Vocational Development Program

Eligibility

  • Must be 18 years of age and eligible for Community Living Disability Services funding
    and/or youth who are transitioning into employment from high school;
  • Be legally entitled to work in Canada;
  • Identified a desire to explore the world of work in the community as opposed to participation in traditional day programs;
  • Be motivated and ready to work full or part-time, casual or seasonal.

Mission and goals

Career Connections’ Vocational Development Program is dedicated to finding sustainable employment for persons with disabilities. The Vocational Development Program’s mission is to deliver, in a systematic manner, comprehensive vocational training services to persons with intellectual disabilities. These will include vocational evaluation through PAES® as well as on-site job evaluation and vocational rehabilitation planning directed in response to the needs, abilities ,and choices of each person.

Employment is one of the important facets of community members’ lives. Employment satisfies the need for self-sufficiency, in meeting an individual’s basic needs, without being dependent on others. Employment provides self-esteem, as all members of the society find their identity and self-worth incorporated into their employment or career. The relationships that develop in a workplace are unique — spending 40 hours per week over many years with individuals can lead to lasting friendships, or a reliance on support in areas of one’s life outside of the workplace.

It is our “work” which gives us our reason for being, our shape and identity. We “organize our mind and body and through our minds and body we organize our occupation: we become what we do — occupational identity.” (Kielhofner, G. 2008. Model of Human Occupation Theory and Application. 4th Ed. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.) The benefits of work are as important for the person with a disability as they are for a person who does not live with a disability.

More information

To learn more about the Vocational Development Program, please contact the Vocational Development Program Coordinator to arrange a tour. Call 204-728-1228.

PAES® is a product and registered trademark of Talent Assessment, Inc. 

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