What are IL Centres?

Independent Living Centres are places where people with disabilities connect, explore possibilities and find support to live on their own terms. Rooted in lived experience, Centres recognize that each person is the expert in their own life. They create opportunities to make informed choices, develop skills, take risks and learn from experience—with support from people who understand the journey.

Centres are also places of belonging. They are community spaces where people share information, build friendships, express their creativity and enjoy time together. Whether someone comes with a specific question, a personal goal or a desire to connect, they can find a welcoming environment grounded in dignity, respect and the Independent Living Philosophy. Although our Member Centres have different names, this shared purpose connects them all.

Together, these Centres form the membership of Independent Living Canada. Each is a nonprofit, community-based organization governed by people with disabilities. Member Centres participate in accreditation and regular assessment to ensure their work reflects the Independent Living Philosophy and our four core pillars of service. Through their local relationships, programs and resources, they put these shared commitments into practice every day.

The diversity of our network is one of its greatest strengths. Each Member Centre is an autonomous organization, shaped by the people and communities it serves. Centres develop programs, pursue funding and respond to local priorities with direction from the people who use their services. Their work may look different from one community to another, but all share a commitment to choice, control, inclusion and self-determination.

The following principles guide that commitment:

Consumer Control

People with disabilities have the right to direct their own lives—to explore options, make decisions, take risks, make mistakes and take responsibility for their choices. Consumer control means that people with disabilities lead the decisions that affect them, both individually and within the organizations that support them.

At least 51% of each Member Centre's Board of Directors must be people with disabilities, ensuring that lived experience guides governance and organizational direction. This is the foundation of our commitment to work by and for people with disabilities.

Cross-Disability

The Independent Living Philosophy embraces people across disabilities, recognizing that experiences, barriers and support needs differ. The right to choice, control and participation belongs to everyone, including people with visible, invisible, episodic or multiple disabilities.

Member Centres take a cross-disability approach across their programs and services. This means responding to diverse needs while respecting each person's goals, preferences and ways of participating.

Community-Based

Meaningful support begins with listening to the people who live in a community. Member Centres involve people with disabilities in identifying priorities and shaping how programs are developed, delivered and evaluated.

Centres work to address locally identified gaps and unmet needs, building on community strengths and relationships. They aim to complement existing services rather than duplicate them, including by helping make those services more accessible and responsive to people with disabilities.

Full Participation and Inclusion

Independent Living means having choice and control over how we participate in community life, including the support we use. It means opportunities to learn, work, create, connect and contribute, with our rights, dignity and decisions respected.

Member Centres support this vision through four interconnected core pillars of service:

1. Peer Support

2. Information and Networking

3. Independent Living Skills Development

4. Research and Community Development

Together, these pillars connect individual goals with shared learning and community action, supporting people with disabilities to shape their own lives and the communities to which they belong.