Centre for Independent Living in Toronto - CILT Inc.

11/27/2025

It's just 6 days away from our annual event marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Dec 3, 2025. 1pm - 3pm, on Zoom.

"Resisting Ableism, Building Community and Hope!

We're still taking registrations and all are wecome to join us!
Register in advance for this meeting at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/.../register/a1XmyDUsQUiRCZzUhutH-Q

More details in our original notice below and on the registration page.

The Centre for Independent Living in Toronto (CILT) and Community Partners are pleased to invite you to our virtual celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities Dec 3, 2025: Resisting Ableism, Building Community and Hope!

Description:
This celebration is an annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons, proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations (UN).

The celebration will provide community members with a discussion around this year’s theme - Resisting Ableism, Building Community and Hope for the dignity, rights, and well-being of persons with disabilities.

We will have community speakers from Toronto and other parts of Canada presenting about Community Action Projects, critical disability justice issues, Art as Acts of Resistance, and collective action work being done to address their impact on disabled and Deaf communities.

When: Wednesday December 3, 2025, 1:00-3:00 PM Eastern Time (Canada)

Access Supports: ASL-English interpretation and CART Captioning will be provided.

If you require any access accommodations, please let us know in the Access Accommodation section of the registration by Nov 26, 2025.

Register in advance for this meeting at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/a1XmyDUsQUiRCZzUhutH-Q

This celebration will be an engaging discussion on:
1) United Nations IDPWD’s Theme 2025
2) Community Action Speakers:
• Inclusion Canada’s Barrier-Free Benefits Program
• Frame by Frame Disabled Artists Short Films
• Ase Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities
• Disability Justice Network Ontario
• CILT Writers Drop-In
3) Question and Answers Segment
4) Resources

If you need assistance with registering, please e-mail robin.simmons@cilt.ca or call 416-599-2458 ext. 293. Please note, you will not be able to join the session without registering first. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

11/24/2025

11/24/2025

Adapted & Inclusive Recreation Presents Holiday Market

Annual event in recognition of International Day of Persons with Disabilities!
• When: Saturday, December 6, 2025 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• Where: Ellesmere Community Recreation Centre, Multipurpose Room (20 Canadian Road Toronto, ON)

Details:
The Annual Holiday Market features vendors that prioritize inclusion of people with disabilities and disability-focused organizations. Featuring: GoodOnU.Ca, SolutionsGear, Eddie Li Art, lnclusiveAbility Toronto, Simply Creative Gems, Goodness Gift, MG Moms Boutique, Sew Sisters, The Piercing Obsidian, Crochet Goods, 3D Fidget Objects, Jewellery & Pins, Holiday Cards & Decor, Stationary, Artwork, Candles & More

Notes:
• All vendors are either people with disabilities or vendors who are donating proceeds to organizations that serve persons with disabilities.
• Free parking on site.

11/22/2025

21 November, 2025
Ottawa, Ontario – Canadian Human Rights Commission

Ahead of National Housing Day on November 22, Marie-Josée Houle, the Federal Housing Advocate, and Christopher T. Sutton, Canada's Accessibility Commissioner, issue the following statement:

"On National Housing Day, we call for urgent action to ensure that every person in Canada — regardless of who they are, their background, or their ability — has access to affordable and accessible housing."

Federal Housing Advocate and Canada's Accessibility Commissioner

For National Housing Day, we are very pleased to see this critical call to action from Marie-Josée Houle, Federal Housing Advocate and Christopher T. Sutton, Accessibility Commissioner. Their calls here are the same calls all members of the Accessible Housing Network and our many allies have been making for years—that affordability and accessibility are not a tradeoff or opposed, but instead two goals all disabled people on these territories need and demand.

As they say here, we have the tools we need to make housing accessible and affordable—but we need the Building Code to catch up fast and for Build Canada Homes to ensure that funds for affordable housing are held to the highest standard of accessible housing construction.

And if we fail to build accessible housing now? “History offers a warning... We need homes that are permanently affordable and that meet people's needs now, and for generations to come.”

