When three parents of two teenage boys with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Dieppe, N.B., launched Café Inclusio, at the heart of the business was more than employment opportunities. They wanted to foster inclusivity and hope while reversing a concerning statistic.
In 2021, the employment rate of people with disabilities was 60 per cent, 16 points below the national average, according to Statistics Canada. In response, a growing number of social enterprises across Canada are operating cafés and catering companies employing primarily people with disabilities. From grab-and-go cafés to casual restaurants led by culinary professionals using locally grown ingredients, their menus range from freshly baked goods and tasty breakfast dishes to salads, wraps, and more.
Guided by support professionals who encourage them to work at their own pace, participants earn wages and work casual to part-time hours from a few months to several years, depending on the program and the needs of the participants.
Acquiring transferable skills including cooking, food handling, cashiering, and customer service, and learning to navigate some of their everyday challenges while feeling a sense of belonging and pride enable them to thrive. Some eventually transition to mainstream jobs.
Tim MacDonald has worked at the River Run Café in New Glasgow, N.S. since it opened five years ago. Besides washing dishes, his favourite aspect of the job is, “I can be on my own.” When asked how working there makes him feel, he’s quick to respond, “Good!”
Cafés across Atlantic Canada do similar work.
“They’re doing a tremendous service in the community for these young adults,” says Rob Greenwood, whose niece works at Café Inclusio. “Having the ability for her to … work and be involved with the local community unto itself is fantastic. It means a lot to my family and the other families whose young adults work there.”
What began in 2019 as a pop-up café came to a halt with the pandemic, explains Suzanne Boudreau, who founded the café along with her husband, Pierre Arsenault, and friend Nathalie Perron, parents of Joël Arsenault and Samuel DeGarie.
“The company meant a lot to the boys and when we started being able to go out in the community again, they kept asking (about it),” says Boudreau. So, the trio pivoted to a coffee delivery service and in 2022, the café opened in the cozy, historic Maison Doiron.
“Our mission is a world of inclusion,” says Suzanne Boudreau whose team includes 10, plus three volunteers. She recounts when a couple of visitors arrived looking, “a little uncomfortable.” Greenwood’s niece enthusiastically welcomed them, assuring them, “You’ll always have a friend at Café Inclusio!”
Greenwood adds: “It’s a great, inspiring place … We need to understand and appreciate (the workers) and give them opportunities.”
They dream of opening a second location, adds Boudreau. “We will never be lacking for employees because there are tons of young adults that have a hard time finding employment,” she says.
Sharing a setting in a heritage building is the River Run Café located where New Glasgow’s first department store once stood. Riverview Home Corporation is a non-profit organization that dates to 1886, operates the café. Clients include people with physical and intellectual disabilities, brain injuries, and mental-health conditions.
Café manager Jocelyn Tye recounts the transformation of one worker who, “didn’t really want much interaction with the customers and he didn’t want to make the drinks … Now … (he) can pretty much run the whole front of house … He has great customer service,” she says. “He’s a figure in the café and the community.”
Also laying the foundation for fulfilling employment is the New Leaf Café, with locations in Halifax and Dartmouth, N.S. The provincial branch of Easter Seals founded New Leaf Enterprises in 1958.
The international Easter Seals organization advocates for people with physical, intellectual, sensory, and learning disabilities.
Linked to another long-standing initiative is the Halifax-based, gluten-free North End Baking Company. The non-profit Prescott Group operates it. Established in 1962, the organization serves people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Drawing on more than four decades in food services and catering, the café opened in 2021.
“I’ll often explain that we’re a social enterprise,” says supervisor Kelsey Fox. “People seem to really love to support that … It’s a community hub we are growing towards and what we aspire to be.”
Across the Cabot Strait in St. John’s, N.L., you’ll find the Pantry Café and Gardens in the Elaine Dobbin Centre for Autism. Opened in 2006, proceeds from the restaurant benefit the Autism Society of Newfoundland & Labrador.
Dave Philpott frequently visits The Pantry. “I watch how they develop and grow,” he says, recalling one worker who went from barely busing tables to taking orders and working the cash register. “He has just blossomed … Yes, the (workers) are making gains and growth in their developmental trajectories, but we’re making gains in our own emotional trajectories of understanding disability and embracing diversity. It’s just been remarkable to watch how (the café has) opened up the eyes of so many people.”
Echoing that sentiment is Rushell MacDonald, human-resources coordinator of the non-profit organization Community Inclusions which operates the Maple House Bakery & Café in O’Leary, P.E.I. She points out that participants are not merely acquiring employment skills. “It’s the social aspect,” she says. “That, I think, is probably one of the most vital parts of the bakery …
It really ensures that the community knows what inclusion is and what we’re doing.
We can’t succeed without the community.”
Established as the Maple House Bakery in 1972, it expanded to include the café nearly a decade ago. Proceeds fund programs for adults with intellectual disabilities. “Inclusion is teaching us how to be better citizens,” says Philpott, “more compassionate … to see strengths versus differences.”
Coffee with a conscience
- Café Inclusio: 1150 Amirault St., Dieppe, N.B., (506) 871-0371
- Maple House Bakery & Café: 76 Ellis Ave., O’Leary, P.E.I., (902) 859-2774
- New Leaf Café: 22 Fielding Ave., Dartmouth, N.S., (902) 455-9044 1341 Summer St., Halifax, N.S., (902) 455-9044
- North End Baking Company: 5515 Clyde St., Halifax, N.S., (902) 454-7387
- The Pantry Café & Gardens: 70 Clinch Cres., St. John’s, N.L., (709) 722-8200
- River Run Café: 151 Provost St., Suite 102, New Glasgow, N.S., 902-695-6111
- Snook Café: 184 Arthur St., Truro, N.S., (902) 893-7228
- Steel Grounds Café: 258 Ferry St., Sydney, N.S., (902) 539-8553 Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion, 74 Esplanade, Sydney, N.S., (902) 539-8553
Try the soup!
Check out this recipe for a hearty, soul-warming Maple Turnip Soup from Chef Brenda Williams at the Pantry Café and Gardens.