On October 6, LiveWorkPlay was recognized as the #2 Best Place to Work in Ottawa before an audience of 400 business and organizational leaders at Best Places to Work & @DisruptHROttawa 2026. Thank you to the @obj_news and the many partners and sponsors who made the evening possible. The combination of Best Places to Work and DisruptHR made for a particularly fitting evening. Speakers challenged conventional thinking about trust, belonging, performance, hiring, workplace rules, and leadership. Those themes connected directly with changes LiveWorkPlay began making about a decade ago. Our Board of Directors authorized significant investments in people and workplace culture. Our Co-Leaders Julie Kingstone and Keenan Wellar collaborated with the staff team and translated those commitments into organizational systems and practices. Directors and Team Leads brought them into day-to-day operations. Staff throughout LiveWorkPlay have continued to use them, question them, improve them, and identify where we can do better. One of the most relevant DisruptHR presentations came from Sanita Alias, who challenged workplace rules built around control rather than trust. Her message strongly reflected our own experience of moving away from conventional top-down supervision toward collaborative performance management and coaching. The Best Places to Work recognition is based on an independent two-part assessment combining an extensive review of workplace policies and practices with an anonymous employee engagement survey. LiveWorkPlay averaged 98% overall, with every category at 93% or higher. We are also especially proud that LiveWorkPlay is the first charity providing direct services to people in the community to be recognized as one of Ottawa’s Best Places to Work. For community-based social services, sustained investment in compensation, benefits, professional development, workplace culture, and new approaches to leadership can be challenging. We hope this recognition demonstrates that innovation in how people are supported at work can and should be part of our sector too. One of the strategic directions that helped launch this work was called *Building A Leaderful Organization." Looking at the LiveWorkPlay team gathered at Algonquin College last night, that phrase felt particularly appropriate. Full story, photos, and live video: liveworkplay.ca/2026/10/07/b… Thank you to everyone who came out to represent us! Follow the link above for photos of everyone mentioned below. [Aby Clarke] [Maggie Dimock] [Shayna Grey] [Anna Nelson] [Joshua Gray] [Jared Dykler] [Jen Broad] [Rebecca Coxon] [Mary Gusella] [Daniel Spagnolo] [Kaye Kwok] [Eileen Barak] [Chayne Nerad] [Brigid FitzPatrick] And a shout-out to [Cory Haskins]! #BestPlacesToWork #DisruptHROttawa #Ottawa #WorkplaceCulture #Leadership #LiveWorkPlay

Disability employment is improving. But not for all. October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. LiveWorkPlay is commemorating NDEAM (sometimes known as DEAM in provincial campaigns) by recognizing progress, celebrating employment success, and asking harder questions about who is still being left behind and why. At the end of this post, we share more about the history of NDEAM and the sources for the numbers presented here. In Canada, 77.8% of working-age people without disabilities are employed. For people with disabilities overall, the figure is 61.8%. For people with intellectual disabilities, Inclusion Canada reports the employment rate at only about 25%. Just one in four! That disparity matters. Broad improvements in disability employment do not necessarily mean equitable outcomes for everyone. People with intellectual disabilities continue to face extraordinary and systemic exclusion from the labour market. And too often, the alternatives offered to people with intellectual disabilities are still disability-specific daytime services, unpaid roles, repeated training or assessments, or other pathways that can become permanent substitutes for paid employment. This concern is not only about practice. Ontario retains an archaic provision, rooted in a sheltered-work model established in provincial law and policy more than 65 years ago. The provision excludes people who perform work in a simulated job or working environment for the primary purpose of rehabilitation from the protections of the Employment Standards Act. As a result, people with intellectual disabilities in sheltered work settings can be denied minimum wage and other basic employment protections. The provision remains in force despite Canada’s commitments under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and fundamental human and labour rights principles of equal pay, dignity, and inclusion. Community participation matters. Volunteering can be a wonderful choice. Learning and skill development can be valuable. But none of these should replace paid employment for someone who wants to work. At LiveWorkPlay, we also know something very different is possible. Every day, we see people with intellectual disabilities and autistic persons contributing as valued employees and coworkers. We see employers removing barriers, reconsidering conventional recruitment practices, building inclusive workplaces, and discovering talent they might otherwise have overlooked. Those successes deserve recognition. They should also make us ask why they are still out of reach for so many people. Throughout October, we'll share some of what we have learned from employees, employers, families, and decades of supporting people to pursue authentic paid employment and careers. We'll celebrate what is working. And we'll keep asking what needs to change. Awareness can help, but employment is what matters. Alongside efforts to change attitudes, systemic reforms are still needed to remove barriers and advance inclusion. About the numbers: Statistics Canada reports employment rates of 77.8% for Canadians without disabilities and 61.8% for Canadians with disabilities, ages 25–64, in 2022. Inclusion Canada reports that approximately 1 in 4 working-age people with an intellectual disability are employed. These are not identical statistical measures, and Canadian data specific to intellectual disability remain limited. “Employed” also does not necessarily mean full-time, sustained employment or adequate earnings. We use these figures to illustrate the scale of the disparity rather than suggest a precision the available data cannot support. #NDEAM #DisabilityEmployment #InclusiveEmployment #DEAM

