OPG employees share their stories to help destigmatize disabilities

At a glance

• New video series supports campaign to help electricity sector employers be more inclusive of people with disabilities.
• OPG’s Abilities Alliance employee resource group seeks to educate and raise awareness for persons with disabilities.
• Part of OPG’s overall effort to foster a more accessible and inclusive workplace.

“We’re not broken.”

That’s the message OPG’s Leslee Ainsworth wants to get across when speaking about workers with disabilities.

Ainsworth, an administrative assistant who is hard of hearing, is sharing her story along with two other OPG employees to help destigmatize disabilities in the workplace.

The video testimonials support Electricity Human Resources Canada’s EnAbling Change project, which aims to develop an information toolkit for electricity sector employers to support and be more inclusive of people with disabilities.

Bill’s Story: “Reshaping Your Future”

Bill Whelan, a Mechanical Technologist with OPG, lost his arm in a workplace accident several years ago, before joining the company.

In his testimonial, he remarked that, since joining OPG, the company has accepted him fully, never focusing on his disability but more on his abilities as a person.

“We’ve got to break the stigma of disabilities,” he said. “People will say, ‘Oh, they’re disabled, they’re broken.’ That thinking has to stop. Everybody should be included.”

Ainsworth also said she has always felt accepted at OPG in her 21 years with the company.

She is now working to ensure other employees with disabilities feel accepted and welcomed as a member of OPG’s Abilities Alliance, an employee resource group that seeks to educate and raise awareness for persons with disabilities to foster a more accessible and inclusive workplace.

Leslee’s Story: “The Conversation is Getting Louder”

This work is helping to support OPG’s 10-year Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I) strategy, which aims to build a workforce that’s reflective of Ontario and position OPG as a global ED&I best practice leader by 2030.

“If we can offer an environment where employees have access to all the systems they need to be their best selves, then OPG wins,” said Tanya Hickey, Senior Manager of Health and Safety Strategies at OPG, in her video testimonial.

As a health and safety leader, Hickey works to shape OPG’s disability management programs as well as the company’s wellness strategy. She also identifies best practices from across the industry to incorporate them into OPG’s culture.

“We’re still learning. But I do believe we’ve got a lot in place and people look up to us.”

Tanya’s Story: “Access to Services is an Evolution Not a Revolution”