Policies

A Commitment To You

At Skills for Change, we value the trust of our clients and stakeholders, and the public, and we recognize that maintaining this trust requires that we be transparent and accountable. We have policies and principles that guide the way our employees and volunteers conduct their activities, and are committed to making these available to you.

Furthermore, Skills for Change is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information of its employees, clients, members, donors and other stakeholders, and we are diligent in how we treat the information that you choose to share with us.

Anti-discrimination

This is a summary version of the policy.

For a full policy document please contact us.

Statement of Standard

Skills for Change believes that every person has the right to learn, work and live in a society that treats individuals with respect and dignity. We also believe that we must take an active role in eliminating discrimination. This will be achieved in two ways:

  1. Skills for Change believes that every person has the right to learn, work

  2. By advocating for systemic and social change.

Harassment and discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, race, ancestry, place of origin, ethnic origin, citizenship, colour, creed, age, marital status, family status or disability is defined in the Human Rights Code as against the law and will not be tolerated.

Failure to comply with Human Rights legislation will not be tolerated under any circumstances, and can lead to disciplinary action, up to and including immediate discharge.

Application and Scope

This policy applies to everyone associated with Skills for Change including: employees, clients, volunteers, members of the Board of Directors and committee members, instructors and other people who use our space.

A full version of the Skills for Change Anti-Discrimination Policy can be obtained by contacting us: 416.658.3101 x237

Purpose

The purpose of this Anti-Discrimination Policy is to promote a discrimination-free environment at Skills for Change by:

  1. Encouraging, developing and enforcing appropriate discrimination-free values, attitudes and behaviours among all Board members, staff, volunteers and clients of the agency.

  2. integrating anti-discriminatory principles into all services to the community.

AODA Policy

Skills for Change “SfC” is committed to working towards full compliance with all standards under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (“AODA”) as they are introduced. In doing so, we affirm our commitment to providing quality services in a manner that respects the dignity and independence of persons with disabilities. You may review our policy here. 

The Multi-Year Accessibility Plan outlines the policies, achievements and actions that SfC have put in place to improve opportunities for people with disabilities. The current plan covers a five-year period (2021-2026) to align with our strategic plan.

Statement of Commitment
Skills for Change is committed to ensuring equal access and participation for people with disabilities. We are committed to treating people with disabilities in a way that allows them to maintain their dignity and independence.

We believe in integration, and we are committed to meeting the needs of people with disabilities in a timely manner. We will do so by removing and preventing barriers to accessibility and by meeting our accessibility requirements under Ontario’s accessibility laws. Read our Customer Service Charter to learn more.

*Alternate formats are available upon request for the policies*

Diversity

  • We recognize that “diversity” refers to the many identities and cultures within our society and within an individual, including race, ethnicity, gender, social class, immigration history, religion, sexual orientation and other identities. Each of these identities has its own culture.

  • Because of our experience as an immigrant and refugee-serving agency, our entry point to diversity discussions may be ethnoracial diversity; however, we acknowledge the overlapping nature of the above identities, and the importance of understanding the impact of them all.

  • We see building diversity awareness and skills as a two-way process. On the one hand, we aim to help people of different identities navigate cultural differences they encounter in mainstream society (and in particular the workplace), and on the other hand we help mainstream society transform to embrace the rich cultural differences that people of different identities bring.

  • We have a responsibility to act in helping to change oppressive behaviours like racism, sexism and classism that present barriers to the success and well-being of community members. This is part of our vision of inclusiveness, and truly opens the doors to diversity.

  • We take an approach to anti-oppression work that is based on the belief that oppressive ideologies like racism, sexism and classism are learned, not inherent. We can educate people in a constructive and caring way, without attacking or blaming them for the ideas that they have absorbed from their environment.

  • We believe that personal story sharing is an important and powerful educational tool for diversity work, and that the expression of emotion that comes with story sharing is a natural, positive thing. We can be a helpful resource to each other as we share experiences in a caring and supportive environment.

For more information, Get in touch with us:

416.658.3101 x 237