Community Disability Services

A Valued Profession
Work in the community disability services sector is admired and respected.

Workforce 2010 conducted a survey of the general public. Of the 800 people we asked, 84% to 90% believe that community rehabilitation:

• provides rewarding and satisfying work


• requires formal education


• is work that people admire and respect

Half of the people surveyed knew someone with a developmental disability or someone working in the sector.

The Challenges We Face
The results of our survey and the people we spoke consistently identified a set of challenges that face the community disability services sector today. These include:

• low wages


• shortage of qualified workers


• job turnover


• lack of skills and education


• fewer new people entering the field

Low Wages—A Continuing Challenge
All our findings indicate that low wages are a major barrier preventing people from entering and remaining in the field.

Our Omnibus Survey shows that the general public perceives community disability services work as being poorly paid. This is the #1 reason why people would not recommend a career in this area.

Job Turnover—Another Continuing Challenge
Turnover – remains consistently at about 32%

Each year, nearly a third of community rehabilitation workers leave their job and need to be replaced.

The unemployment rate for this sector is less than 3% (indicating a skill shortage).

Lack of Skills and Education
Nearly half of newly hired employees in community disability services jobs are less qualified than the person they replace.

Lack of education is a concern. At least one-quarter of the workforce has high school or less.

Lack of Newcomers to the Community Rehabilitation Field

Enrolment in community disability services programs is decreasing, even though enrolment in Alberta post-secondary institutions is increasing.

Between 1998 and 2003:

• enrolment in post-secondary institutions in Alberta rose by 16%


• enrollment in rehabilitation programs decreased by 20%

Our findings consistently show that there is a lack of awareness of the existence of community disability services field and the work in this sector.

Documents (available in .pdf format)

Public Attitude Research Paper (.pdf)

You will require the Adobe Reader to view these document. download here