and family information in the languages and formats that are preferred by our community. It is important to us that client and family education, treatment information, and other important details are translated into the different languages most commonly spoken by the users of our hospital. 

Translated Documents

Important documents available in: Arabic, (Simplified) Chinese, (Traditional) Chinese, English, Spanish, Tamil and Farsi

Interpreter services

Clients and families have access to professional interpreter services at no cost when attending appointments at HB.

• Embracing diversity
• Holland Bloorview stands in solidarity with the Filipino community
• Expanding access to inclusive health information
• Holland Bloorview named one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers
• Connecting the gap
• Connect the Gap information fair for Black, African and Caribbean families
• Holland Bloorview recognizes National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
• Days of Significance Calendar
• Holland Bloorview celebrates Emancipation Day with Black staff social
• Toronto Caribbean Carnival is a Celebration of Emancipation
• Emancipation Day tipsheet
• Holland Bloorview launches sociodemographic data collection for employees
• Celebrating diversity at Holland Bloorview
• Holland Bloorview celebrates Pride Month
• Celebrating National AccessAbility Week at Holland Bloorview
• Joanne Maxwell appointed vice president, experience, transformation and social accountability
• Holland Bloorview introduces smudging policy
• Holland Bloorview recognizes the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
• Ontario’s Children’s Hospitals rename cardiac procedure to recognize critical role of Black pioneer Vivien Thomas
• Holland Bloorview celebrates Black History Month: Embracing diversity and inclusion
• 'We ask because we care'