Employment Pathways Programs

Experiences help you learn what you like and what you are good at. You also build skills and confidence. All of this helps you plan your education and career.

Work-related experiences during high school make it more likely you will have a job as an adult. Work is linked to social inclusion, income and overall health and wellbeing. 

People with disabilities often face barriers getting early work experiences. Your family’s high expectations and active support from an organization like Holland Bloorview can help you get started.

We regularly survey our program participants and families. In 2024, 100% of participants strongly agreed and agreed:

• “Participating in a practical work experience helped me on my journey to be better prepared for the workforce”.

• “As I continue on my journey towards the workforce, I feel better prepared after participating in this program.”

• “My experience in this program was valuable - it helped me meet my goals regarding volunteering or employment.”

Our team is led by occupational therapists who have experience in education and employment inclusion. Our youth facilitator and family support specialist shares lived experience of participating in school and work. We often refer to ourselves as “job coaches” and our team includes summer/seasonal staff who also do job coaching.

• “There’s much more certainty in terms of what I'm doing. I was thinking of just going to school, post-secondary. This experience gives me a sense of what kind of work I want. I found even more purpose for going to school. I have way more motivation now than before to enhance my skills set. (Youth)

• “We never could have imagined it. He really enjoys having a job… It helps us to broaden our vision of what we can do and how many choices we have in the future.  In the past, I was struggling with whether or not he could find a "real" job. Until  we did these programs and I followed the programs step-by-step, we were so concerned that he would never find a job...” (Parent)

• “The fact that I have experience and actually earned money with my own hard work filled me with confidence that I can do it later on. This job is a benchmark for the type of jobs that I want later in life and what type of jobs that I don't want to do.” (Youth)

Watch videos with Sam and other past participants of employment pathways programs.

Bav talks about Holland Bloorview's Ready to Work program and how it helped him get ready for a summer job with Fidelity.

Nat describes the Youth@Work program.

Nick talks about what he learned at Project SEARCH Toronto and how Project SEARCH and other Holland Bloorview life skills programs helped him move from school to work.

Charlie's story describes how Holland Bloorview's VolunteerABLE and Employment Action Coaching programs helped Charlie and his family. The story includes some job coaching and accommodation examples from Charlie's job with Aqua-Tots Swim Schools.

Isaiah describes what he learned while doing a summer job with BASF. Annie talks about how her summer job at Lane Four Consulting helped her build skills. Read about Isaiah & Annie.

• Explore Canada’s Skills for Success. Resources and videos explain skills you’ll need for learning, working and being active in your community.
• Connectability.ca  ConnectABILITY.ca  is an accessible, self-directed website of information and tools dedicated to lifelong learning and support for people who have an intellectual disability, their families and support networks.
• Disability Foundation YLI Employment Toolkit Provides tips and guidance for those with disabilities with common employment challenges such as building self-confidence, coping with stress, etc.
• Alberta’s Alis website Gives information on different types of jobs with their descriptions, requirements, pay. It also has suggestions for exploring post-secondary education and training.
• Family Support Network for Employment is a family-led support for families who have youth with intellectual disabilities to find resources and supports for employment.
• The Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN) has developed resources for families and educators to provide practical suggestions about expecting and preparing for employment, across all ages from kindergarten to grade 12.
• The early years: Career development for young children – is a free book that provides parents with ways to support their children aged 3 to 8 years old in career development through activities and play. Download free book from CERIC
• The decade after high school: A parent’s guide Download free book from CERIC is a free book that helps parents with assisting their young people in the navigation of the transition to further education or joining the workforce through roles, activities, and resources. 

Funding for the programs included in Holland Bloorview’s Employment Pathways are provided by donors to Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation including the RBC Foundation in support of RBC Future Launch (2021-2026), the Azrieli Foundation (2022-2027) and the Peter Gilgan Foundation (2016-2023). Our research, knowledge mobilization & advocacy activities are supported by the Azrieli Foundation (2022-2027) except where other funders are specifically acknowledged in project summaries.