Employment Standard Development Committee
The Employment Standard Development Committee helped the Accessibility Advisory Board make recommendations to the Minister of Justice on a proposed standard for preventing and removing barriers to accessibility in employment.
Recommendations to the Minister of Justice
An important part of our goal of creating an accessible Nova Scotia by 2030 is the development of accessibility standards. The employment accessibility standard is intended to prevent and remove barriers to accessibility in employment. The employment standard will help make sure that persons with disabilities have equitable access to employment and help them find, maintain and advance in meaningful employment.
The Accessibility Advisory Board established a committee of persons with disabilities and other experts to develop recommendations on an accessibility standard for employment. The Accessibility Advisory Board submitted the recommendations to the Minister of Justice.
These recommendations are being used to prepare Nova Scotia’s accessibility standard for employment.
- Full recommendations (PDF 377KB)
- Recommendations summary (PDF 131KB)
- Recommendations summary – plain language (PDF 148KB)
- Recommendations – American Sign Language (ASL) video
About the committee
The majority of committee members identify as having a disability. Committee members include:
- persons with disabilities
- representatives from organizations that provide services to persons with disabilities
- representatives from sectors impacted by the standards, like the human resources and business sectors
- representatives from the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration, the Department of Community Services and the Public Service Commission
Committee members
Charlie MacDonald, Chair – Retired Nova Scotia Public Servant and former Executive Director NS Disabled Persons Commission, Halifax
Alice Evans, Vice-Chair – Executive Director, Prescott Group, Halifax
Nick Beynon – CEO, Chartered Professionals in Human Resources Nova Scotia, Halifax
Carla Bezanson – Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant, Nova Scotia Public Service Commission, Halifax
Cynthia Carroll – Executive Director, Autism Nova Scotia
Marcilyn Cianfarani – Disability Advocate/Disaster and Emergency Management Specialist, Cleveland
Brittany Davidson – Manager, Employment Support Services, Department of Community Services, Enfield
Emily Duffett – Coordinator, Work Integrated Learning, Accessible Learning Services, Acadia University, Port Williams
Pele Gallant – Coordinator of Service Development, Summer Street, Trenton
Ryan Gannon – Employment Program Facilitator, reachAbility Association, Halifax
Melissa Myers – Accessibility Advisor, Halifax Regional Municipality, Head of Jeddore
Steve Noel – Employment Advisor, Fred Smithers Centre of Support for Students with Disabilities, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax
Jeff Overmars – Communications Advisor, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, Dartmouth
Tyler Roy – NSCC Business Administration graduate, Liverpool
Gordie Snook – General Manager, Facilities and Operations, Town of Port Hawkesbury, Port Hawksbury
Hannah Stegen – Co-Founder, CultureAlly, Dartmouth
Jennifer Thorne – Corporate Strategist, Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration
Jennifer Wagg – Manager, Strategic Initiatives, Employment Nova Scotia
Leslie Yorke – Student Advisor, NSCC, Marconi Campus
Contact
Phone: 902-424-8280
Toll-free (within Nova Scotia): 1-800-565-8280
TTY: 902-424-2667
TTY toll-free (within Nova Scotia): 1-877-996-9954
accessibility@novascotia.ca
Related legislation
Related information
- Access by Design 2030
- Accessibility Act review
- Accessibility Act Compliance
- Accessibility Advisory Board
- Accessibility in Nova Scotia
- Accessibility resources
- Government of Nova Scotia Accessibility Plan
- Nova Scotia Post-Secondary Accessibility Framework (PDF)
- Nova Scotia Public Libraries Joint Accessibility Framework (PDF)
- Small Business ACCESS-Ability Grant Program
- What We Heard: Accessibility in Nova Scotia