Inclusion means feeling like you belong and that you have opportunities to contribute meaningfully to your community.

Employment is one of the main ways many people connect to their community. Having a job creates confidence, independence and a sense of belonging. Yet only 21 percent of the people Community Living BC (CLBC) serves are employed.

CLBC’s annual Widening Our World Awards (WOW) celebrate people in B.C. who are working to make our communities more inclusive of people of all abilities. This year, we are focusing on employment – and we are asking you to help us learn about inclusive employers in your community. Whether the business is big or small, we ask you to shine a light on the employers you know who are making their workplaces welcoming and respectful of all people!

Do you know an employer in your community who is an inclusion champion?

Click here to nominate an inclusive employer for a 2023 WOW Award.

Nominations will be accepted until September 7, 2023 at 5:00pm

Our goal is to help gather stories of excellence that can be shared to encourage more employers to understand the benefits of inclusive hiring. By nominating an inclusive employer, you highlight their important work to champion inclusion and diversity, and to create a workplace where every employee has opportunity for growth and to feel valued, respected and included.

Questions, rules and more information

Find more information about the 2023 WOW Awards below. If you have any questions, or need assistance, please email wowclbcawards@gov.bc.ca.

What is an inclusive employer?

Below are some ways you can tell if an employer is inclusive. They:

• work to recognize and include people with diverse backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and abilities into the workplace.
• treat all staff with dignity, trust, respect and equality.
• build the confidence, skills and self-esteem of their staff.
• provide tools, support and opportunity to help people develop and advance their careers.
• think “outside the box”, remove barriers and take action to support people with diverse abilities in the workplace.

How do I nominate an employer?

Submit a WOW nomination using either the online nomination form found here, or the printable nomination form found here. The form has questions we ask you to complete. These questions ask you to describe how an employer is being inclusive in their workplace.

We ask you to tell us as much as you can about the employer and how they are creating a welcoming and diverse workplace. All the information you provide is used by the evaluation committee to choose Award recipients – so the more detail, the better!

The nomination deadline is 5:00 p.m. on September 7, 2023 (sorry, no late entries will be accepted).

What happens after I submit a nomination?

Employers will be selected for WOW Awards by a selection committee in September 2023. Whenever possible, award presentation events will be held in October 2023 during Community Inclusion Month in award recipients’ home communities. Information about the award recipients will be shared on this page once they have been announced.

Rules:

• All nominations must be completed on the official nomination form (online or printable)
• Telephone and email information for both the nominator (you) and nominee (the employer) must be included on the form.
• Award recipients and their nominees’ names will be published on the CLBC website, social media channels and in the Celebrate Diverse ABILITIES magazine.