Welcome

VRA Canada and the multi-disciplinary vocational rehabilitation professionals it represents are committed to supporting, assisting, and advocating for individuals experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, disabling conditions along the continuum of achieving or restoring optimum vocational and life goals. These outcomes are achieved through purposeful and intentional development of strategies and interventions that are informed and directed by education, research, experience, and skills, as well as ongoing professional development, unique to the discipline and profession of vocational rehabilitation.

VRA Canada is the leading national organization committed to professional excellence of and for its multi-disciplinary members, who are recognized by stakeholders as experts in the provision of vocational and pre-vocational rehabilitation services. VRA Canada is the acknowledged Centre of Excellence providing education, research, and evidence-based best practices.

VRA Canada’s values are the foundation of who

we are and how we practice:

• Trust
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Excellence
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Advocacy for the Profession, the Professional,

and our Values

VRA Ontario Board Directors are committed to working together to build strong Board and Member relations while respecting one another.

VRA Ontario solidarity is based on the principle that all Members are equal and deserve mutual respect at all levels. This means we believe that all individuals have the right to be treated with the utmost dignity and respect regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, creed/race, culture, religion, sexual orientation or disability.

As a Board we are committed to working together with mutual regard, cooperation and understanding of support for one another and our Members.

We support a positive working environment which embraces a culture of respect. Working together in a safe environment where one is open to freely express their opinions, engage in listening to each other and support one another with a positive tone whether via e-mail, by phone or in person, is a prime value adopted by the Board. At all times, privacy and confidentiality in Board and Member matters is honoured.

Our culture of respect shows tolerance and acceptance and fosters positive and professional working relationships. 

VRA Ontario's Board of Directors, Members and Staff are commitment to the principles and practices of equality and are mindful at all times, through all endeavours and activities of the Board that all Members deserve dignity, equality and respect.

On February 7, VRA Ontario Board Directors adopted the motion to accept the Principles of Reconciliation as set out by The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada that states that reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canada must follow specific principles..

• The United Nations' "Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" provides the framework for reconciliation at all levels and across all sectors of Canadian society.
• First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, as the original peoples of this country and as self-determining peoples, have Treaty, constitutional, and human rights that must be recognized and respected.
• Reconciliation is a process of healing of relationships that requires public truth sharing, apology, and commemoration that acknowledge and redress past harms.
• Reconciliation requires constructive action on addressing the ongoing legacies of colonialism that have had destructive impacts on Indigenous peoples’ education, cultures and languages, health, child welfare, the administration of justice, and economic opportunities and prosperity.
• Reconciliation must create a more equitable and inclusive society by closing the gaps in social, health, and economic outcomes that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous  Canadians.
• All Canadians, as Treaty peoples, share responsibility for establishing and maintaining mutually respectful relationships.
• The perspectives and understandings of Indigenous Elders and Traditional Knowledge-Keepers about the ethics, concepts, and practices of reconciliation are vital to long-term reconciliation.
• Supporting Indigenous peoples’ cultural revitalization and integrating Indigenous knowledge systems, oral histories, laws, protocols, and connections to the land into the reconciliation process are essential.
• Reconciliation requires political will, joint leadership, trust-building, accountability, and transparency, as well as a substantial investment of resources.
• Reconciliation requires sustained public education and dialogue, including youth engagement, about the history and legacy of residential schools, Treaties, and Indigenous rights, as well as the historical and contemporary contributions of Indigenous peoples to Canadian society.