The Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities assists persons with disabilities to prepare for, obtain and maintain employment. It supports persons with disabilities in overcoming barriers to participation in the Canadian labour market, and it supports employers to hire persons with disabilities. This program supports a wide range of programs and services, including job search supports, pre-employability services, wage subsidies, work placements and employer awareness initiatives to encourage employers to hire persons with disabilities. The Opportunities Fund is delivered across the country by Service Canada Centres, in partnership with organizations in the community.

The Sinneave Family Foundation (Sinneave) is a charitable operating foundation, created in 2008 to address the challenges experienced by emerging adults with autism. Among Canadian children and youth aged 5 to 17 years, the estimated prevalence of ASD in 2015 was 1 in 66.  As children with autism transition to adolescence and adulthood, they face a “supports cliff” where the resources necessary to meet their lifelong and changing needs are scarce or non-existent.  When individuals with autism do not have support through the transition to adulthood, they face increased challenges to reaching their desired life outcomes. Sinneave’s vision is that individuals with autism are supported in the transition to adulthood to realize their highest quality of life. Sinneave aims to build a case that will influence practice and policy discussions and result in improved outcomes for emerging adults with autism. Our work includes providing services and collaborating with partners in activities focused on enhancing transition support, sharing promising practices, building system capacity and fostering policy development in the areas of continuing education, employment, and independent living. We aim to be collaborative, respectful, innovative, and accountable in our work, promoting confidence in Sinneave as an ethical, credible, and trusted advisor and facilitator in the field of autism. We use our collective impact for sustainable change.

Autism Speaks Canada is dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the lifespan, for the needs of individuals with autism and their families by supporting and working with community partners; enhancing resources and services; increasing understanding…