They Are Already in Your Workplace
by Eve Aboka
“We have never hired anyone with a disability.”
I hear this sentence often, usually offered with confidence, sometimes with a note of apology, and almost always as if it settles the matter. It does not. In my years advising employers on disability inclusion, I have come to see this statement not as a fact, but as an assumption built on a narrow and outdated picture of what disability looks like.
Let me offer a reframe. You almost certainly already employ people with disabilities. You simply do not know it, because most disabilities are invisible, undisclosed, or both.
The numbers tell a different story
• In 2022, 27% of Canadians aged 15 and older, roughly 8 million people, reported living with one or more disabilities that affect their daily activities, up from 22% in 2017 (Statistics Canada, 2023).
• Among working-age adults aged 25 to 64, the rate rose from 20% to 24% over that same period, driven largely by mental health-related disability, now the fastest-growing category and the most common type reported among youth (Statistics Canada, 2023).
• Pain-related, learning, and flexibility-related disabilities also feature heavily among working adults (Statistics Canada, 2024).
These are not people waiting somewhere outside your organization for a special hiring initiative to reach them. Statistically, they are already on your team.
• They are the employee managing chronic migraines quietly through the workday.
• They are the high performer whose anxiety disorder has never come up in a performance review.
• They are the warehouse associate with a learning disability who has built workarounds nobody noticed.
Why the objection persists
The “we have never hired anyone with a disability” objection usually rests on one flawed premise: that disability must be visible, declared, and documented to count. But disclosure is a choice, not an obligation, and many employees have entirely reasonable reasons not to disclose in workplaces where they are unsure how that information will be received. The absence of disclosure is not evidence of absence. It is often evidence of a culture that has not yet earned trust.
This is precisely the insight behind organizations such as Gateway Association, whose job seeker support does not require proof of disability at all. Participation is based on self-disclosure, because the challenge a person experiences is real whether or not it comes with a diagnostic letter (Gateway Association, 2026). Employers seeking to build genuinely inclusive workplaces would do well to adopt the same posture: build systems that welcome disclosure rather than demand it as a precondition for support.
5. Sound Confident
Regardless of your disability, using positive and confident language is essential in an interview.
Remember to:
- Avoid negative phrases such as “I don’t know,” “I’m not good at,” or “I can’t do.”
- Keep your voice clear and steady. Avoid raising your pitch at the end of sentences, as this can sound like you are unsure.
- If you stutter, focus on breathing and on what you want to say rather than the stutter itself.
- If verbal communication is challenging, use confident body language and smile when appropriate.
- Be honest and speak genuinely from the heart.
Practising these with someone you trust makes a real difference, and that’s something we do with job seekers every day. You can register for free interview support in Edmonton and Calgary to practise with our team.
