LiveWorkPlay / VivreTravaillerJouer

Fairness for Couples on Disability Assistance in British Columbia - Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network PLAN is very happy to share some encouraging news from the Province of British Columbia. Starting December 1, 2025, couples where both partners receive disability assistance will no longer receive […]

Absolutely massive news out of British Columbia, they have ended this practice that forces people to choose between love and food. This is a gross injustice that inexplicably continues in various parts of Canada in 2025.

plan.ca/2025/11/13/a...

Check out this feature in the latest Menu Magazine from our amazing employnent partner Calypso Theme Waterpark represented by Director of Human Resources Sandra Lalonde. You can read the full article online, it includes two very familiar faces, Shelby and Carl!

This is the 110th anniversary of John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields" thank you to the amazing students of Mount Royal Public School in the Peel District School Board for sharing their rendition of the poem with us.

Janet Balcome and Joshua Balanaser were just two many LiveWorkPlay members, volunteers, staff, and supporters in attendance for the amazing Atlético Ottawa victory in the Canadian Premier League championship in Ottawa! They had a great view of the snow clearance team and of course the winning goal!🏆

Breaking news! Kenny Hayes will perform at our members-only (and invited guests) Festive Family Gathering on Friday, December 12!

Martin Couture and Frances Laube purchased this beauty straight from the farmer's pumpkin patch! They decided on a challenging cat design, carved to perfection, and ready to go for tomorrow. Happy Halloween!

- Photos by Mikayla Young, LiveWorkPlay Community Supports Team

Co-Leader Keenan Wellar was pleased to join in this webinar "Integrated Employment Services in Ontario: Challenges and Opportunities for Job Seekers with Intellectual Disabilities" hosted by Community Living Ontario's Shawn Pegg, and Ines de Escallon from the Family Support Network for Employment.

Amazing news! LiveWorkPlay is thrilled to report the 50th indeterminate hire that we have supported for people with intellectual disabilities and autistic persons in the federal public service! Full story: liveworkplay.ca/2025/10/23/50/

A productive Public Service Neurodiversity Week continues for the LiveWorkPlay team! For Wednesday and Thursday we are thrilled to be with the team at Accessibility Standards Canada hosting a workshop on Creating Welcome Workplaces, with a specific focus on people with intellectual disabilities.

Naim Abdallah released his four-song EP at the monthly John Howard Society of Ottawa Coffee House “This Is My Story” which is now available from online record store Bandcamp: naim23.bandcamp.com/album/this-i... the LiveWorkPlay team is thrilled to have helped with this project.

The October 6-7 @vraie-idea.ca Symposium brought together partners including LiveWorkPlay to showcase the progress being made towards supporting inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workforce. The theme of the symposium was “The Win-Win of Designing Workplaces for Disability Inclusion”.

Today, on International Plain Language Day, we’re pleased to share the news of the release of the CAN-ASC-3.1:2025 Plain Language standard. It’s the first National Standard of Canada on plain language!

accessible.canada.ca/news/accessi...

LiveWorkPlay was pleased to participate in this important webinar which Ready, Willing & Able and colleagues across the country!

A new United Way East Ontario minute started airing today on CTV News Ottawa! It was on CTV Ottawa Morning Live as well as the evening news! You can look forward to seeing it many times in the weeks to come. Congratulations to Jennifer, Percy, and Nick, and the amazing team at DHL Express.

Ryan McBride and Heather McAdam asked if LiveWorkPlay could share a post about their recent week of travel to British Columbia, in and around Victoria and Vancouver. With some support, they started out with smaller trips and are now very capable travelers, and want to encourage others!

Every week our Friday Night Meetups bring people together all over the Ottawa community! Examples: Jenny, Paul, Pat, Ish and Junaid enjoy good company and humour at Absolute Comedy. Andrei, Zhenni, Jospeh, Josh, Ashley, Namitha and Lee enjoyed the Ottawa Redblacks BC Lions game.

Some of the Tuesday “Zoom Crew” (they usually meet online) met up in the real world again - this time at Absolute Comedy! Jess, Steven, Lee, Rachel and Justin enjoyed playing pool and sharing some laughs together.

