Bill C-687

2nd Session, 41st Parliament,

62-63-64 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014-2015

house of commons of canada

BILL C-687

An Act respecting the development of a national employment strategy for persons with disabilities

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Employment of Persons with Disabilities Act.

NATIONAL STRATEGY

2. (1) The Minister of Employment and Social Development, in consultation with rep-resentatives of the provincial and territorial governments responsible for matters relating to employment, must develop and implement a national strategy to increase the economic participation of persons with disabilities that includes measures

(a) to educate business owners and private sector employers about the potential of persons with disabilities to contribute to the workforce;

(b) to reduce the stigma that currently exists in workplaces with regard to persons with disabilities;

(c) to encourage private sector employers to adopt more inclusive hiring practices; and

(d) to determine whether it is possible to more effectively promote the Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities.

(2) The Minister must, within six months after the day on which this Act comes into force, convene a conference with representatives of the provincial and territorial governments responsible for matters relating to employment for the purpose of developing the national strategy.

3. (1) The Minister of Employment and Social Development must prepare a report setting out the national strategy and cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the later of December 31, 2017 and the day that is two years after the day on which this Act receives royal assent.

(2) The Minister must publish the report on the departmental website within 10 days after the day on which the report is tabled in Parliament.

REVIEW AND REPORT

4. Within five years of the tabling of the report referred to in section 3, and every five years after that, the Minister of Employment and Social Development must prepare a report on the effectiveness of the national strategy, setting out his or her conclusions and recommendations regarding the strategy, and cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the report is completed.