Our Work

IL Canada's work extends across a national network of projects, partnerships, research, advocacy and community initiatives. Together, these efforts bring the Independent Living Philosophy to life—advancing choice, dignity, self-determination and meaningful participation for people with disabilities across Canada.

At any given time, IL Canada is contributing to multiple areas of work: strengthening community supports, informing accessibility research and standards, advancing youth leadership, amplifying disability voices and addressing barriers in everyday life. Some initiatives are led directly by IL Canada; others grow through collaboration with our Member Centres, disability organizations, universities, government and community partners.

Connecting this work is a shared conviction: people with disabilities are the experts in their own lives. Their knowledge and leadership must shape the policies, technologies, services and environments that affect them. IL Canada brings that perspective to every collaboration, connecting local experience with national opportunities for change.

The projects and partnerships below offer a window into the breadth of this ongoing work. From focused community initiatives to collaborations spanning several years, each contributes to a stronger Independent Living Movement and a Canada where people with disabilities can live on their own terms.

Accessible Media Inc. (AMI)

Website: www.ami.ca

IL Canada's partnership with Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) brings together a shared commitment to accessibility, authentic disability-led storytelling and meaningful community engagement. Through an initial year-long collaboration, the organizations are working to amplify diverse voices, promote content created by and for the disability community, and build connections through workshops, conversations and national outreach.

A key part of this partnership is encouraging participation in AMI's Research Panel, where people with disabilities share their perspectives on accessible technology, television programming and media experiences. Through surveys and conversations, participants help inform the future of accessible media, placing lived experience at the centre of that work.

By connecting IL Canada's national community network with AMI's expertise in accessible media, the partnership creates opportunities for people with disabilities to share their stories, contribute their knowledge and see their experiences reflected more fully. Together, IL Canada and AMI aim to strengthen representation, expand access to information and support a more inclusive media landscape across Canada.

ASEQ-EHAQ — Environmental Health Association of Québec

Website: aseq-ehaq.ca/en

IL Canada's partnership with the Environmental Health Association of Québec (ASEQ-EHAQ) supports greater awareness, accessibility and inclusion for people living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). The collaboration brings an Independent Living perspective to environmental accessibility, reinforcing the importance of addressing barriers that can prevent people from accessing services, public spaces and community life.

IL Canada supported outreach for Resilience: An International Conference on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, helping bring greater visibility to the event and its resources. National Executive Director Freda Uwa also participated in the conference's civil society panel, joining disability, environmental health and community leaders to discuss more inclusive policies and practices for people with MCS.

This partnership connects ASEQ-EHAQ's expertise in environmental health with IL Canada's commitment to choice, dignity and full participation. It helps broaden the conversation about accessibility to include environmental barriers and the experiences of people whose access needs are too often overlooked.

Canadian Accessibility Network (CAN)

Website: www.can-rca.ca

IL Canada's partnership with the Canadian Accessibility Network (CAN) connects the Independent Living movement with a national community of organizations working to advance accessibility. As a CAN collaborator, IL Canada brings a disability-led, community-based perspective to a network spanning education, government, business and the non-profit sector.

National Executive Director Freda Uwa serves as a co-lead of CAN's Education and Training Community of Practice, which works to address stigma, negative attitudes and gaps in accessibility knowledge. Its current priorities include developing guidance on meaningfully engaging people with disabilities and helping organizations recognize and address ableism in their policies and practices.

Through this collaboration, IL Canada helps connect community experience with broader learning and accessibility efforts. The relationship reinforces a central principle of Independent Living: people with disabilities must help shape the decisions, services and environments that affect their lives.

DAWN Canada

Website: dawncanada.net

IL Canada and DAWN Canada share a longstanding partnership rooted in disability rights, accessibility and equity. Combining IL Canada's national Member Centre network with DAWN Canada's expertise in the experiences of women and gender-diverse people with disabilities, their collaboration strengthens inclusive leadership and community supports. Through shared learning on intersectionality and Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus), alongside the Scaling Resilience and Change partnership, they work to address barriers, amplify lived experience and advance meaningful participation in communities across Canada.

A key part of IL Canada's partnership with DAWN Canada is Scaling Resilience and Change, a national project that expands accessible peer support for women and 2SLGBTQI+ people with disabilities who have experienced gender-based violence. Funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada, the project builds on a promising peer support model, develops training for peer mentors and supports partner organizations to bring this approach into more communities.

