Innovation Lab
Why Do We Need Innovation?
Despite the great strides made to diversify the nation’s workforce in recent years, many barriers remain. Roughly half of Canadians who experience disability are still unemployed or underemployed. Employers across the country urgently require the skills, education, and motivation of this untapped talent pool, but often do not have access to the tools and resources that can make this happen. Innovation is needed to remove the remaining barriers and take us the last mile.
There's a way to do it better -
Find it.
What is an Innovation Lab?
An Innovation Lab is a specialized team within an organization that openly collaborates with stakeholders to address systemic challenges.
CASE’s Innovation Lab was created in 2021 to support, promote, and share learnings from synergetic collaborations with partners across the country; to remove barriers to employment faced by people experiencing disability.
With a grant through the federal government’s Sectoral Initiatives Program (SIP) to support up to 27 projects between now and the fall of 2024, CASE plans to research, select, test, analyse, and grow transformative solutions that facilitate the sustained and valued contributions persons experiencing disability make to the Canadian economy.
Our Partners
Check out the Innovation Lab’s current projects and partners that are piloting transformative solutions that promote full labour market participation for Canadians experiencing disability:
Interested in Becoming an Innovation Lab Partner?
CASE Innovation Lab is pleased to announce the second call for porposals for transformative supported employment project ideas. Focus for funding include:
- Enhanced employment opportunities/participation
- Transformative technologies
- New trends in employment supports
- Public education and awareness
- Engaged underserved / equity-deserving populations
- Raised profile of supported employment services
The deadline for applications is May 26, 2023 at 5:00PM (Eastern Time).
Click below for more details:
CASE ‘Nature of Innovation’ Course
(Modules 1, 2 & 3)
This course is designed to deepen one’s understanding of the economic and social value of innovation in relation to advancing the inclusion of persons who experience disability within the Canadian workforce.
Module one: focuses on defining innovation within the field of supported employment, identifying different types of innovation and the associative levels of risk, and exploring the role of Theory of Change in developing innovative products, services or systems.
Module two: highlights the key characteristics of innovative cultures and organizations, explores the value of collaborators and partners, and identifies benefits and considerations around innovation in creating a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Module three: is designed to support organizations that wish to apply for Innovation Lab funding. Participants will receive early access to the Innovation Lab Funding Application (ILFA), along with tips and strategies for completing each section.
Participants will have an opportunity to directly apply the theories and information reviewed in modules one and two while completing their application.
Sign up now by contacting learn@supportedemployment.ca and inquiring about the “Nature of Innovation” course.
Contact Us!
To learn more or ask any questions about the CASE Innovation Lab, please reach out to one of our team members:
Joy McKinnon
Coordinator – Innovation Lab
1-800-684-5628 ext. 709
innovate@supportedemployment.ca
Shannon Johnson
Coordinator - Innovation Lab
1-800-684-5628 ext. 708
innovate@supportedemployment.ca
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