Petition: Include People with Disabilities in Canada’s Global Aid

No one should be left behind — especially not over a billion people.

Today, over 1.3 billion people — one in six worldwide — live with a disability. Yet they are still being excluded from global development programs that provide access to basic needs like education, healthcare, safety, and jobs.

Despite Canada’s promises of equality and inclusion, less than 2% of our international aid explicitly supports people with disabilities. Meanwhile, disability remains one of the strongest predictors of poverty and exclusion globally.

This is a moral, social, and economic failure — and it’s time to fix it.

We ask that the Government of Canada:

• Endorse the Global Disability Summit’s 15% Commitment
  • Dedicate 15% of all international assistance to benefit persons with disabilities, aligning Canada’s aid with global needs and values.
• Ensure a targeted investment of at least $200 million over five years for disability inclusive initiatives.
  • Support disability-inclusive education, healthcare, and economic empowerment — alongside robust data collection to track progress and impact.

Why this matters:

• Half of all children with disabilities have never attended school
• 80% of people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries are unemployed
• Women with disabilities face some of the highest rates of gender-based violence and their family planning needs go largely unmet — yet they are routinely left out of funding programs
• In humanitarian crises and conflict zones, up to 1 in 4 people may have a disability, yet they are often overlooked in emergency aid

For over 40 years, Humanity & Inclusion has worked in 60 countries around the world ensure that people with disabilities and populations affected by crises, conflicts, and disasters are never left behind.

Excluding 15% of the world’s population undermines the effectiveness of every development dollar we spend.

Let Canada lead by example. Let’s make our aid truly inclusive.

Sign this petition to ask that Canada live up to its values and include people with disabilities in all global development efforts. 

Speak up for inclusion. Sign now. Share widely.