Carving Spaces For Everyone Starts With A Commitment
As we embrace our September theme, Fall Into Possibility, we find ourselves reflecting on growth, change, and the opportunities that emerge when we intentionally make room for something new.
This season inspired our Fall Drop, specifically our design ‘Carving Spaces For Everyone’ had us inspired to think about inclusion in a broader way. While creating products that spark conversations about belonging is important, we also believe in creating real opportunities for people to be seen, recognized, and supported.
Real inclusion doesn't happen by accident.
It happens when people, organizations, and communities make a conscious decision to value experiences and perspectives that have too often been overlooked. It happens when we move beyond good intentions and take meaningful action to create space for everyone and that belief is what led us to create Ability Certified.
Ability Certified is a national accreditation that formally recognizes businesses that are majority owned by a person with a disability or by a caregiver. It helps customers, organizations, and communities identify and support disability-owned and caregiver-owned businesses across Canada while creating greater visibility, opportunity, and economic inclusion.
For many people with disabilities and caregivers, entrepreneurship is not simply a business decision. It is often a solution to a challenge.
Caregivers frequently find themselves balancing appointments, medical needs, school meetings, support staff schedules, and countless unexpected responsibilities that can arise at any moment. Traditional employment does not always provide the flexibility required to meet those demands. When capacity, timing, and caregiving responsibilities become difficult to balance within a conventional workplace, many caregivers choose to create their own opportunities through entrepreneurship.
Similarly, many people with disabilities turn to entrepreneurship after encountering barriers in traditional employment, whether those barriers involve accessibility, transportation, workplace accommodations, misconceptions about disability, or limited opportunities for advancement.
What often begins as a need for flexibility grows into something much bigger and become sources of innovation, leadership, community impact, and economic contribution. They create jobs, solve problems, support their communities, and bring valuable lived experience into the marketplace. Yet despite the important role they play, disability-owned and caregiver-owned businesses are often underrepresented and difficult to identify.
Ability Certified exists to help change that.
Businesses that become Ability Certified receive an official certification badge, providing a trusted and visible way for customers, partners, and organizations to recognize and support disability-owned and caregiver-owned businesses. They are also listed in The Ability Directory, helping increase visibility and creating new opportunities for connection and collaboration.
Certified businesses may be featured through our monthly newsletter and social media platforms, introducing their work to new audiences while celebrating the important contributions they make within their communities. Accredited businesses can also access discounted Ability Company services and products, as well as the opportunity to participate in an Ability Collective Collaboration, where they can co-create a message-based product sold through our shop while receiving 70% of the profits.
At its heart, however, Ability Certified is about much more than accreditation.
It is about recognition.
It is about acknowledging the determination, creativity, resilience, and leadership of people who have built businesses while navigating disability or caregiving. It is about celebrating entrepreneurs whose lived experiences shape the work they do and the impact they create. Most importantly, it is about helping ensure that disability-owned and caregiver-owned businesses are no longer hidden in plain sight.
For more information on Ability Certified click here.
As we enter the fall season, we are reminded that growth requires intention. Just as someone carefully carves a pumpkin to create something meaningful, we must be intentional about creating opportunities for inclusion, belonging, and economic participation.
When we support disability-owned and caregiver-owned businesses, we are doing more than making a purchase. We are investing in diverse perspectives, unique experiences, and a future where more people have the opportunity to succeed on their own terms.
While we are excited to launch Ability Certified, we are also looking ahead. Coming soon, we will introduce Ability Verified, a recognition designed for organizations that are not only talking about inclusion but actively demonstrating it through their actions.
While Ability Certified recognizes businesses that are disability-owned or caregiver-owned, Ability Verified will help identify organizations that are committed to creating accessible, welcoming, and inclusive environments for employees, customers, and community members. It is about recognizing businesses that are walking the walk, not just talking the talk.
Together, Ability Certified and Ability Verified will create new opportunities to celebrate both lived experience and meaningful action, helping build a stronger and more inclusive business community across Canada.
This fall, we invite you to learn more about Ability Certified, explore accredited businesses, and join us in carving out space for everyone.
Because possibility grows when people are given the opportunity to be seen, supported, and celebrated for who they are.
Disclaimer - The Ability Company
The opinions shared in our blogs reflect personal experiences and viewpoints. They’re not meant to represent every journey or replace professional advice.
This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace professional advice. The Ability Company makes no guarantees about accuracy or completeness and is not liable for decisions made based on this content. Use at your own discretion.