Link in bio or https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/newsroom/canadas-new-homes-can-be-both-affordable-and-accessible

Alt: a blue background with a prominent title in yellow and white text at the top reading, "Landmark Statement on Accessible Housing." Below the title are two circular, blue-bordered portraits. The left portrait shows a person with short hair and glasses, labeled "Marie-Josée Houle, Federal Housing Advocate." The right portrait depicts another person with glasses and a beard, labeled "Christopher T. Sutton, Accessibility Commissioner." Below the portraits is a white, torn-texture graphic with text: "“History offers a warning. Many of us can still see wartime houses built in the 1940s to address a national housing crisis. They provided affordable homes, but were not designed to meet the diverse and changing needs of Canadians, including veterans returning from combat with disabilities. Eighty-five years later, we cannot make the same mistake. That's why the solution cannot focus solely on the number of new units built. We need homes that are permanently affordable and that meet people's needs now, and for generations to come.”

11/21/2025

We agree, United Way Greater Toronto:

Every person deserves a fair chance at a good life, free of poverty.

United Way Greater Toronto!

1 in 10 Canadians live in poverty. “By tackling poverty as a matter of human rights obligation, the world will have a better chance of abolishing this scourge in our lifetime…Poverty eradication is an achievable goal.”— UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, 10 December 2006. Today is Human Rights Day. Share this post if you think every person deserves a fair chance at a good life.

11/20/2025

International Day of Persons with Disabilities Conference: Inclusion Benefits Everyone

WHEN: Saturday, December 6, 2025 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm ET
WHERE: Online by Zoom

About this Event
The goal for this year's conference is to explore how being inclusive benefits everyone—not just people with disabilities, and to bust the myths that perpetuate exclusion. This virtual conference will be accessible to all and will feature ASL interpreters and real-time live captioning. Featuring guest speakers and an interactive, “Ask Me Anything” panel.

Come curious – leave empowered!

REGISTER NOW: https://tinyurl.com/36bxf8v6
OR register via email or request accommodations by emailing IDPWD.event@blindcanadians.ca

Thank You to Our Sponsors & Conference Partners!

SPONSORS:
TRAILBLAZERS Tandem Cycling Club
Ontario Council for International Cooperation
Baker McKenzie

PARTNERS:
TRAILBLAZERS Tandem Cycling Club
Ontario Council for International Cooperation
Baker McKenzie

Speakers:
Johnny (Tiger) Tai
Johnny Tai is a blind and partially deaf Canadian-Taiwanese artist, martial arts instructor, and disability advocate. Since losing his sight and hearing at age three due to Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, he has devoted his life to proving that disability and capability can coexist—and even amplify each other.

Karoline Bourdeau
Karoline Bourdeau, accompanied by her guide dog Raven, will join us to speak on the topic of AI. Karoline was an early adopter of AI using Be My Eyes and Seeing AI and is a passionate advocate of the usefulness of these tools for the sight loss community. Karoline will demonstrate some of the tools she uses and talk about the many ways AI can be helpful to everyone if they dare!

Panelists:
Amber Kaur
As a visually impaired individual, Amber Kaur is deeply committed to advancing inclusion, digital accessibility, and equitable employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Her lived experience has guided her passion for building systems that empower rather than exclude. Amber Kaur is a Business Administration student at Nova Scotia Community College studying inclusive design, assistive technology, and equitable systems.

Yagiz Boran
Yagiz Boran is an international, physically disabled professional and community advocate with lived experience as a leukemia survivor and wheelchair marathoner. His work covers nonprofit, education, and international development sectors, specializing in accessibility, well-being, and community engagement.

Alicia Grace Chenier
Alicia Grace Chenier is a blind actor, filmmaker, accessibility consultant and Disability Studies student at Toronto Metropolitan University. Alicia’s passion in advocacy centers on authentic disability representation, community inclusion, and the understanding that lived experience is a form of expertise and leadership.

Ben Fulton
Ben Fulton is a blind, Toronto-based Human Rights lawyer with a practice focused on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Mediations Arbitrations, Boards, Committees and Tribunals. Ben is passionate about disability rights activism and helping people understand their rights and how to fight for them.

To learn more about our speakers, visit: https://www.blindcanadians.ca/post/international-day-of-persons-with-disabilities-conference-inclusion-benefits-everyone

11/19/2025

Two weeks away! Register now to join us!