The LiveWorkPlay Federal Employment Strategy Group had a great turnout with 64 in attendance for the September 24 quarterly meeting! Special thanks: Mae Johnson and Arpita Dar from Employment and Social Development Canada, Clara Morgan and Maria Ibrahim from Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

The LiveWorkPlay Community Partner Award for Options Bytown (now OPTIONS HOUSING) was announced in April but we were not able to present it then. September 18 at the Options Housing Annual General Meeting, Daniel Harris from our Community Supports team presented the award to Jessica Osabuohien.

LiveWorkPlay was at the Community Living Ontario annual conference September 16-18. Pictured: Keenan and Julie enjoyed a special session hosted by the Family Support Network for Employment!

A big shout out to the organizers, performers, and volunteers of the CityFolk Festival 2025 at Lansdowne Park! LiveWorkPlay member Janet Balcome was attending as a fan, she bumped into Chris Jones and Josh Balanaser who attended some concerts as fans when not volunteering with the Green Team.

Didn't LiveWorkPlay just publish a story about Chris Jones and his soccer team? True! But half of this a story about Bill Young, a member of the LiveWorkPlay volunteer team, who was matched wth Chris back in February. Ice cream and woodworking, great combo! liveworkplay.ca/get-involved...

Yusuf and Manny.

The next paid internship with the admin team at Levy TD Place is underway with Emmanuel (Manny) Berouk. His day started strong with an orientation from Nasra Yusuf. From payroll and HR support to culinary logs and event day prep, it's the magic behind the scenes of major events!

Pictured below: Chris on September 6, 2025, at the end of season party, sharing a drink with a rival player, and above, Chris with his team at the Hornet's Nest soccer pitch.

This is not our first share about Chirs Jones and his soccer team Missile-Toe who play in the Ottawa Rec Sports summer league. You'll notice a few changes from team photos in previous years. Chris is one of the veterans a keeper of the Missile-Toe flame. The end of season party on Sep 6 was a blast!

Happy 20th Work Anniversary Grace Hudson! Pictured above, a photo of Grace with member Ryan McBride and Jennifer Roberts (our first employment supports coordinator) from a 2004 LiveWorkPlay yearbook, when she was finishing up her Carleton University student placement. This turned into an offer employment, and twenty years later Grace is now the Director of Community Supports. Pictured below, here she is in May of 2025 with colleagues Maggie Dimock and Joshua Gray, at a special event for Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Grace spoke to the Queen that day, just one of the unusual (but not even close to the most unusual) events in her remarkable two decades at LiveWorkPlay. As always, members of the staff team don’t want a lot of individual fuss about themselves, but we think this is a big enough milestone to share our appreciation and gratitude for a wonderful co-worker, leader, and champion for so many of our members and their familes over a remarkable 20-year (and counting) career. Thank you and congratulations Grace Hudson!

Our staff members never want a fuss about themselves, but we think this is a big enough milestone to share our appreciation and gratitude for a wonderful co-worker, leader, and champion for so many of our members and their familes over a remarkable 20-year (and counting) career! Hurray Grace Hudson!

Carl Sanderson (baseball cap) has been working at Trio Westboro since November of last year. Most of Carl's work takes place when the restaurant is not open. One way to build connections is staff meetings - he attended his first meeting this week - overwhelmed with appreciation from his colleagues!

Etienne at work.

On August 27, Etienne Laracy took LiveWorkPlay's Jen Broad (Workplace Inclusion Specialist with the Employment Supports Team) on a tour of his workplace at Levy TD Place. He provided valuable insight and reflections about the type of work he has been doing as a paid Administration Intern.

It's another "zoom crew" meetup! Started by necessity in pandemic times, the LiveWorkPlay Zoom Room (videoconferencing meetups) has carried on under a weekly schedule supported by members of our amazing volunteer team. Tuesday Zoom Room regulars made it out for another in-person gathering on Sunday🐝

Ian Murphy has been having fun and contributing in different ways in his volunteer position at Mādahòkì Farm! As a matter of routine, Ian feeds the animals and cleans and refills the water troughs. He also joins in with different tasks that require a team approach, like rolling hay bales!

Syrus and his veggies!

Jalynn with Syrus and Cracker Jack

Cracker Jack poking out from his tent!

Jalynn Plaus has been so excited for the arrival of her two guinea pigs, and on July 27 it finally happened! Syrus and Cracker Jack are loving their new home (Jalynn did a lot of planning for this, with delicious and nutritious meals and cool housing!) and are settling in great!