Diversity Disconnect

Employers across Canada report serious challenges with hiring and maintaining workers. This is especially true in rural communities. Yet the unemployment rates for underrepresented groups —such as Indigenous Peoples and persons with disabling conditions — remain high. To investigate the factors helping and hindering the employment success of such groups, Free Rein Associates partnered with Life Strategies Ltd. for an exciting research project: Diversity Disconnect.

We conducted this research in the five rural communities of Agassiz, Hope, Ashcroft, Merritt, and Princeton. We spoke with job seekers, employees, employers, and community service providers.