Resettlement is an especially difficult process for individuals living with disabilities. However, their access to resettlement resources is often particularly limited because of attitudinal barriers by society including service providers, as well as physical and social barriers. With limited awareness of disability rights and resources available to them in their new country, they often find their disability-related needs go unmet (Mirza & Heinemann, 2012) (Tam, Smith-Carrier, Kwok, Kerr, & Wang, 2021).
Relocation to communities in Canada brings unique barriers, especially in terms of transportation requirements. Living in sprawling suburban areas where public transportation is limited or not accessible, and where alternative forms of transportation may be costly, can add further stress to their lives and increase isolation and mental health problems and illnesses (Hansen et al., 2017).
Weather is also a factor, as many immigrants and refugees come from regions of the world where winter, snow and sleet are not a concern. Dealing with winter weather in Canada is difficult, especially when visually or physically impaired (Hansen et al., 2017).
In addition to the barriers that all refugees and immigrants experience in finding employment, those with disabilities also faced huge social and attitudinal barriers to being hired: “Disabled persons' potential to contribute and participate is seldom recognized: they are more often seen as a problem than a resource” (Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children [WCRWC], 2008) (Tam, Smith-Carrier, Kwok, Kerr, & Wang, 2021).
We can do a lot to shift dominant thinking about disabilities. We can begin to rethink our perceptions of disability; to celebrate disability, for example, instead of thinking about disability as a deficit, how we can engage people with disabilities in policies and practices. This would help us see people with disabilities, immigrants or refugees, as actual or as potential contributors in society, as essential parts of our social fabric, instead of being structured, for example, through the excessive demand that constructs people with disabilities, immigrants or refugees as a liability, as a potential danger to the socioeconomic system, or based on assumed excessive health cost or social cost associated with admitting them. I think the key here is to begin as a society to celebrate disability as a form of difference instead of thinking about disability through deficit.