2026 Family Forum Saturday, November 14 | Bayview Yards 7 Bayview Station Rd, Ottawa, ON K1Y 2C5 For caregivers and family members of individuals living with developmental disabilities in the Ottawa Area. REGISTER: odsntraining.com/event-detai… Get to know service organizations and find out the latest on programs and support initiatives related to housing, community participation, respite, and employment. We will also have representatives from Developmental Services Ontario, ODSP, and Passport Program to provide up-to-date information on how to apply and navigate these services.

Jen Broad and Anna Nelson (pictured holding the award) were thrilled to attend the @FoodPSCanada Parliamentary Reception last night, where LiveWorkPlay was presented with a Special Recognition Award for Workforce & Skills Development. "To acknowledge your outstanding commitment and partnership to the advancement of workforce and skills development in Canada's Food and Beverage Economy." The evening brought together more than 140 leaders from government, industry, and partner organizations from across the country to discuss labour market priorities and the workforce needed for Canada's food future. We were honoured to hear remarks from the Honourable Rebecca Chartrand Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs, and the Honourable Lena Metlege Diab,QC Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. We are grateful to Jennefer Griffith, Mike Timani, and Deanna Zenger of Food Processing Skills Canada for their ongoing partnership and commitment to strengthening Canada's workforce. We are proud to work alongside organizations that are helping build a stronger, more inclusive workforce and look forward to continuing our partnership to support the food and beverage industry while connecting qualified candidates with opportunities in this growing sector.

Continuing from the June meeting of just over three months ago, the LiveWorkPlay team met yesterday for an all-staff gathering at Bayview Yards. Julie led off the day with a reminder of the consensus themes to move forward: People first: full citizenship and strengths-based Relationships matter: trust and community connection Courageous innovation: advocacy, dignity of risk, challenge convention Values in action: mission, inclusion, advocacy, justice Supportive team: collaboration, transparency, wisdom from all Learning and growth: curiosity, thought leadership, improvement The employment team led a presentation about different network opportunities to support additional employers and employment opportunities, followed by a discussion about upcoming AI policy, and also a discussion about opportunities or areas for expansion of services. We always look to support local businesses for our lunch choices, and we went with the legendary Louis Pizza! When they asked who the lunch was for and found out it was LiveWorkPlay, they made us an extra pizza shaped like a heart! ❤️

Following an incredible start to the Community Living Ontario Annual Conference 2026 with a panel by the Council for Community Living Ontario (30th year!) and an energizing keynote by Maayan Ziv (entrepreneur, photographer, leader) we were a bit nervous leading off the start of the breakout sessions, but together with Robin Meyers from TCE Total Communication Environment the LiveWorkPlay team of Keenan, Grace, and Julie left the session feeling thrilled with the questions and interaction with the audience. Even with this many people and using microphones, the conversation felt very intimate and very real, which is just what you want when you are talking about learning that is focused on how to support people to live an included life in the community. Special thanks to Kelsey Macena for taking photos! And an extra special thanks to the many staff teams at TCE and the people they support for the stories we were able to share today. Without a doubt, the highlight was the closing activity of audience members sharing their personal and organization plans for what they took from the presentation that they will bring back with them. They were all exciting, inspiring, and aspirational responses, but what they had in common was a desire to think of how staff can be supported in the rights ways so that they in turn can support opportunities for learning and growth with the individuals who put their trust in them on a daily basis.

