Through a random draw, each staff member makes a video to appreciate a colleague. We cannot share them as part of what makes it special is that it is something just for the team. But here's a screen capture collage that showcases the spirit of it all! Happy Holidays from the LiveWorkPlay team!

What an amazing night! The LiveWorkPlay News live and then music by Kenny Hayes and a delicious three course meal! Full photos and videos coming!

He's growing up so fast! Grace's son Ben is right on top of the LiveWorkPlay holiday cards, thank you Ben!

What a wonderful first day at the Disability and Work in Canada conference, taking place right here in Ottawa, offering LiveWorkPlay an ideal opportunity to host a panel session to shine a light on what really matters in inclusive employment: hiring!

Today the final quarterly meeting of the LiveWorkPlay Federal Employment Strategy Group was another extraordinary 60 minutes; formal speaking roles today: Mary Gusella, Emile Tompa, W. Francis Fung, Anna Nelson, Joëlle Perrier-Olsen, Sherrise Turgeon, Céline Henrie, Joshua Gray, and Ashleigh Benson.

vimeo.com/1127546811/9... The Future of Supports in Inclusive Hiring: Innovative Practices from the Field (Original broadcast October 8, 2025) Anna Nelson (LiveWorkPlay) Oly Backstrom (SCE Lifeworks) Charmaine McIntyre (Inclusion Alberta)

This year's Disability and Work in Canada conference is coming up fast, and LiveWorkPlay will be a part of it with an exciting and challenging panel on Inclusive Employment Accountability with representatives from Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) and Ready, Willing and Able (RWA)

Another very busy week for the LiveWorkPlay team was capped off today with a presentation by co-leader Keenan Wellar on Just Enough Support as part of the WE Inspire online conference. Over 100 students from 12 different Developmental Services Worker college programs were in attendanc!

Absolutely massive news out of British Columbia, they have ended this practice that forces people to choose between love and food. This is a gross injustice that inexplicably continues in various parts of Canada in 2025. plan.ca/2025/11/13/a...

Check out this feature in the latest Menu Magazine from our amazing employnent partner Calypso Theme Waterpark represented by Director of Human Resources Sandra Lalonde. You can read the full article online, it includes two very familiar faces, Shelby and Carl!

This is the 110th anniversary of John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields" thank you to the amazing students of Mount Royal Public School in the Peel District School Board for sharing their rendition of the poem with us.

Janet Balcome and Joshua Balanaser were just two many LiveWorkPlay members, volunteers, staff, and supporters in attendance for the amazing Atlético Ottawa victory in the Canadian Premier League championship in Ottawa! They had a great view of the snow clearance team and of course the winning goal!🏆

Breaking news! Kenny Hayes will perform at our members-only (and invited guests) Festive Family Gathering on Friday, December 12!

Martin Couture and Frances Laube purchased this beauty straight from the farmer's pumpkin patch! They decided on a challenging cat design, carved to perfection, and ready to go for tomorrow. Happy Halloween! - Photos by Mikayla Young, LiveWorkPlay Community Supports Team

Co-Leader Keenan Wellar was pleased to join in this webinar "Integrated Employment Services in Ontario: Challenges and Opportunities for Job Seekers with Intellectual Disabilities" hosted by Community Living Ontario's Shawn Pegg, and Ines de Escallon from the Family Support Network for Employment.

Amazing news! LiveWorkPlay is thrilled to report the 50th indeterminate hire that we have supported for people with intellectual disabilities and autistic persons in the federal public service! Full story: liveworkplay.ca/2025/10/23/50/

A productive Public Service Neurodiversity Week continues for the LiveWorkPlay team! For Wednesday and Thursday we are thrilled to be with the team at Accessibility Standards Canada hosting a workshop on Creating Welcome Workplaces, with a specific focus on people with intellectual disabilities.

Naim Abdallah released his four-song EP at the monthly John Howard Society of Ottawa Coffee House “This Is My Story” which is now available from online record store Bandcamp: naim23.bandcamp.com/album/this-i... the LiveWorkPlay team is thrilled to have helped with this project.

The October 6-7 @vraie-idea.ca Symposium brought together partners including LiveWorkPlay to showcase the progress being made towards supporting inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workforce. The theme of the symposium was “The Win-Win of Designing Workplaces for Disability Inclusion”.

Today, on International Plain Language Day, we’re pleased to share the news of the release of the CAN-ASC-3.1:2025 Plain Language standard. It’s the first National Standard of Canada on plain language! accessible.canada.ca/news/accessi...

LiveWorkPlay was pleased to participate in this important webinar which Ready, Willing & Able and colleagues across the country!

A new United Way East Ontario minute started airing today on CTV News Ottawa! It was on CTV Ottawa Morning Live as well as the evening news! You can look forward to seeing it many times in the weeks to come. Congratulations to Jennifer, Percy, and Nick, and the amazing team at DHL Express.

Ryan McBride and Heather McAdam asked if LiveWorkPlay could share a post about their recent week of travel to British Columbia, in and around Victoria and Vancouver. With some support, they started out with smaller trips and are now very capable travelers, and want to encourage others!

Every week our Friday Night Meetups bring people together all over the Ottawa community! Examples: Jenny, Paul, Pat, Ish and Junaid enjoy good company and humour at Absolute Comedy. Andrei, Zhenni, Jospeh, Josh, Ashley, Namitha and Lee enjoyed the Ottawa Redblacks BC Lions game.

Some of the Tuesday “Zoom Crew” (they usually meet online) met up in the real world again - this time at Absolute Comedy! Jess, Steven, Lee, Rachel and Justin enjoyed playing pool and sharing some laughs together.

