Services.

Let’s solve problems and build inclusion

Eviance is a multi-service organization that is dedicated to the use of high-quality evidence in disability and inclusive broader sector policies, programs, and practices. We provide services for both the public and private sector that have a local, provincial, national, or international focus. We are committed to intersectionality and reflexivity, inclusion and equity, human rights, connected work, sustainable solutions, and capacity building in all the services we offer.

Image of a woman with short hair talking to another woman across a picnic table.

Community-based research.

Eviance takes on a variety of community-based research projects yearly that focus on collaborative approaches to gather knowledge and develop solutions to stubborn issues with a disability focus. Our intersectional researchers are trained in reflexivity, ensuring that our research reflects critically on the impact of social positions and power dynamics. We work with our clients to build their capacity and find solutions through evidence-informed decision making and meaningful engagement.

Image of a group of people sitting with notebooks on their laps listening to a lecture

Knowledge-to-action.

We are experts at getting the word out there in engaging ways. Our solutions network and ability to broker relationships between grassroots groups, organizations and government means that evidence that can inform decision-making at various points of impact. Our knowledge mobilization is fully accessible and considers different viewpoints, methods of understanding and consumption, and emphasizes the celebration of the co-production of knowledge, turning research knowledge into action. We enjoy providing this service within our community-based research projects and also work with clients to develop their own knowledge -to-action strategies with accessibility in mind.

arial image of a woman in a wheelchair talking to someone on her computer screen and pointing at her notebook with her pencil as thought she is teaching something

Consultation/community representation.

We live in a time when representation of diverse knowledge is critical. We know the importance of representation when it comes to inclusion. Our team participates on a variety of committees and provides consultations to organizations, groups and government on topics important to the disability community. If you need some expertise or are looking for specific representation within your project, Eviance is here.

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Evaluation.

We provide a variety of evaluation services to disability-centered organizations as well as for programs and interventions aiming to support the disability community. We provide impact assessments, program evaluations, process (developmental) evaluations, measurement strategies and tools, evaluation capacity building, and help you identify solutions that will maximize your impact.

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Training and development.

As knowledge experts in human rights, inclusion, reflexivity and intersectionality we embrace opportunities to share our knowledge and help others to develop their capacity. Specifically, we provide training around reflexivity, the practice of understanding your own social position and how it impacts your work, life and perspectives and further how it can positively and negatively impact those around you. We also provide training in intersectionality and reflexivity, critical elements that frame authentic efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Some of our clients

From informing nation-wide policy considerations to tackling long standing inequity and organizational capacity, and in responding to emerging issues, we use a network approach dedicated to engaging the right partners to make change. Some of our recent clients include:

ARCH logo
Canadian School of Public Service logo
CMHC logo
Council for Canadians with Disabilities logo
Canadian Union of Postal Workers logo
Elections Canada Logo
Government of Canada logo
Inclusion Winnipeg logo
International Disability Alliance logo
National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) logo
National AccessAbility Week logo
OCAD University logo
Toronto Metropolitan University
SSHRC Logo
Spatializing Care Lab logo
St. Francis Xavier University logo
The Thomas Sill Foundation Inc. logo
The Winnipeg Foundation Logo
York University Logo

Recent projects.

These are some of the current projects our team is working on.

Innovating for Inclusive and Equitable Post-Secondary Education: A Pathway to Realizing the SDGs

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Innovating for Inclusive and Equitable Post-Secondary Education: A Pathway to Realizing the SDGs is funded by the government of Canada’s Sustainable Development Goals Program and includes partnerships with the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS), ARCH Disability Law Centre, OCAD University, Toronto Metropolitain University and St. Francis Xavier University. This three-year project seeks to close the gaps in knowledge and skills of key stakeholders in post-secondary education concerning inclusive approaches to universal design for learning, instructional excellence, and student support with the goal of furthering the success of diverse students with disabilities in post-secondary education and in securing decent work. The project will include literature reviews, environmental scans, data mining and analysis, and the development of two National Social Labs.

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Building a Stronger Foundation for Leadership of Youth with Disabilities

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Building a Stronger Foundation for Leadership of Youth with Disabilities project is funded by the Government of Canada's Social Development Project Partnership Program-Disability (SDPP-D) fund and includes partnerships with the University of Toronto and the Niagara Centre for Community Living. This four-year project aims to develop the leadership capacity of youth with lived experience by providing meaningful opportunities within a national disability organization while also increasing the capacity of Eviance through the integration of youth in leadership roles. Through participation in the activities of Eviance and its network of national partners, youth will develop the skills, internal capacities, and relationships needed to further their own leadership potential.

Realizing Human Rights and Social Justice in Mental Health

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Realizing Human Rights and Social Justice in Mental Health is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and is led by Professor Marina Morrow of York University. Eviance is collaborator on this project as a user-led organization, providing support to the research and knowledge exchange. This is a four-year, multinational project in partnership with user-led organizations in Canada, Kenya and Australia. This project will investigate service-user experiences of coercive practices in the mental health care system and the role of social justice oriented organizations in enhancing equity. The project aims to advance human rights and align mental health services with the UN convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Video Relay Service Research—International Comparison Project

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Video Relay Service Research—International Comparison Project was commissioned by the Canadian Radio‑television and Telecommunications Commission and included a comparative analysis of international Video Relay Services (VRS) to help inform advancement options to the VRS system in Canada. This research recorded VRS services offered by other countries, identifying providers, features, services and functionality. This international comparative analysis will be used by CRTC to draw upon best-evidence approaches to further enhance the VRS system available in Canada.

