Hiring people with disabilities boosts bottom line, says entrepreneur

Mark Wafer enjoys a coffee at one of seven Tim Horton’s franchises he owns: 17 per cent of his workforce are people with disabilities. Wafer is in Iqaluit Sept. 19 to Sept. 22 to talk to employers, government officials and members of the public about the myths and benefits of inclusive hiring. (PHOTO COURTESY THE CANADIAN HEARING SOCIETY)

Mark Wafer races cars for fun but when he comes to Iqaluit next week, he won’t be drag racing down main street.

Wafer, a well-know speaker and accomplished businessman—he owns seven Tim Horton’s franchises in the Toronto area—is coming to Iqaluit to talk about how local businesses can hire and retain workers by looking to a demographic they might not have previously considered: people with disabilities.

Wafer, 55 and born deaf, employs 46 people with disabilities among his workforce of 250. They have a range of disabilities and work in every department, including management, Wafer told Nunatsiaq News in an email interview.

That comprises 17 per cent of his workforce which reflects roughly the percentage of people in Canada who have a disability: 15 per cent.

“Employers buy into a series of myths and misperceptions—that workers with disabilities will work slower, need more supervision, require expensive accommodations, work less safely and require more sick time, or may even be less innovative,” Wafer said in his email.

“These are all myths and the opposite is actually true.”

At the request of Nunavut Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society, Wafer will be in Iqaluit from Sept. 18 to Sept. 22.

He has a number of activities planned including a Sept. 19 presentation on inclusive hiring at the Astro Theatre, a business round table and individual meetings with Nunavut government officials and local employers.

“There is a clear economic case for real inclusion, real jobs for real pay,” he said in his email.

“People with disabilities work in a more safe manner, they stay longer therefore reducing costly employee turnover, they increase overall employee morale and much more. The business case is clear and it is real.”

Talk around inclusive employment has, in the past, focused on legislative compliance and charity. But the real thing that gets a corporation’s attention is the bottom line, he says. Then they take note.

Wafer says the disability community in Canada is equal in size to the population of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba combined.

“Today in Canada, there are 450,000 recent grads from the past five years with disabilities who have never worked a single day and of those, 270,000 hold a post-secondary education. That’s a massive untapped labour force,” he said.

It’s time to stop paying billions in taxpayers’ dollars to keep people with disabilities sitting at home, he said.

“Getting jobs for people with disabilities not only improves the life of that individual, it improves the lives of all Canadians by growing the overall economy.”

The disabilities society is currently promoting a campaign of inclusive hiring and, at the Sept. 19 presentation with Wafer, they plan to unveil their new public service announcement video featuring success stories from local inclusive employers.

As well, Don Gallant, national director for Ready Willing & Able, will offer a presentation on supports available for businesses who want to create inclusive workplaces and hire people with disabilities.

The Sept. 19 presentation at the Astro Theatre gets underway at 4 p.m.