Every year on December 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities invites us to pause and look at our society differently. It is a moment to talk about rights, dignity, accessibility, but also about civic participation. At the Centre d’action bénévole de Montréal (CABM), we believe that inclusion also means making sure people with disabilities can fully take part in volunteer life.

People first, not “needs”

We often talk about people with disabilities through the lens of their support or service needs. Yet they are also caregivers, colleagues, artists, parents, community leaders… and volunteers.

Seeing them only as “beneficiaries” makes a large part of their contribution to the community invisible. Recognizing their full citizenship also means recognizing that, like everyone else, they have the right to contribute, to choose how they get involved, and to influence the way services are designed and organized.

Volunteering as a space for participation and agency

Volunteering can become a powerful lever for inclusion when the right conditions are in place.

For example, it can:

• help break isolation and create meaningful connections

• highlight skills that are not always recognized in the labour market

• open the door to participation in decision-making and in an organization’s associative life

• bring a direct perspective on the realities experienced by people with disabilities.

But this potential does not automatically come to life. Without reflection on accessibility and power dynamics, we risk reproducing the same exclusions within volunteer teams themselves.

Accessibility is more than a ramp

When we think about accessibility, we often picture physical adaptations. These are essential, but they are only one part of the equation.

For people with disabilities to be able to volunteer, we also need to consider:

• structured experiences, led by trained adults;

• positive peer involvement, which builds motivation;

• exposure to different types of causes and roles.

It allows kids and teens to gradually explore engagement, without pressure.

Through schools or educational programs

Some schools include volunteering in ethics classes, field trips, or project-based learning. This creates a space to:

• the clarity of information (plain language, accessible formats, usable websites and forms)

• schedules and pace (flexibility, possibility of breaks, adaptation to fatigue or medical appointments)

• transportation and environment (locations near public transit, clear instructions, visual or auditory cues)

• communication tools (subtitles, accessible digital documents, adaptation for assistive devices)

• team attitudes (welcoming approach, no paternalism, openness to co-designing tasks).

Making a volunteer role more accessible often benefits everyone, not only people with disabilities.

As organizations, asking the right questions

For organizations that welcome volunteers, December 3 is a great opportunity to ask a few simple questions::

• Are our volunteer postings written in an inclusive way and understandable to everyone?

• Do we clearly specify the tasks, constraints and possible adaptations?

• Do we plan a moment to talk about specific needs, without judgment?

• Do we include people with disabilities in thinking about our activities, our committees, our governance?

The goal is not to become “perfect” overnight, but to commit to a process of continuous improvement, listening to those most directly concerned and adjusting our practices along the way.

What VBM seeks to encourage

At the Volunteer Bureau of Montreal (VBM), we work both with people who want to volunteer and with the organizations that welcome them. From an access and inclusion perspective, this means in particular:

supporting people who live with different realities, including functional limitations, in finding a volunteer role that fits their situation

helping volunteer managers adapt their practices, training and tools so they become more inclusive

encouraging organizations to see people with disabilities not only as people to support, but also as resources, partners and sometimes spokespersons.

Our role is to help people connect, but also to nurture this culture of inclusion within Montréal’s volunteer ecosystem.

Building a more accessible community, together

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is not an end in itself. It is a reminder, an invitation to build together a community where everyone can:

receive support when they need it

contribute in their own way, according to their strengths and realities

see their rights, expertise and voice recognized.

At VBM, we hope that volunteer action will be a space where this vision becomes real, one small gesture at a time.

Whether you are a person with a disability who is hesitating to take the first step, a volunteer manager who wants to make their activities more accessible, or an organization looking to rethink its practices, you are not alone. Together, we can build volunteer environments that are more open, more welcoming and fairer for everyone.