The LiveWorkPlay Federal Employment Strategy Group had a great turnout with 64 in attendance for the September 24 quarterly meeting! Special thanks: Mae Johnson and Arpita Dar from Employment and Social Development Canada, Clara Morgan and Maria Ibrahim from Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

The LiveWorkPlay Community Partner Award for Options Bytown (now OPTIONS HOUSING) was announced in April but we were not able to present it then. September 18 at the Options Housing Annual General Meeting, Daniel Harris from our Community Supports team presented the award to Jessica Osabuohien.

LiveWorkPlay was at the Community Living Ontario annual conference September 16-18. Pictured: Keenan and Julie enjoyed a special session hosted by the Family Support Network for Employment!

A big shout out to the organizers, performers, and volunteers of the CityFolk Festival 2025 at Lansdowne Park! LiveWorkPlay member Janet Balcome was attending as a fan, she bumped into Chris Jones and Josh Balanaser who attended some concerts as fans when not volunteering with the Green Team.

Didn't LiveWorkPlay just publish a story about Chris Jones and his soccer team? True! But half of this a story about Bill Young, a member of the LiveWorkPlay volunteer team, who was matched wth Chris back in February. Ice cream and woodworking, great combo! liveworkplay.ca/get-involved...

The next paid internship with the admin team at Levy TD Place is underway with Emmanuel (Manny) Berouk. His day started strong with an orientation from Nasra Yusuf. From payroll and HR support to culinary logs and event day prep, it's the magic behind the scenes of major events!

This is not our first share about Chirs Jones and his soccer team Missile-Toe who play in the Ottawa Rec Sports summer league. You'll notice a few changes from team photos in previous years. Chris is one of the veterans a keeper of the Missile-Toe flame. The end of season party on Sep 6 was a blast!

Our staff members never want a fuss about themselves, but we think this is a big enough milestone to share our appreciation and gratitude for a wonderful co-worker, leader, and champion for so many of our members and their familes over a remarkable 20-year (and counting) career! Hurray Grace Hudson!

Carl Sanderson (baseball cap) has been working at Trio Westboro since November of last year. Most of Carl's work takes place when the restaurant is not open. One way to build connections is staff meetings - he attended his first meeting this week - overwhelmed with appreciation from his colleagues!

On August 27, Etienne Laracy took LiveWorkPlay's Jen Broad (Workplace Inclusion Specialist with the Employment Supports Team) on a tour of his workplace at Levy TD Place. He provided valuable insight and reflections about the type of work he has been doing as a paid Administration Intern.

It's another "zoom crew" meetup! Started by necessity in pandemic times, the LiveWorkPlay Zoom Room (videoconferencing meetups) has carried on under a weekly schedule supported by members of our amazing volunteer team. Tuesday Zoom Room regulars made it out for another in-person gathering on Sunday🐝

Ian Murphy has been having fun and contributing in different ways in his volunteer position at Mādahòkì Farm! As a matter of routine, Ian feeds the animals and cleans and refills the water troughs. He also joins in with different tasks that require a team approach, like rolling hay bales!

Jalynn Plaus has been so excited for the arrival of her two guinea pigs, and on July 27 it finally happened! Syrus and Cracker Jack are loving their new home (Jalynn did a lot of planning for this, with delicious and nutritious meals and cool housing!) and are settling in great!

Another world class Ottawa Bluesfest has come and gone these are some photos from Friday from the incredible show by headliners Green Day. On this night at the festival just like every other, some were there as fans, and some as part of the award-winning Bluesfest volunteer team.

"Disability employment service providers have been ringing the alarm for going on three years now...we need to face the fact that the model is not working for job seekers with disabilities and the organizations that support them." READ THE REPORT: communitylivingontario.ca/wp-content/u...

it's not every day you see a 22nd work anniversary 🎉 congratulations Jordan Curry! 🐝

We express our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of passing of John O'Brien. www.asturner.com/obituaries/j... His work is foundational to the communication of many of our own values, and specifically our 7 Principles of Just Enough Support.

Caroline Matte has an evening birthday party to attend at TCE, but at this afternoon gathering with friends and family she was presented with a special LiveWorkPlay 30th anniversary shirt by our co-leaders Julie and Keenan! 🐝🎂

HAPPY CANADA DAY! 🍁

Congratulations to LiveWorkPlay member Gillian Gillespie who peformed last night in the Kenny Hayes Summer Showcase of music students. There were about 10 performers and 30 guests on hand to take in this joyous occassion! Gillian dedicated two songs to her grandmother who passed away ❤️🎼 🎶 🎹

The design represents each Indigenous group with a distinct symbol: the eagle for First Nations, the narwhal for Inuit, and the fiddle for Métis. The colours symbolize the 4 elements of nature: earth, water, fire, and air showing the deep connection Indigenous cultures have with the natural world.

Autistic Pride Day is a pride celebration for autistic people held on June 18 each year. Autistic pride points out that autistic people have always been an important part of human society (neurodiversity).

LiveWorkPlay was not able to attend the CASE - Canadian Association for Supported Employment conference this year, but we are thrilled to report that former member and honourary lifetime member Ryan Nevitt is at the conference as a delegate and presenter, congratulations Ryan!

At the Ottawa REDBLACKS home opener, it was also the opening day for Sean Lim (starting his job with Levy TD Place for the first time ever) and Veronica Anderson, who just started her third season! Pictured: with their supervisor Charlotte.

Our 30th Annual General Meeting is in the books, including a very special announcement in honour of the memory of Terri Hill.