A History of our Employment Services
October is Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM) - an annual awareness campaign that promotes equitable opportunity and celebrates contributions for individuals with disabilities. Manitoba Possible’s employment services started in the 1950s, mirroring the broader evolution of disability rights in the province and across the country: limited opportunity towards greater inclusion.
Our employment services began under the sheltered workshop model, where individuals with disabilities were not given equitable opportunities. In sheltered workshops, people were segregated from the mainstream workforce, earning below minimum wage or nothing at all, doing task-oriented work with very few opportunities to advance.
In 1963, our ‘Industrial Workshop’ began to focus on assessment and training, recognizing the importance of building skills and professional growth. And in 1976, the workshop took another important step, becoming the ‘Employment Preparation Centre.’ The name change reflected a growing awareness: that people with disabilities should be supported to find meaningful employment in the community.
‘Employment Preparation Centre’ on Notre Dame Avenue in the 1970s. Manitoba Possible’s employment services operated under the sheltered workshop model before being closed in the late 1980s. Sheltered workshops, long criticized as segregated and inequitable, still exist today, with employment standards and laws varying across Canada.
In 1981, the UN International Year of Disabled Persons brought global awareness to disability rights, helping pass Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms the following year. Section 15 ensures every person in Canada is considered equal and is legally protected against discrimination.
By 1984, minimum wage was guaranteed in the workshop. And in 1988, our organization’s sheltered workshop model was dissolved, moving away from segregated employment and toward equitable, community-based training and evaluation.
A large section of the industrial workshop focused on repairing and maintaining wheelchairs, which later evolved into Manitoba Possible’s formal Wheelchair Services program.
In 1989, the Employment Preparation Centre was placing people directly into jobs in the community. This was a turning point—not just for our organization, but for Manitoba’s broader movement toward employment equity.
Fast-forward to today and our programs focus on individualized support, working together to identifying educational and employment goals. Our team of Vocational Evaluators and Employment Development Specialists work across the province—from Winnipeg to Thompson-- supporting hundreds of Manitobans every year.
Despite the progress, barriers to employment still persist. In 2024, the employment rate for individuals with disabilities in Canada was 46.4%, while for those without disabilities, it was 66.2%.
We have much work to do, but progress made from the 1950s underscores how change is made. It was, and continues to be, advocacy that came from within the disability community, pushing organizations like ours and policymakers toward greater inclusion and demanding better.