The province is hoping a new rebate program for small and medium businesses will help people with disabilities and others facing employment barriers find work.
Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure, Brad Duguid announced the new Rate Drop Rebate program in London on Monday.
The program will see small- and medium-sized businesses receive lower interest rates on loans and lines of credit if they hire people with disabilities, long-term unemployed, older unemployed, or newcomers to Canada
"This is a very innovative program that works with social innovation partners, financial institutions, and small businesses to be able to open up opportunities for people who need them, to be able to get back into the work place," Duguid says.
The initiative is made possible through a partnership with financial institutions including Alterna Savings, CIBC, First Ontario Credit Union, Libro Credit Union, and Meridian at specific branch locations in London, Ottawa, and Hamilton.
"This is an investment by the government, about $4-million, it's going to allow 1,100 people by the time we're done to be able to participate and be part of this workplace program and likely about 500 businesses," Duguid says.
Duguid stresses that people with disabilities are an incredible talent base yet tend to be under employed.
"There's an incredible business case for employers to look at people with disabilities as an opportunity to actually improve your productivity, " Duguid says. "We need to drive a culture shift in our business community and in our society at large, to open up the doors to accessibility. This is a $7.9-billion opportunity for Ontario if we can get this done by 2025."
London North Centre MPP, Deb Matthews, says she's thrilled that one of the pilot sites is here in London.
"We have got the right partners to really make it work so I'm very much looking forward to how many people we can actually get into the labour market, as a result of this program," Matthews says.
This initiative scales up an existing loan program run by Social Capital Partners that has helped more than 480 people with disabilities and others find employment.
**This story was written by Kayley Leon, a student in the Media, Theory, and Production program at Western University. Kayley is currently performing an internship with BlackburnNews.com**