1. CommunityWorks Canada
In February 2014, the Federal government announced $11.4 million of funding over 4 years to the
Sinneave Family Foundation and Autism Speaks Canada to implement CommunityWorks Canada.
CommunityWorks Canada Background
CommunityWorks Canada was launched at The Ability Hub in Calgary, Alberta in response to the
question:
How can we effectively support more adolescents and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and
other neuro-developmental disabilities into successful employment?
CommunityWorks Canada is part of building an employment ready future because:
• A strong indicator of long term job success are the employment related experiences we have as
teenagers.
• Early volunteer work and part-time employment teach us about responsibility, dependability and
appropriate workplace behaviour.
• Most adolescents with neuro-developmental disabilities including ASD have problems getting this
type of experience.
Supporting more adolescents and adults with ASD and other neuro-developmental disabilities into
volunteer work on the road to successful employment, is important because:
• Current employment rates among persons with neuro-developmental disabilities (1 in 6
Canadians) are inadequate.1
• Employment for persons with ASD ranges in studies from 10 to 55 percent.2
• ASD is an expensive condition. The Value of Caregiver Time: Costs of Support and Care for
Individuals Living with Autism Spectrum Disorder estimated the value of caregiver time required
to support a person significantly impact by ASD as $5.5 million dollars higher than for someone
without autism.3 There are significant benefits and cost savings associated with employment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CommunityWorks Canada?
The CommunityWorks Canada model entails a job training approach for program participants, drawing on
a peer support model of 1:1 peer mentors in a wide variety of community volunteer experiences. It is an
evidence-informed employment training program that helps youth and young adults (15 and 24 years of
age) make the transition to more independence in adulthood, higher education and/or employment
success. It aims to increase and sustain labour force participation among individuals with neuro-
developmental disabilities by building community and youth capacity in the important developmental
timeframe of adolescence and young adulthood.

2. Where has the CommunityWorks program worked in Canada?
CommunityWorks was initially developed at the Southwest Autism Resource and Research Center
(SARRC) in Phoenix, Arizona and has now been replicated at The Ability Hub in Calgary, Alberta. Over
500 individuals with ASD have been served in Phoenix and Calgary alongside more than 200 peer
mentors. To date, these youth have clocked over 40,000 community service hours.
Where will CommunityWorks Canada be offered?
The program will be based at the national hub located in Calgary, with 5 additional training hubs located
in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia.
Who will offer CommunityWorks Canada?
CommunityWorks Canada will be offered by any organization willing to become licensed to offer it. This
will allow us to evaluate its applicability and testing across a wide variety of settings. This is important as
Community Works Canada ultimately will be implemented in a community context, which inherently
accommodates variation from community to community. Our aim is to enable organizations in every
corner of the country to offer CommunityWorks Canada. Each of the six geographic locales in our initial
implementation of CommunityWorks Canada will be a certified training hub. Organizations across Canada
can receive regional training in offering the program. We envision a diverse array of organizations
(agencies, schools, community organizations, faith communities, etc.) offering CommunityWorks Canada.
How will Training Hubs be chosen?
Training Hubs will be chosen by Sinneave Family Foundation, Autism Speaks Canada and SARRC
based on a number of factors including: capacity, mandate/experience with adolescents/adults,
engagement and enthusiasm for CommunityWorks, alignment with CommunityWorks Canada’s vision,
existing relationships, experience with data collection and management, and a viable plan for
sustainability beyond the 4 years of initial funding.
When will CommunityWorks Canada be offered in communities?
The Sinneave Family Foundation and Autism Speaks Canada are currently completing the official
application process to the Federal Government in order to enable funding to commence. We optimistically
expect the funding agreement to be in place by late September 2014. After the official funding agreement
is signed CommunityWorks Canada will be rolled out during the four year funding envelope to regional
training hubs across the country. The initial sites will likely be located at the national office in Calgary as
well as Prairie and Ontario training hubs in late 2014. Over the next 2 to 3 years, sites will expand to
Atlantic Canada, Quebec and British Columbia.
Will there be a cost to organizations that offer CommunityWorks Canada?
At this time we do not currently expect that there will be a cost to organizations to be certified to offer
CommunityWorks Canada. There may be some costs associated with transportation to and
accommodation while at the regional training hub and various incremental costs related to program
development.

3. Will there be a cost to participants?
One of the benefits of this program is that every CommunityWorks location has the opportunity to create
the suitable business model for the unique needs of their community; hence, decisions about fee
structures, staffing costs and other program development considerations will be independently
negotiated. We are confident that the CommunityWorks program is inexpensive to run and quite easy to
implement and therefore can thrive across Canada.
For more information, please contact:
Amy Lonsberry,The Ability Hub, Manager
3rd Floor, 3820 – 24th Ave NW
Calgary, AB T3B 2X9
(403) 210-5000 ext 2035
alonsberry@theabilityhub.org
or
Esther Rhee, Autism Speaks Canada, National Program Director
Main floor, 2450 Victoria Park Ave
Toronto, ON M2J 4A2
1-888-362-6227
estherrhee@autismspeakscan.ca

4. About The Sinneave Family Foundation:
The Sinneave Family Foundation has been pioneering ground-breaking disability employment programs
since its inception. The Ability Hub, a state-of-the-art facility for autism programs, supports a range of
successful employment programs among community partners. For example, the Meticulon Consulting
project is a social enterprise partnering with the autism community, regional companies and the federal
government. It engages talented adults with ASD as consultants offering high-tech services to business
customers. For more information visit, www.theabilityhub.org
About Autism Speaks Canada:
Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by Bob and Suzanne Wright, grandparents of a child with
autism. Since then, Autism Speaks, along with Autism Speaks Canada, has grown into North America’s
largest autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes,
prevention, treatments and cure for autism; increasing awareness of ASD; and advocating for the needs
of individuals with ASD and their families. For more information, visit www.autismspeaks.ca
About SARRC:
The Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC), founded in 1997, is a nonprofit,
community-based organization in Phoenix, Arizona, dedicated to autism research, education and
outreach to individuals with autism and their families. SARRC undertakes self-directed and collaborative
research, serves as a satellite site for national and international projects, and provides up-to-date
information, training and assistance to families and professionals about ASD. For more information, visit
www.autismcenter.org
1
David Nicholas, Margaret Clarke, Herb Emery (2013) Enabling the Workplace: Enhancing Integration for Persons with Disabilities,
Policy Issue: April/May 2013
2
David Nicholas, Margaret Clarke, Herb Emery (2013) Enabling the Workplace: Enhancing Integration for Persons with Disabilities,
Policy Issue: April/May 2013
3
Carolyn Dudley and J.C. Herb Emery (2014) The Value of Caregiver Time: costs of Support and Care for Individuals Living with
Autism Spectrum Disorder, The University of Calgary, The School of Public Policy, SPP Research Papers, Volume 7, Issue 1,
January 2014