English Report (PDF)

Communication Tools Project

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Communication Tools: A User-friendly Guide of Tools in Winnipeg that Can Help People Communicate with First Responders in Emergencies. This project was funded through the Winnipeg Foundation and the Thomas Sil Foundation and done in collaboration with Inclusion Winnipeg. This multi-year project featured a robust engagement process with surveys of over 100 First Responders, a literature review and environmental scan, focus groups, and interviews. During the third phase of the project, we are working on a communication tool guide for persons with disabilities and developing training workshops for stakeholders.

English Guide (PDF)

French Guide (PDF)

Disability, Human Rights, Access and Research to Support Learning

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Disability, Human Rights, Access and Research to Support Learning was commissioned by the Canada School of Public Service and done in collaboration with York University, School of Health Policy and Management. This project focuses on developing and rolling out intersectional accessibility training to Canadian public servants related to Bill C-81. Our literature review and environmental scan was collaboratively developed by subject matter experts on human rights to focus on cross-disability rights and the meaningful engagement of people with disabilities, intersectionality, and accessibility.

English Report (PDF)

Independent Evaluation of International Disability Alliance’s Disability Catalyst Programme

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Independent Evaluation of International Disability Alliance’s Disability Catalyst Programme: Realising the rights of persons with disability through the Sustainable Development Goals was commissioned by the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and worked on in partnership with Emmanuel Mournier. This work examines programs that support the leadership development of persons with disabilities and their allies, including training on the Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030. This work included a literature review, key informant interviews with IDA members, donors and partners, including a diversity of activists with disabilities and activist from underrepresented groups, survey data collection, participant observation, reflexive meetings and a secondary analysis of pre-existing survey data.

English Report (PDF)

What We Heard From People with Disabilities: Towards a New Approach to Defining 'Disability'

Making programs and services more accessible - In August of 2021, the Government of Canada called for proposals to solicit community perspectives and insights into the design and implementation of key initiatives under the DIAP (Disability Inclusion and Action Plan). Independent Living Canada was designated the lead organization in partnership with Muscular Dystrophy Canada in this work. These partners contracted Eviance to engage diverse disability communities to collectively examine Pillar 4, specifically, the features of a modern definition of disability and on processes for applying that definition in program and service delivery under the DIAP.

Project website link (English only): https://www.socialjusticeinmentalhealth.org/


English Report (PDF)

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Past projects.

These are some of our important projects from the past few years highlighting our work and impact in the disability sector.

VisitAble Housing in Canada

Image of a doorway with a casual incline up to it.

VisitAble Housing in Canada was funded through the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. This project aimed to identify unique perspectives of key stakeholder groups within the housing system in order to determine the possible barriers and enablers to the increased adoption of VisitAble Housing (VH) in Canada. Using interviews with key informants we found that there was general support for VisitAble Housing because of its simplicity and broad applicability, its potential cost-effective way of increasing access, and its versatility in providing accessible solutions beyond the physical environment to increase feelings of inclusion, socialization and human rights.

English Report (PDF)

VisitAble Housing Website

Voting with a Difference

Image of a pair of hands that is dropping a ballet into a ballet box.

Voting with a Difference was commissioned through Election’s Canada. This project focused on creating a social media resource to assist people with various disabilities who were at risk of not voting to become more aware of the supports that are available to make voting more feasible. The project aimed to help prospective voters make informed decisions about their voting options for the 2019 federal election.

English Guide (PDF)

French Guide (PDF)

The Shadow Reports from Canada under the CRPD

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The Shadow Reports from Canada under the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) were internal reports completed in 2019 and 2020 by Eviance. These reports provide a summary of concerns that civil society organizations expressed in the Shadow Reports (Parallel Reports) they submitted to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities in the fall of 2016 and first half of 2017. The content analysis explores which Articles received the most attention, what kinds of governmental actions organizations call for, and which issues are most important to stakeholders.

2020 English Report (PDF)

2019 English Report (PDF)

The State of Accessible Shared Mobility for Persons with Disabilities in Canada

Image of a bug with a symbol on the bumper symbolizing blind people and another of a wheelchair

The State of Accessible Shared Mobility for Persons with Disabilities in Canada was commissioned through Transport Canada. This report will contribute to a larger focused piece of work on accessible shared mobility in Canada that involves a detailed review of the literature and community consultations with knowledgeable people with disabilities and other stakeholders. Our report focused in on ride-source services, accessibility, availability and straight-forward booking processes.

English Report (PDF)

Developmental Evaluation: ARCH Respecting Rights Pilot

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Developmental Evaluation: ARCH Respecting Rights Pilot was a multi-year developmental evaluation on the My Voice, My Choice program (MVMC) through ARCH Disability Law Centre. The MVMC program focuses on promoting rights for people labelled with an intellectual disability and was part of the Respecting Rights Project with ARCH. Our evaluation focused on qualitative and quantitative analysis of group interviews, participant questionnaires, and analysis of participant drawings.

English Report (PDF)

Understanding the Intersectional Forms of Discrimination that Impact Persons with Disabilities

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Understanding the Intersectional Forms of Discrimination that Impact Persons with Disabilities was funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Social Development Partnerships Program (Disability Component) and completed alongside the Disabled Women’s Network of Canada (DAWN Canada), Egale Canada Human Rights Trust, The National Network for Mental Health (NNMH) and the British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (BCANDS). This report explores the intersectional forms of discrimination that impact persons with disabilities in Canada with a focus on how intersectionality may be applied in legislation, policy and practice to address social inequities experienced by persons with disabilities in Canada.

English Report (PDF)

French Report (PDF)