The Centre for Independent Living in Toronto (CILT) and Community Partners are pleased to invite you to our virtual celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities Dec 3, 2025: Resisting Ableism, Building Community and Hope!

Description:
This celebration is an annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons, proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations (UN).

The celebration will provide community members with a discussion around this year’s theme - Resisting Ableism, Building Community and Hope for the dignity, rights, and well-being of persons with disabilities.

We will have community speakers from Toronto and other parts of Canada presenting about Community Action Projects, critical disability justice issues, Art as Acts of Resistance, and collective action work being done to address their impact on disabled and Deaf communities.

When: Wednesday December 3, 2025, 1:00-3:00 PM Eastern Time (Canada)

Access Supports: ASL-English interpretation and CART Captioning will be provided.

If you require any access accommodations, please let us know in the Access Accommodation section of the registration by Nov 26, 2025.

Register in advance for this meeting at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/a1XmyDUsQUiRCZzUhutH-Q

This celebration will be an engaging discussion on:
1) United Nations IDPWD’s Theme 2025
2) Community Action Speakers:
• Inclusion Canada’s Barrier-Free Benefits Program
• Frame by Frame Disabled Artists Short Films
• Ase Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities
• Disability Justice Network Ontario
• CILT Writers Drop-In
3) Question and Answers Segment
4) Resources

If you need assistance with registering, please e-mail robin.simmons@cilt.ca or call 416-599-2458 ext. 293. Please note, you will not be able to join the session without registering first. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

11/18/2025

Introducing the "Meet the Facilitators" video series where we showcase each of the facilitators behind the Foundations of Disability Inclusion workshop!

Today, meet Jet Coghlan, who shares how their lived experience as a non-binary, Latinx, invisibly disabled person informs their arts research work.

For more information about the Foundations workshop, visit the CILT website and book your free intake meeting to discuss your organization's disability inclusion and access goals: https://cilt.ca/foundations-of-disability-inclusion/

11/13/2025

We want to hear from people in Ontario to help us assess the 2020–2025 Poverty Reduction Strategy and inform the next strategy. Share your experience and perspectives.Closing date: November 30, 2025This survey should take around 20 minutes to complete.

11/12/2025

This summer, CILT brought our 40th anniversary celebrations to a close with a gala at Hart House. Partners, supporters and disabled consumers came together over great food and social connections. Our program was opened with a land acknowledgement and smudging ceremony by Hope-Adina Adler. CILT leadership then highlighted our 40-year history and the Direct Funding Program’s 30th Anniversary and we presented the 2025 Vic Willi and Sandra Carpenter awards. An unexpected highlight was MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam presenting CILT with an award for 40 years of Independent Living! We closed the celebration with laughter from stand-up comedy by disabled comedian Courtney Gilmore. Happy 40th anniversary to all our CILT staff and community!

11/07/2025

The Centre for Independent Living in Toronto (CILT) and Community Partners are pleased to invite you to our virtual celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities Dec 3, 2025: Resisting Ableism, Building Community and Hope!

Description:
This celebration is an annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons, proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations (UN).

The celebration will provide community members with a discussion around this year’s theme - Resisting Ableism, Building Community and Hope for the dignity, rights, and well-being of persons with disabilities.

We will have community speakers from Toronto and other parts of Canada presenting about Community Action Projects, critical disability justice issues, Art as Acts of Resistance, and collective action work being done to address their impact on disabled and Deaf communities.

When: Wednesday December 3, 2025, 1:00-3:00 PM Eastern Time (Canada)

Access Supports: ASL-English interpretation and CART Captioning will be provided.

If you require any access accommodations, please let us know in the Access Accommodation section of the registration by Nov 26, 2025.

Register in advance for this meeting at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/a1XmyDUsQUiRCZzUhutH-Q

This celebration will be an engaging discussion on:
1) United Nations IDPWD’s Theme 2025
2) Community Action Speakers:
• Inclusion Canada’s Barrier-Free Benefits Program
• Frame by Frame Disabled Artists Short Films
• Ase Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities
• Disability Justice Network Ontario
• CILT Writers Drop-In
3) Question and Answers Segment
4) Resources

If you need assistance with registering, please e-mail robin.simmons@cilt.ca or call 416-599-2458 ext. 293. Please note, you will not be able to join the session without registering first. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.