Student AffairsIn addition to our full suite of programs and services, we help students with disabilities to manage decisions affecting your work and further education in an integrated manner.
Got general career questions or wondering about something specific related to your disability and your future career? Want to strategize about disclosure or requesting accommodations? We can help!
- Ask an advisor at our Drop-in Career Advising Hours, Mondays to Thursdays, 12:00-2:00. (Summer hours are Tues, Wed, Thurs, 12:00-2:00 pm.) No appointment required. You can also book 1-1 career counselling appointments or resume/cover letter review appointments through MyCareer. Appointments are 30 minutes in length and are held during a variety of times, weekdays
- Career Services would be pleased to assist you with any accommodations or alternate formats needed during a visit to our centre. Please contact us at 613-533-2992 or mycareer@queensu.ca. To help you assess what accommodations might be needed, we have described accommodations already available in our centre
Common Career Issues for Students with Disabilities
In addition to general issues related to further education and work, students with disabilities may wonder about:
- How to find employers committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce
- Identifying employers specifically interested in recruiting students with disabilities
- Whether or not to apply under special access categories
- When or if to request accommodations during the hiring process or upon offer of employment
- When or if to disclose a disability and options for doing this
“Disability-friendly” Employers
Specialisterne was an employer at the 2017 Career Fair. They are seeking candidates who identify as someone on the autism spectrum, or with a similar neurodiverse condition (including ADHD/ADD, PDD-NOS, Anxiety Disorders, OCD or with similar barriers to employment).
The Discover Ability Network is a job search website built to allow employers to reach employees from equity seeking in a confidential manner. Job Seekers can confidentially identify themselves to the system, which will then notify them of matched job postings from employers. Use this platform to increase your access to equity employers today.
Of course, every organization, whether government, private or public sector, is a possible employer for students with disabilities. Employers in Canada cannot legally discriminate against persons with disabilities and are therefore all potentially “disability friendly”. However, organizations in Canada that are federally regulated (i.e. fall under federal legislation), tend to be actively working to increase the representation of people with disabilities in their organizations, so that it more closely matches the level found in the broader population. Organizations in the following sectors may be federally regulated and therefore “disability friendly”—in that they might have more experience hiring and accommodating people with disabilities:
- banks
- marine shipping, ferry and port services
- air transportation, including airports, aerodromes and airlines
- railway and road transportation that involves crossing provincial or international borders
- canals, pipelines, tunnels and bridges (crossing provincial borders)
- telephone, telegraph and cable companies
- radio and television broadcasting
- grain elevators, feed and seed mills
- uranium mining and processing
- businesses dealing with the protection of fisheries as a natural resource
- many First Nation activities
- most federal Crown corporations
- private businesses necessary to the operation of a federal act
In addition, federal, provincial, and municipal governments may also be more “disability friendly” employers as they have been tasked with leading the way with ensuring that recruiting, hiring and retention practices are inclusive for people with disabilities in Canada.