• According to The Conference Board of Canada, "tangible returns to organizations that have broadly inclusive workplace cultures range from improved productivity, quality and morale to lower turnover and an enhanced reputation as an employer of choice."
  
  
• There were almost 300,000 working age persons with disabilities in British Columbia in 2001. By including these individuals in your search for new employees, you access a wider skill base and one of Canada's largest untapped pools of talent.
  
  
• According to WorkAble Solutions, 86% if persons with disabilities rated average or better on attendance and 90% of persons with disabilities rated average or better on job performance than their non-disabled colleagues.
  
  

It Works for Your Customers

• Promoting an inclusive workplace more accurately reflects your customer base. Customers come from every walk of life, so it makes sense that your staff should too.
  
  

It Works for Your Staff

• Research shows that, overall, there's a definite rise in staff morale when people with disabilities are integrated into a workplace. Fostering a workplace where diversity and inclusiveness are encouraged creates a positive environment for all employees.

It Works for Building Communities

• Hiring persons with a disabilities promotes healthy, stronger and more inclusive communities. Disability management and return-to-work programs are proactive, cost-effective measures that help individuals participate in the economy and achieve their full employment potential.
  
  

It Works for Your Bottom Line

• Staff retention of people with disabilities is 72% higher, saving millions of dollars each year in recruitment and training costs (research shows that the cost of replacing employees is 70%-200% of their salaries).
  
  
• Persons with disabilities represent $25 billion in spending power in Canada.
  
  
• The cost of many workplace accomodations is minimal.
  
  
• When Carolina Fine Snacks in North Carolina hired people with disabilities, employee turnover dropped from 80% every six months to less than 5%; productivity rose from 70% to 95%; absenteeism dropped from 20% to less than 5%; and tardiness dropped from 30% of staff to zero." (Centre for Association Leadership, Patricia Digh, 2001, and Fortune magazine.
  
  

The above information was compiled from WorkAble Solutions: An Initiative of the Minister's Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities.

To find out more about hiring and accommodating persons with disabilities, you can also access the Canadian Human Rights Commission's online guide to employment accommodation for people with disabilities.