Celebrating inclusive employment in Campbell River

Celebrating inclusive employment in Campbell River

Published 12:30 pm Friday, October 2, 2026

The North Island Employment Foundations Society (NIEFS) and Rivercity Inclusion marked the start of Disability Employment Awareness Month on Oct. 1 with its annual inclusive employer event.

The occasion highlights the benefits of inclusive employment and celebrates local employers who have been inclusive for, in some cases, decades. Run in partnership with Rivercity Inclusion, the event also highlights the experiences of the employees in both the workplace and the Community Inclusion programs.

One participant in those programs is Lian Paterson, who marked her first anniversary as a grocery clerk at the downtown No Frills that same day. Paterson, who has autism and ADHD, shared her experience with the crowd.

She called the job the greatest win of her life and credited the people who supported her, particularly her manager, Travis Pearson and her job coach, Bridget Wright, a Customized Employment Specialist with NIEFS.

Paterson said people with neurodevelopmental disabilities often face added challenges with learning and communication. She said she learns best through structure, routine and repetition and relies on visual and hands-on teaching rather than verbal instruction. Paterson also shared that she, along with others reject “high functioning” and “low functioning” labels as outdated. She said they ignore both the supports people need and the strengths they bring.

“When people take the time to work with me and be patient with me, then I thrive,” she said.

Paterson said she found the job through NIEFS and WorkBC, which provide job coaching and customized employment by matching job seekers’ skills and challenges with employers’ needs. In late September 2025, Wright told her No Frills needed a dairy clerk who would rotate stock carefully, a match for her previous store experience.

She started Oct. 1 that same year, stocking shelves and helping customers. Wright, as part of the program’s support, attended her early shifts and then later meetings with Travis to clarify expectations and negotiate accommodations.

Paterson said she worried early on about working too slowly.

She recalled Travis telling her: “When we are new at learning a job, we need to learn to do the job correctly, before we can focus on speed.”

With those supports, she said, her ability and pace have grown tremendously.

The inclusive employer event is the first of several in October marking Disability Employment Awareness Month. Rivercity Inclusion Society celebrates its 65th anniversary on Oct. 10 and is holding its annual fundraiser, the Ohana Bowl-a-Thon, on Oct. 17. Learn more on the Rivercity Inclusion Facebook page.

The Campbell River Job Fair is on Tuesday, October 27 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Campbell River Community Centre. Learn more on the events page at niefs.net.

Paterson said the support of Pearson and Wright has taught her confidence and to believe in herself, both on the job and as a person.

Of the job itself, she told the crowd, “It has given me a sense of what an inclusive workplace truly looks like.”