Disability Without Poverty (DWP), a national disability justice organization, is holding a virtual symposium on December 3, 2025, the International Day for Persons with Disabilities.
The symposium, titled “Disability Poverty in Canada: Learning from Today to Make Tomorrow Better”, will include a wide variety of presentations from people with lived experience, service providers, academic researchers and community members.
Asif Khan, ISAC’s Research and Policy Analyst, will be presenting on a panel called “Navigating ODSP”, along with Erica Zacharias, Camille Deondra Stewart, and Trevor Manson.
Asif’s research is based on a forthcoming report from ISAC, tentatively titled “No One Left Behind: A Recipient-Informed Case for Transforming Ontario’s Social Assistance System”. The report and analysis is based on focus group discussions and an online survey of OW and ODSP recipients conducted by ISAC throughout Fall 2024. The full report is set to be released in January 2026. At the “Navigating ODSP” session on December 3, Asif will provide a preview of the survey findings related to ODSP.
Symposium panelists were encouraged to record a presentation of their research ahead of the event so that participants can watch the presentations ahead of time, at their own pace and on their own time. The panelists will briefly recap their presentations where applicable and engage in an interactive discussion on the subject throughout the rest of the session.
Asif’s symposium presentation is hosted on DWP’s YouTube page here, along with many other presentations. It is also embedded below:
There will be two digital streams available to join, each with a different set of speakers, presentations and panelists. Attendees can move between the two different streams as they like. There will be ASL, English & French closed captioning, as well as Simultaneous French translation provided. DWP has noted that LSQ (Langue des signes québécoise) will be available for Stream A only, during opening remarks and the discussion on barriers to housing for people in Quebec.
The “Navigating ODSP” panel will take place on Stream A, from 1:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. (ET). Click on the button below to register for the symposium, and to find out more about the other panels.
See you there!