People With Diverse Abilities

Helping people with diverse abilities thrive in their communities

WJS Canada helps people with diverse abilities become  active in their communities and reach the highest possible levels of independence. Our wide range of programs and services include supported homes, independent and semi-independent living, behaviour counselling, and mental and physical therapy. We offer community living, life skill coaching, career development, rest and relief for care-givers and family support for children with diverse abilities.

Explore the opportunity to have WJS support your family member in BC.

We encourage family involvement and respect individual choices regarding activities and programming. For people in our care without family, WJS Canada becomes an advocate for their financial and service needs based on their input.

Services we offer include:

How We Can Help

Community-based Homes

WJS Canada’s personalized planning provides a wide range of residential options for adults with developmental disabilities. From lifetime homes to supported and shared living options, and residences for those with complex care and therapeutic needs, we tailor living experiences to each individual’s needs and encourage independence, social engagement, emotional and physical well-being.

Shared living/Support homes are for individuals who are better served in a family environment than on their own or in a group home. Our host families provide stable and safe places to live and the individual in their care becomes part of the family unit. Host families receive training and support to ensure individuals receive the best care and WJS Canada staff provide access to daily activities, life skills and other programs.

Our Therapeutic Homes provide long-term support to individuals with high-intensity behaviors that overwhelm traditional caregiving. These Individuals display behavior that is significantly more aggressive, self-harming, or complicated by substance abuse, mental health diagnosis or involvement with the law.

Independent Living & Family Support

We provide long-term residential support for individuals with diverse abilities, including FASD, PDD/ASD, who are living on their own. Our personalized plans help them discover ways to succeed in anything from managing a monthly budget to managing a bad temper and connect individuals to the medical, psychiatric, self-help or employment services they require.

We also provide support for individuals transitioning into independent living and away from group care or the family home. This includes training in home management, life skills, problem solving, budgeting and much more. Our goal is to help each individual achieve and maintain their independence, support their strengths and encourage integration into the community.

We also provide support and respite services to family members and caregivers who may feel overwhelmed and isolated as they care for their loved ones at home.

Day Programs, Community Involvement, Employment

WJS Canada provides a number of opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities to participate in their community. Our day programs bring individuals together to socialize, enjoy a range of activities and learn new skills. We also encourage community involvement and many of the people we serve are active volunteers, participate with performing arts groups, attend community events, and access recreational facilities.

We provide job coaching and job placement to help individuals gain meaningful employment in restaurants, grocery stores, and retail outlets among other places. Some individuals even go on to develop their interests into their own micro-businesses.

Behaviour, Emotional & Mental Health

We offer tailored support plans to meet the emotional, behavioural and mental health needs of those we serve to help them develop socially acceptable behaviours and make connections in their communities. Our consultants have a range of expertise in mental health, best practices, and overall understanding of human behavior. We can recommend different therapists for counseling, family, play, or group therapy.

"The individuals I work with make me happy and motivated to come to work every day – I do this for them! I enjoy seeing them gain independence and happiness."

"A lot of the time people tend to pity someone with disabilities but it’s not pity that they need. They need to be treated for who they are, with respect."

"I think it’s so important we create a place where kids feel safe to grow, to find out who they are, and be able to take that into the world as adults."

"Thank you for all your help, I would not have gotten to where I am today without staff’s help."

"I feel there is so much opportunity moving forward with WJS. We have the chance to really make a difference..."

I love my position at WJS. The flexibility, the environment, and the vision of the organization works well with the balance and beliefs in my personal life."

"WJS is such a kind environment, they care very much about meeting the needs of both clientele and staff. I'm glad to be part of an organization that does such meaningful work for the well-being of others."

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How to Access Services for People with Diverse Abilities

We currently provide residential and day programs as well as independent living and family support services in BC and Alberta. Referrals can be made through Alberta Human Services and Community Living British Columbia or contact WJS Canada directly at 1.800.867.1987.

We Want to Hear From You

If you are interested in a WJS Canada service not currently offered in your community, please get in touch. We may be able to provide you with alternatives or possibly even expand our services to meet your needs.

WJS Canada wishes to respectfully acknowledge that we operate on the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples across Canada.