Annual career fair for autistic job seekers returns
Published April 7, 2024 at 1:07 pm
An annual job fair for those living with autism returns tomorrow (April 8.)
Spectrum Works, a job fair designed to assist autistic job seekers with employment, started from a conversation between Substance Cares co-founders Neil Forester and Xavier Pinto.
According to its official website, Pinto’s concerns for his autistic son led to the creation of this initiative.
The company aims to shatter the stigma surrounding neurodivergent individuals in the workforce. It focuses on four key pillars: employment, awareness, education, and hope.
Last year, over 2,800 individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) participated, connecting with employers and service providers supportive of the company’s mission.
Some of those employers included Apple, Amazon, Lowe’s, Rogers and Scotiabank.
Now in its eighth year, Spectrum Works explains on its website that hosting the job fair online achieves two main goals: it broadens the event’s reach to people beyond Canada’s major cities and offers an environment more suited to those who might struggle with social anxiety or sensory sensitivities.
On the Substance Cares Instagram page, the company has given a sneak peek of the employers hiring for 2024. These include:
- EY Canada
- Open Door Group
- IBM Canada Ltd.
- Little Canada
- CareersNow – Food and Beverages
- Maple Leafs Sports Entertainment- MLSE
- Communications Security Establishment
- Auticon Canada
- NAV Canada
- Westin Ottawa and Delta Hotels
- Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC)
This online event, in Ontario, is scheduled from 12 pm to 5 pm EST with timings adjusted according to different provincial time zones:
- 11am – 4pm Central (CST)
- 10am – 3pm Mountain (MT)
- 9am – 2pm Pacific (PST)
For more information on how to register you can visit the website here.
INsauga's Editorial Standards and Policies