For the Project SEARCH Ottawa interns, this is much more than the beginning of another school year. It is an opportunity to learn and contribute in a professional environment, develop authentic workplace skills, and prepare for the transition from school to employment. Project SEARCH Ottawa officially began on Tuesday, September 1. Like anyone starting in a large and unfamiliar workplace, the interns arrived with a mixture of excitement, curiosity and some first-day nerves. By the end of the week, they had settled into new routines and were already becoming more comfortable at The Ottawa Hospital’s Civic Campus. During their first week, the interns completed corporate onboarding, learned about workplace safety and infection control, managed their daily commutes and began finding their way through the hospital’s large and complex campus, a challenge for any newcomer. They also met hospital staff and started exploring the internship opportunities available throughout the Civic Campus. The interns have quickly developed positive working relationships with one another, supporting and encouraging their colleagues as they learn together. They have also received a warm welcome from hospital staff, who are helping them become part of the workplace community. After many months of training and planning by Project SEARCH, LiveWorkPlay, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, and The Ottawa Hospital, the first week provided an encouraging beginning. With their hospital identification badges in hand and important foundational learning completed, the Project SEARCH Ottawa interns are ready for week two! Pictured: Kacey (OCDSB), Ethan, David, Angie, Sarah, Cole (Interns), Joshua (LiveWorkPlay), Darcelle (OCDSB). Not pictured: Riyaana, Venice, and Adom (Interns). --- Project SEARCH is an intensive, one-year transition program for students with an intellectual or developmental disability who have completed their high school experience and are ready to move into the workforce. The program gives students an opportunity to intern at The Ottawa Hospital at the Civic Campus, where they learn what it takes to thrive in a competitive work environment through a mix of instruction and hands-on application. The program offers: - Classroom sessions led by an OCDSB teacher. - Hands-on skill training from LiveWorkPlay Skills Trainer - Real-world mentorship provided by hospital staff.

liveworkplay.ca/2026/08/25/b… Apologies for multiple shares of what might appear to be the same news, but Ottawa Business Journal has publicly released additional content and features from Best Places to Work 2026, including their beautiful print magazine, which you can pick up at different stands around the city, but also view online. it's #LabourDay after all, and issues facing nonprofit employees and employers are serious. And when there are labour issues in the nonprofit world, it means individuals and communities are being hurt from lack of services or inadequate delivery throughout the human services sector (learn more from Ontario Nonprofit Network theonn.ca/topics/policy-agen… At LiveWorkPlay we are really pleased to have this validation of our own workplace strategy, but there's still much more to do. Through this process (you can learn more from the link) we learned about a small selection of opportunities for improvements in our control, and we're already working on those. But most of the issues are external - government/funder policies, systems barriers and inefficiencies, and attitudes and beliefs of organizations and individual citizens that are unhelpful or harmful to our mission of inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities and autistic persons. It's a huge responsibility to be a part of the solution to those problems, but it's also about continuing our relentless search for opportunities. it's a learning curve but we're excited about what we can learn from our colleagues around the globe from The BUSY Group and right here in our home country with the building of The BUSY Group Canada. Happy Labour Day, and more to come! #LabourDay

Frances and Martin are taking advantage of every minute of summer weather, including the new @NCC_CCN swimming dock at the Canadian Museum of History.

Today the Ottawa Business Journal (OBJ) @obj_news announced that LiveWorkPlay has been named a recipient of the Best Places to Work for 2026! This is the first year LiveWorkPlay has participated in the program, and we are honoured to be in the company of such an amazing group of recipients. Of the 20 recipients, LiveWorkPlay was ranked #2 overall and #2 in the 15-49 employees category. Get the full story including all the links at liveworkplay.ca/2026/08/25/b… “I joined the board as a rookie member in 2017, when the design of our new strategic pillar Building A Leaderful Organization was in the early stages of implementation” recalls current board chair Daniel Spagnolo. “Participation in the Best Places to Work program has helped us understand the degree to which these investments have impacted so positively on our staff and the quality of our workplace. In human services, the quality of your work always comes down to the quality of the humans who are on the ground making it happen. We’ve got an amazing team and it is very rewarding to know that they feel respected and valued at LiveWorkPlay, and to see this validated by objective analysis and comparative data.

ottawacitizen.remembering.ca… We are terribly sad to be sharing the news of the passing of Alex Wexler, a cherished member of the LiveWorkPlay community for 30 years, she attended countless events with daughter Rachel and husband Charles. Our heartfelt condolences to the entire family, please see the attached for details of how to celebrate her life. We will have more to say in remembrance of Alex in the days ahead.

