The inclusion of people with disabilities in Canada and abroad: a look at philanthropy in action

Justification of research project

The need to adapt organizations, institutions, attitudes and behaviors reveals the presence of a long-standing problem and a deeply rooted culture of exclusion or deficient integration of people living with disabilities. The partial visibility of their needs and the challenges of ensuring that their situation is truly and universally taken into account affect all social stakeholders, including those involved in philanthropy. Grant-making philanthropic stakeholders generally attach less importance to social issues linked to specific situations of social and environmental injustice. Intuitively:
We believe that social injustice is often approached by philanthropic grant-makers from a general understanding of what needs to be done to support societal development.
We believe that the lack of depth in the analytical posture of foundations is partly linked to the fact that the State intervenes relatively heavily in this field, leaving the impression that this field of action is already well served by the public player and that there is little subsidiary room for foundations.
Finally, we postulate that, at different territorial scales (from local to international), very few Canadian foundations allocate their financial resources to interventions aimed at improving the living conditions of people with disabilities.
These intuitions need to be validated or invalidated. Hence the importance of conducting an exploratory study of the Canadian and Quebec ecosystem of intervention on behalf of people with disabilities in Canada and internationally.

Research question

The core question across the research is: How important is the cause of people with disabilities in the national and international programs of Canadian philanthropic foundations?

This will raise other questions:
What are the obstacles to integrating disability issues into social justice and inclusion philanthropy?
What best practices can be identified, at national and international level, to strengthen the commitment of grant-making foundations to the cause of people with disabilities?
What courses of action or recommendations for the Quebec and Canadian philanthropic ecosystem with regard to the cause of people with disabilities?

Research purpose

This research will provide philanthropic foundations, civil society organizations, private companies and community leaders with practical tools and information to advocate on behalf of people with disabilities, both within the philanthropic sector and beyond.

Research approach

1. Literature review:

• A review of academic writings and texts produced by organizations in the ecosystem dedicated to the cause of people with disabilities. The data collected will enable us to draw up a quantitative portrait of the existing mechanisms and actions carried out by the main players in the Quebec and Canadian philanthropic ecosystems dedicated to this cause.

2. Quantitative data collection and analysis:

• Production of new data through an exploratory survey of a sample of Canadian private, public and community foundations. The survey will be generated following a qualitative consultation process with key organizations in the Canadian philanthropic ecosystem, in order to properly parameterize the survey questions.

3. Qualitative data collection and analysis:

• Discussion groups will be organized to support the production of tools such as the survey questionnaire, generate new knowledge or validate information, analyses, findings and courses of action.

• Individual interviews will be conducted with key players in the vulnerability mitigation ecosystem. The dimensions covered by the interviews will enable a qualitative portrait to be drawn, identifying obstacles to the development of the cause and highlighting good practices.