For Immediate Release
December 3, 2024
TORONTO, ON – Inclusion Canada expresses it heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to The Slaight Family Foundation for their extraordinary $30 million commitment to advancing disability inclusion across Canada. We are especially honoured by the $1 million contribution to Inclusion Canada to advance our work on inclusive housing for people with intellectual disabilities.
This funding announcement today comes on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Inclusion Canada is very pleased to be part of this historic $30 million from The Slaight Family Foundation which will fund a unique cross-country partnership with 11 national and regional disability organizations.
“The impact of disability exclusion is significant, not just on people with disabilities and their families, but on our culture and economy as well,” says Gary Slaight, President and CEO of The Slaight Family Foundation. “Connecting and expanding programs and innovations from organizations dedicated to disability care and awareness will create an umbrella of support across Canada, while dismantling stigma and creating a more inclusive society for us all.”
The partnership of 11 disability organizations will be led by Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation and the Rick Hansen Foundation. Together we will work to advance inclusion and belonging for people with disabilities in Canada and raise awareness around important issues facing people with disabilities and their families.
“We are so fortunate to have this incredible gift from The Slaight Family Foundation to advance our work on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities and their families,” said Krista Carr, CEO of Inclusion Canada. “At a time when Canada is facing a housing crisis, we must ensure that solutions do not leave people with disabilities behind. This project will equip those developing housing for diverse populations with the capacity to create homes that enable choice, freedom, safety, and inclusion in community. When we design housing to include the most marginalized, we create communities that advance inclusion and belonging for everyone,” said Carr.
People with intellectual disabilities have a long history of institutionalization and being denied their right to choose where and with whom they live. Inclusion Canada is working to transform housing and support from congregate settings to inclusive, dispersed housing in community. This $1 million funding contribution over five-years will enable Inclusion Canada to develop and implement a new inclusive housing assessment tool that will allow developers to develop housing and funders to fund housing that advances Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – the right to live in community.
Inclusion Canada will work with developers, people with disabilities, families, and community agencies to develop and test the assessment tool, provide technical support and training to the housing sector, support the socially inclusive design of new housing development, and transform congregate housing models to create inclusive, accessible, affordable housing in communities across Canada.
Moira Wilson, President of Inclusion Canada, added: “Every person with an intellectual disability deserves the opportunity to have a home of their own in their community—not in segregated institutions or congregated settings. For people with intellectual disabilities, the right to choose where and with whom they live have too often been denied. The Slaight Family Foundation’s unwavering commitment to inclusion is a powerful endorsement of this right. We are thrilled to take the next step in transforming housing systems to be truly inclusive and creating lasting change for people with intellectual disabilities and their families.”
Inclusion Canada remains committed to building a Canada where everyone belongs, and this transformational gift from The Slaight Family Foundation will bring us closer to making that vision a reality.
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Marc Muschler
Senior Communications Officer
416-661-9611 ext. 232
mmuschler@inclusioncanada.ca
About Inclusion Canada
Inclusion Canada is the national federation of 13 provincial/territorial member organizations and over 300 local associations working to advance the full inclusion and human rights of people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Inclusion Canada drives social change by strengthening families, defending rights, and transforming communities into places where everyone belongs.
About The Slaight Family Foundation
The Slaight Family Foundation was established in 2008 by John Allan Slaight. Allan Slaight (1931-2021), known as Canada’s broadcast pioneer, was a leader in the music industry and a prominent Canadian philanthropist. Through his generosity, the Foundation proactively supports charitable initiatives in the areas of healthcare, at-risk youth, international development, social services and culture. Allan’s son, Gary Slaight, oversees the foundation as President & CEO, The Slaight Family Foundation.
Since 2013, The Slaight Family Foundation has funded several strategic initiatives to multiple organizations. These initiatives started with gifts to five Toronto hospitals to support priority healthcare issues, followed by programs to address global humanitarianism, the healthy development of children and youth across Canada, support for Indigenous issues, a seniors’ initiative to help keep seniors in their homes, mental health challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, women and girls at risk globally and in Canada, the theatre industry’s recovery from pandemic closures, a youth mental health initiative and support for dementia prevention and care.