Coop has been a member of LiveWorkPlay since 1997! A brilliant hire by @Ottawa67sHockey great share @OHLHockey

Yesterday Heather Jenkins was featured for her incredible gardening skills, and today we have Heather McAdam with her amazing culinary skills! Wondering what is on the menu? Here is some of what you are seeing here: • Kung Pao Shrimp • Parmesan Chicken Bake • Roasted Red Pepper Penne Casserole • Chicken & Shrimp Paella What can we say Heather M, if it tastes anywhere nearly as good as it all looks, it's a cooking grand slam! We aren't sure how LiveWorkPlay Supported Independent Living Specialist Ray Hincke was able to focus through the delicious aromas to capture these photos, but they did it!

See this Instagram photo instagram.com/p/DayizM8lrxq/…

Yesterday most of the LiveWorkPlay team gathered at Cours Bayview Yards for a day with Paul Miles Managing Director/CEO at The BUSY Group and Eileen Barak Managing Director/CEO at The BUSY Group Canada to talk about the future! This continued into the evening with the LiveWorkPlay Board of Directors. It has only been six weeks since starting this amazing journey with a parent organization and as a part of a global nonprofit network, but we are already starting to think differently about ways to strenghten our short, medium, and long term impact for our own community and beyond!

Thank you, Maytree. Incredibly important. The report: maytree.com/publications/fro… "From screening out to welcoming in: Promoting access to federal disability benefits" We think back to discussions about the Registered Disability Savings Plan, and so clearly remember advocates and organizations (including LiveWorkPlay) saying: "Don't use the Disability Tax Credit as the gatekeeper." In short, it would exclude people already eligible for provincial disability supports, creating a barrier that would make those who stood to benefit most from the RDSP the least likely to access it. And that is exactly what happened. This is especially problematic because the RDSP includes the Canada Disability Savings Bond, which provides government contributions for people with little or no savings. Those are often the very people least able to overcome another administrative hurdle to access a benefit designed specifically for them. From what we see locally, people most likely to access the RDSP are often those least desperate to have it: individuals and families with strong support networks and access to financial advisors, medical professionals willing or paid extra to help, estate planners, lawyers, or knowledgeable service agencies. Meanwhile, people who need it most (isolated, with few resources) are less likely to end up with an RDSP, even though many have already navigated complex provincial disability systems like the Ontario Disability Support Program, often with support from schools and other services during the transition from high school. It's hard to escape the conclusion that ODSP recipients should automatically qualify for the RDSP and the Canada Disability Benefit. If someone has already been found eligible for long-term disability income support through ODSP, requiring a second disability determination through the DTC creates an unnecessary administrative barrier. The purpose of the CDB is income support, not tax administration. This recommendation stands out: "Grant automatic federal qualification to anyone already receiving provincial/territorial disability benefits." There should still be pathways for people who don't receive provincial disability benefits but qualify federally. But adopting this recommendation alone would reduce duplication, improve access, and free up resources. Governments have repeatedly identified low RDSP uptake and responded with awareness campaigns encouraging people to apply. Those efforts are worthwhile, but they can only go so far when people who already qualify for provincial disability supports cannot get through the DTC gate. If we really want more people to benefit from programs like the RDSP and the Canada Disability Benefit, we need to remove unnecessary barriers, not just get better at promoting programs that many people still can't access. The barriers (not just "awareness") are the problem. The data proves it. This report has most, if not all, of the answers. Please share!

This video from 2009 came up in our Facebook memories. The recording was a tad distorted and the audio is rough, but we've restored it, added captions, and are sharing it today, as it is a wonderful memory of a tradition that later became the My Own Home bursary, but it started out as The On My Own Recognition Award (TOMORA). This video includes Maxwell (Max) Meehan as one of the recipients. Max later moved to Windsor where he passed away in 2021. We cherish this video memory of Max as you can clearly see how delighted he is to be receiving this award, but more than that, he is so happy for everyone else, high-fiving and smiling and congratulating them, and interacting with the audience. We recently changed the name of the award to the Terri Hill My Own Home bursary in honour of another cherished member of our community who passed away, but we have not forgotten Max and his wonerful kind spirit. Check out this year's ceremony here: liveworkplay.ca/2026/04/17/s…

youtube.com/watch?v=-Q-5NmTT… If you haven't yet heard the big news!!!