Simon Vallières

Value for physiotherapy in diverse sectors such as primary care. Discussion includes physiotherapy access, expansion of services and scope of practice. Scope of Practice: Physiotherapy scope of practice, skill-set optimization, value for physiotherapy, economic impact. Raise awareness about the role of physiotherapy within a multidisciplinary approach to healthcare and educate policymakers on how physiotherapy can help reduce healthcare costs, maximize current spending and funding allocation through physiotherapy skill optimization, support preventative care and contribute to a healthier Canadian population at all stages of life. Internationally Educated Health Professionals: Monitoring issues related to emerging needs of profession and population. Improving access to safe and effective pain management, such as physiotherapy as a non-pharmacological care, as an upstream and early intervention and prevention response to the opioid crisis Health Human Resource Strategy: Explore opportunities to develop health human resource strategy for the profession of physiotherapy. Discussion includes health human resources planning, health human resource crisis, workforce planning, workforce shortages, scope of practice. Enable support and funding for those communities that could potentially benefit most from telerehabilitation and virtual services, including Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit and Metis and rural and remote populations, where infrastructure may presently exclude them from access (no cellular or internet service/access). Discussion on equity of access to physiotherapy services. Caseload Guidelines: Joint application for funding from Health Canada for Caseload Guidelines development for Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy. and Speech Language Pathology. Including research regarding physiotherapy specific caseload guidelines. Adult physiotherapy services covered under the Non-Insured Health Benefits program. This includes NHIB, orthotics, medical devices, coverage.

Advocate for place-based solutions to Canada’s biggest challenges, which support the region-specific mandates of public colleges and ensure local training needs are considered in policy development. Increase support to developing countries and other partner countries to build technical and vocational training capacity, strengthen skills development and education systems, and enhance Canada’s global education brand. Advocate for support for college-led research as a core component of federal research and innovation funding and policy. Discuss how colleges can support immigration programs, such as foreign credential recognition or international students, to meet Canada’s labour market needs, and share with officials impacts of policy changes on the college sector. Share with officials how colleges can support Canada’s training and workforce development needs to meet Canada’s biggest challenges. Share with officials the role of colleges and institutes in delivering high quality education for Canadians, and ensuring access to education for Canadians. Advance reconciliation through partnerships with Canada’s public colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, polytechnics, and Indigenous Institutes of Education. Promote the role and expertise of colleges in deepening Canada’s relationships with other countries. Promote the value of educational fair dealing in supporting colleges and institutes in their mandate to provide advanced skills and to enable them to better respond to the skills shortage. Increase investments and support to address colleges’ infrastructure needs to increase Canada’s training space and access in key high-demand fields that align with federal priority areas. Enable post-secondary institutions to obtain grants and loans to develop student housing projects, with additional supports for housing that supports students from vulnerable populations. Ensure Canada’s colleges and institutes have the necessary federal support to provide high-quality training for future healthcare professionals. Ensure the specific needs of institutions, including French institutions and those in minority linguistic communities, are taken into account when federal policies and programs are designed and delivered.

Advocating for direct funding through the federal budget to support the organization's employment services, including job-matching and wrap-around supports. Setting up meetings to position ApprenticeSearch.com as a recipient of funding under the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy's Canadian Apprenticeship Service, and the Skilled Trades Awareness Readiness Program.

Legal Capacity. Influence the adoption by the federal government of consistent guidelines and policies that explicitly recognize and support the use of supported decision making as a primary alternative to guardianship. Grounded in the recognition of legal capacity - and the right to access support to exercise that right - contained in article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Inclusion Canada advocates for law reform and a national framework to enshrine and safeguard the right of people with intellectual disabilities to make decisions for themselves (legal capacity, supported decision making...). Income Security. Influence improvements to the Canada Disability Benefit and the Child Disability Benefit, focusing on raising benefit amounts, simplifying access, and expanding eligibility. Advancing policy reform on the Disability Tax Credit and the Registered Disability Savings Plan to remove access and program barriers. This will included engagement on the Canada Disability Benefit Act, and associated regulations, and advocacy to ensure adequate funding to these benefits. Inclusive Education. Develop and launch a national strategy to support and enhance inclusive education. Influence reform on the barriers to accessing quality inclusive education at all levels. Inclusive and Affordable Housing. Advocate for the transformation of congregate, segregated housing into inclusive living. Stop federal investment in congregate housing and advocate for these funds to instead be used for inclusive community options. Change the Registered Disability Savings Plan to better support housing needs. Advise policymakers on development of inclusive community housing. Engagement with existing and forthcoming legislation on housing policy, including the Build Canada Homes Act and the National Housing Strategy Act. Employment. Transform and/or close sheltered work programs and transition to programs that enable real work for real pay (such as that advanced through Ready, Willing, Able). Secure funding to sustain and grow the Ready, Willing, Able initiative. Advancing Human Rights. Provide technical support and consultation to the implementation of the Accessible Canada Act, and associated regulations. Advocate for Canada's fulfillment of its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and monitor that implementation. Access to Justice. We advocate for the federal government to take all necessary measures, including through regulation, policy or law reform, to ensure equal access to justice for persons with an intellectual disability. These include advocating for the federal government to 1. Develop and implement a comprehensive, multi-year strategy rooted in Article 13 of the CRPD, ensuring equal access to justice for persons with an intellectual disability. 2. Recognize and address the systemic discrimination faced by persons with an intellectual disability in the justice system, dismantling the barriers rooted in ableism. 3. Recognize and address the intersectional discrimination faced by Indigenous persons with an intellectual disability in the justice system, taking steps to dismantle the compounded barriers rooted in ableism and systemic racism. 4. Ensure the provision of tailored and accessible legal information, representation, and support services to all persons with an intellectual disability, embracing the diversity of their communication methods and acknowledging the spectrum of their disabilities. 5. Guarantee that persons with an intellectual disability are treated with dignity and respect in the criminal justice system. 6. Involve persons with an intellectual disability in the development of policies and practices related to access to justice. 7. Challenge stereotypes and prejudices about persons with an intellectual disability, promoting understanding and inclusion. Access to Healthcare. Influence the repeal of assisted suicide based on disability and prevent t