About CDPA

Mission

United Voices

Researchers, consumers, policy makers, providers, educators, employers –  working together across jurisdictions, across boundaries, across barriers.

Learning Collaboratively

Using collaborative, emancipatory research processes to produce context-relevant evidence through focused, interactive research cycles.

Creating Tools for Change

Knowledge translation used effectively to promote evidence-based policy.

Goals

1. Knowledge Creation

To synthesize evidence and, where necessary, generate new knowledge regarding disability policy in Canada and its impact on the lives of people with disabilities.

2. Knowledge Dissemination

To share knowledge with policy makers and other stakeholders to enhance accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities.

3. Training and Development

To develop capacity in the areas of policy analysis, disability studies and collaborative research among students, staff, partners associated with the CDPA.

Core Assumptions

At the heart of all the research and knowledge mobilization activities of the Alliance are three core assumptions that frame our approach to seeking enhanced disability policy in Canada:

  1. Many of the problems experienced by people with disabilities can be tracked back to the policy environment.
  2. We already know most of what is needed to support effective disability policy in Canada – in most instances, the research is available to provide evidence for good, sound disability policy. What is needed is context-specific, policy-relevant synthesis of the research.
  3. People with a variety of expertise and skills are needed to translate knowledge about disability issues into effective disability policy – disabled consumers, their advocates and support systems; disability researchers and trainees; policy experts and public servants. All three of these types of people work together in the Canadian Disability Policy Alliance.