Accessible Federal Science Laboratories: Making Scientific and Technical Careers More Inclusive

Responses to the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability conducted by Statistics Canada indicated that 27% of the population aged 15 years and older had at least one disability.1 Inaccessible built environments and non-inclusive workplace cultures can exclude persons with disabilities and reduce the potential for innovative scientific research. Moreover, science laboratories pose unique challenges to enhance accessibility for individuals compared to general workspaces. While there is a growing collection of evidence on the best practices for an accessible built environment and an inclusive workplace culture, the impact of these in Canadian federal science laboratories remains unknown. 

 The 2022 Survey further highlights the continued need to improve accessibility.1 To address this need, the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) came into force in 2019 with the goal to realize a barrier-free Canada by 2040.2 The Act demonstrates the commitment from the Government of Canada (GoC) to accessibility and the rights of persons with disabilities. In the same year, the ACA was accompanied by An Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada developed by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat to ensure a more inclusive federal public service.3  

NRCan’s Inclusive Science and Accessible Laboratories Pilot Project

Recognizing the pressing need to address the accessibility barriers, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), a science-based department in the GoC, initiated the Inclusive Science and Accessible Laboratories (ISAL) pilot project in 2022. 

The ISAL Pilot Project was launched by the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) and designed for the Laurentian Forestry Centre Lab (Quebec City, Quebec). Shortly afterwards, two more labs, CanmetENERGY in the Energy Efficiency and Technology Sector (Devon, Alberta) and the Geological Survey of Canada in the Lands and Mineral Sector (Ottawa, Ontario), joined the pilot to help improve the accessibility of the department’s science laboratories. This project seeks to retrofit these labs to make them accessible, to understand and provide information that can help with addressing the staffing gap for persons with disabilities and to foster an accessibility culture shift. 

Co-led by the CFS and the Office of the Chief Scientist, NRCan’s ISAL pilot responds to the need to address accessibility within the department’s laboratories and aspires to lead the way for other departments to make laboratories accessible to persons with disabilities. The objectives of the pilot are related to the built environment, staffing processes and workplace culture. Moreover, the pilot intends to contribute to the wider effort of the GoC to make the Federal Public Service a more inclusive, equitable and accessible environment. 

In partnership with Laboratories Canada at the Public Services and Procurement Canada, NRCan organized an all-day interdepartmental workshop on ISAL in February 2024. Over 100 participants across the GoC were inspired to work towards creating an inclusive culture and accessible research environment where people with disabilities are fully supported, and no one is left behind.

Accessibility in the Federal Science Laboratories Community of Practice

Responding to a recommendation received from the participants at the interdepartmental workshop, NRCan and Laboratories Canada established a Community of Practice (CoP) on Accessibility in Federal Science Laboratories (AFSL) in March 2024. The CoP brings together colleagues from various federal science-based departments and agencies (SBDAs), as well as external partners, to share their lessons learned and engage on topics related to inclusive science and research accessibility.

The activities of the AFSL CoP hopes to lead to increased collaboration and shared knowledge, as well as innovations, in overcoming barriers to accessibility in federal science laboratories. These activities typically relate to different aspects of making federal science laboratories accessible, such as built or work environment, staffing processes, information and communication technologies, procurement of goods, services and facilities, design and delivery of programs and services, transportation, and workplace culture.

The CoP plays a pivotal role in fostering continuous dialogue and collaboration across departments ensuring that lessons learned from the ISAL pilot and other initiatives are shared widely. By regularly engaging with accessibility experts, scientists, and policymakers, these exchange sessions will act as a driving force for sustained progress in federal science laboratories.

Concrete Actions Towards Accessible Science Laboratories in the Federal Public Service

Efforts towards improving the accessibility of the NRCan’s labs are ongoing, with an audit of the existing infrastructures, identification of material requirements and a priority-setting exercise with each of the pilot sites. The results of these activities are helping to inform the development of a blueprint and technical specifications for the three labs to render them more accessible. In one of these labs, the recruitment process to hire scientists and technicians with disabilities is complete and the process is underway at a second site.

The AFSL CoP will continue to serve as a venue for colleagues across SBDAs in the GoC as well as external subject matter experts to share their lessons learned and to open challenging discussions related to science and accessibility. These activities will foster collaborations and knowledge sharing related to overcoming barriers to accessibility in federal science laboratories.

In summary, it is important to acknowledge that making science and technical roles in the federal government more accessible to persons with disabilities will require going beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. People are inherently diverse with varying needs, and science itself encompasses a wide range of constantly evolving subject areas. Improving accessibility in the federal science laboratories will allow our colleagues with disabilities to contribute fully to the GoC’s goals in science and to pursue advancement in their own meaningful and rewarding careers. These efforts under the ISAL project aims to advance the ACA’s objective to make Canada barrier-free by 2040, in an ultimate effort to foster an inclusive environment where all individuals can thrive. This commitment not only enhances GoC’s workforce diversity and moves towards truly representing Canadian society, but it also drives the advancement of knowledge and solutions that benefit all Canadians.