National Dialogues and Action

On December 2nd 2022, leading up to the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) convened the second in the series of National Dialogues and Action for Inclusive Higher Education and Communities. Focusing on Addressing Ableism, Disability, and Accessibility in Canadian Higher Education, the conversations explored the barriers to learning and working in the post-secondary education sector for persons with disabilities and addressed critical issues such as: structural ableism in the Canadian academy; inclusive curriculum, learning design, work facilitation, and research supports; and inclusive infrastructure, design, and planning.

Based on the deliberations and the co-created solutions that emerged from the sessions, participants and institutions attending the dialogues were equipped with:

  1. an “equity-deserving” orientation to addressing the systemic impediments and everyday practices that constrain success for members of their communities living with disabilities; and
  2. a wealth of strategies, concrete actions, and accountability mechanisms that can be adopted and implemented, as appropriate and necessary for their particular contexts, to enable a truly inclusive environment for all those who work and learn in post-secondary spaces across the country.

The outcome of the deliberations will inform the post-dialogues report, which will serve as a valuable resource, outlining a set of principles, actions, and accountabilities that partners can draw on to, individually and collectively, effect meaningful change within their institutions and across the sector.