Through collaboration across the Independent Living network, the project brings a disability perspective to responses to gender-based violence and supports peer connections led by and for women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities. It centres lived experience and recognizes the overlapping barriers faced by survivors, including those who are Black, Indigenous, racialized, francophone or Deaf.

For IL Canada and participating Member Centres, this work connects the Independent Living philosophy of choice, control and peer support with DAWN Canada's expertise in gender equity and disability rights. Together, they aim to strengthen community capacity, expand access to meaningful support and ensure that survivors with disabilities help shape the responses intended to serve them.

Food Banks Canada

Website: foodbankscanada.ca

IL Canada supports Food Banks Canada as a recruitment partner for its Menstrual Equity Fund project, funded by the federal government through Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE). This initiative addresses period poverty—the inability to afford or access menstrual products and related resources.

IL Canada's role is to help recruit Independent Living Centres to support menstrual product distribution in their communities. This connection offers an opportunity to reach people with disabilities through established community networks and help address barriers to essential products.

Although there is no signed partnership agreement, this collaboration reflects the importance of equitable access, dignity and community-based support.

L'Arche Canada

Website: larche.ca

IL Canada's partnership with L'Arche Canada reflects a shared commitment to dignity, belonging and the full participation of people with disabilities. It connects IL Canada's disability-led Independent Living perspective with L'Arche Canada's experience in building communities that include and value people with intellectual disabilities. L'Arche Canada has recognized this relationship within its work to strengthen inclusion and social justice through strategic partnerships.

Both organizations also participate in broader collaborative initiatives, including Partnerships for Financial Inclusion, led by OCAD University's Inclusive Design Research Centre. This initiative brings community organizations and financial institutions together to address barriers to accessible and equitable financial services.

The relationship reinforces the importance of a disability movement that welcomes diverse voices and experiences. By connecting their perspectives, IL Canada and L'Arche Canada support a vision of communities where people with disabilities can exercise choice, build meaningful relationships and participate as valued members.

Mood Disorders Society of Canada (MDSC)

Website: mdsc.ca

IL Canada's partnership with the Mood Disorders Society of Canada (MDSC) connects Independent Living with access to mental health information and supportive resources. The relationship recognizes the importance of mental well-being within a broader commitment to choice, dignity, self-determination and community participation.

One example is the sharing of MIRA Chatbot 8.0 through IL Canada's Youth Advisory Council resources. This provides an additional information tool for the youth community alongside opportunities for connection, peer support and leadership. MIRA is presented as an informational and supportive resource, rather than a replacement for professional mental health care or crisis services.

The partnership offers a connection between disability-led community engagement and mental health resources, while keeping individual choice at the centre. It reflects IL Canada's recognition that access to information and opportunities to seek support are important parts of living with autonomy and participating fully in community life.

OCAD University

Website: ocadu.ca

Inclusive Design Research Centre: idrc.ocadu.ca

IL Canada's partnership with OCAD University's Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) supports the Cybersecurity Accessibility and Inclusion project, which aims to make digital environments both secure and accessible. The project examines cybersecurity threats and barriers experienced by people with disabilities, Deaf people and other equity-seeking communities, placing lived experience at the centre of developing solutions.

Through community-led co-design, participants recruited through partner organizations explore security challenges, identify barriers and propose practical improvements. This includes experiences with CAPTCHA verification and other digital security checks that can become inaccessible gatekeepers, preventing people from accessing services or requiring them to depend on others. Participants help shape solutions alongside research and input from cybersecurity specialists, technology developers and policymakers.

IL Canada's role includes helping recruit participants from its network, supporting their participation and reviewing emerging project materials. The work will inform guidelines for technology developers, accessible cybersecurity learning resources, and recommendations for policymakers and standards organizations.

By connecting community knowledge with inclusive design expertise, the partnership advances cybersecurity approaches that protect people while respecting diverse access needs, privacy and autonomy. It reinforces a central Independent Living principle: people with disabilities must help shape the systems that affect their lives.

Queen's University

Website: www.queensu.ca

IL Canada works with Queen's University as a community partner on select research initiatives related to accessibility and independence. Collaboration takes place on a case-by-case basis, according to the focus and needs of individual projects.

The relationship creates opportunities to connect academic research with the community knowledge and Independent Living perspective of IL Canada's network. This helps bring attention to the everyday barriers, priorities and experiences of people with disabilities.

Through these selected collaborations, IL Canada supports research grounded in choice, dignity and self-determination, reinforcing the importance of involving people with disabilities in work that may affect their lives.