Creating a pathway to help those living with a disability to enter the workforce.
The provincial government unveiled the new collaborated approach Tuesday through Avenue NB.
Interim president for Avenue NB Charles Levasseur said they were established as a not for profit who will create connections.
“A collaboration between 22 professional agencies that work with persons with disabilities to provide people with training, tools and support and opportunities that they may require to find fulfilling jobs within the New Brunswick labour market,” added Levasseur.
According to statistics, over a quarter of New Brunswickers have a disability, which is the second highest rate in the country.
“This co-operative will provide strategic planning and contract management that will allow us to provide a standard level of service and help more clients,” said Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Trevor Holder. “This revolutionary change will help ensure that more New Brunswickers who are living with a disability have a pathway to enter New Brunswick’s workforce.”
He added, “If we want to address our workforce shortages, we need everyone who wants to participate with a pathway to do so.”
The Chair of the Premier’s Council on Disabilities Randy Dickinson says there are too many with disabilities who are unemployed, and this initiative will help change that.
“The essence of this initiative will be to do job matching, to put the right job in connection with the right person, with the right skills, the right background and the right training to make it a successful enterprise,” mentioned Dickinson. “From my many years of experience as a disability advocate this has the potential to be a game changer, and has the potential to significantly increase the real number of people with disabilities getting real jobs.”
Previously, the government managed more than 20 external service providers across the province. AvenueNB Takes over that role.
Funding for AvenueNB will be reallocated from money currently distributed through the department; those funds are provided by the federal and provincial governments through the Canada-New Brunswick Labour Market Agreements.
