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New fund to support people with disabilities

Yukon and Canada have agreed to give $2.5 million annually for programs to help people with disabilities get jobs.
MONDAYkenney

Yukon and Canada have agreed to give $2.5 million annually for programs to help people with disabilities get jobs.

Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney was in Whitehorse last week to announce the funding.

This sort of agreement has existed in the provinces before, but Yukon is the first territory to access this targeted funding.

“Our government is very pleased that Yukon is the first of Canada’s provinces and territories to sign on to this new generation of agreements to help Yukoners with disabilities get jobs in their area,” said Kenney in a news release.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Rick Goodfellow, executive director of Challenge - Disability Resource Group.

He has been working to get this sort of funding in the Yukon for a decade, he said.

“This means we now have money that’s targeted directly to people with disabilities.”

The funding could go to a very wide range of services and supports, said Goodfellow.

“Basically anything that’s employment related, that will help them get into work,” he said.

Education, Health and Social Services and local organizations will be working together over the coming months to figure out the best way to spend the funding, he said.

The money will start to flow April 1.

Contact Jacqueline Ronson at jronson@yukon-news.com