A small café steps from the Beaches boardwalk is stirring up more than coffee. Judy’s Beach Café — a new social enterprise that trains and employs adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities — officially opens Sept. 1, giving local residents not just sandwiches and smoothies, but also a chance to see inclusion in action.
The café is the brainchild of retired special needs teachers Donna Shannon Paterson and Leslie Grant, longtime residents of the Beaches area. Both women have dreamed of a café like this for years. For Paterson, the intentionality of the café runs deep: her youngest sister, Judy, was born with down syndrome and passed away a year ago.
“Judy had a job in Montreal in a flower shop. I learned how important that job was to Judy,” Grant told CBC News. “It was very, very important to her to have a life outside the family. A job that she was paid for and honoured for.”
The café employs ten individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, supported by other baristas and management staff. Most employees work part time, a few times a week.
“We interviewed so many individuals with disabilities who’ve applied to so many places to work. For most of them, this is their first paid job," Grant explained.
"Each individual is different,” she noted. “They come with a certain comfort level, a certain set of skills.” Once they are comfortable in their roles, they then are challenged to learn new tasks.
Ryan Matthew Smith: a story of inclusion
For Ryan Matthew Smith, working the point-of-sale system at Judy’s Beach Café, grinding coffee and greeting customers is second nature. But he hasn’t had consistent employment since before the pandemic.
“It feels very nice,” Ryan told CBC News. “I can be myself like a down syndrome person.”
His mother, Elyn Smith, says helping her son find a job has been difficult, particularly because people with special needs often struggle to find employment. According to Statistics Canada, persons with disabilities have consistently been employed at lower rates than those without. Employment also varies by severity, with persons with mild disabilities more than twice as likely to be employed as those with severe disabilities.
Smith says she’s grateful that Judy’s Beach Café offers her son a chance to work in the community. The café’s entrance even features a wall dedicated to Judy’s memory, a constant reminder of the inspiration behind the project.
“She would love this. This would be her absolute dream,” Paterson said.
A Toronto café with purpose
The café launched with a simple pitch: good food, real jobs and visible roles for staff who are too often kept out of sight. Locals and tourists line up for meals and drinks — and often linger to chat with the staff who serve them.
Paterson expressed gratitude for community support leading up to the café’s official launch on Sept. 1. “We want it to be so successful,” she said. “We want other businesses to say, ‘We can do that. We can take someone on.’”
Beyond the counter: Canadian examples of inclusive hiring
Across the country, other Canadian enterprises are proving that inclusion isn’t just noble — it’s practical.
Milton’s The Lunchbox Café
The Lunchbox Café in Milton, Ont., started as a small catering project through Community Living North Halton and grew into a full-service café. Adults with developmental disabilities are trained in cooking, cleaning, prep work and serving. Manager Cheryl Miller said the café expansion, funded through government support, has increased visibility and hands-on experience for trainees. Staff like B.J. Hill are realizing lifelong ambitions:
“To be honest, it’s actually was one of my dreams to be a cook,” he told CHCH.
The café uses local ingredients and keeps regular specials to build community engagement.
LakeCity Works, Dartmouth, N.S.
LakeCity Works has been providing therapeutic woodworking programs since 1972. Today, it runs multiple social enterprises, employing people living with mental illness to create handcrafted furniture and repurposed plastics products. “I love coming to work at LakeCity… they’re really supportive…" long-time employee Paul Creamer told CityNews Halifax.
"They’ll work with me to make sure I have a chance to learn something new.”
The organization now engages more than 400 clients annually, helping them develop skills, confidence and income stability.
The Owl Café, Ottawa
The Owl Café, a small business in Ottawa, sells ethically grown coffee sourced locally by farmers. In line with owner Sean Wells’s vision, all staff who roast and package the coffee have disabilities.
“I wanted to create a social enterprise that hired people with disabilities and paid them a living wage,” Wells told told Ottawa Business Journal, adding that he tries to work with disabled farmers as much as possible.
Wells hopes The Owl Café demonstrates that hiring people with disabilities is not only the right thing to do, but also good for business.
“As a small business, we can’t hire as many disabled workers as we would like,” he said. “So it’s important for us to hopefully inspire other businesses to also work harder at creating diverse workforces made up of people from marginalized communities. But, we are committed to continually growing our team of seven employees and hope we can be successful enough to hire disabled people across the country. That’s the dream and goal, anyway.”
auticon Canada
auticon is a global IT consulting firm that exclusively employs adults on the autism spectrum as IT consultants. The company operates in multiple countries, including Canada, and offers services such as software development, data analysis, quality assurance and cybersecurity.
In Canada, auticon collaborates with organizations like Deloitte to provide neurodiverse talent for various projects. This partnership aims to demonstrate the value of neurodiversity in the workplace and to create inclusive environments that leverage the unique strengths of autistic professionals.
The company’s approach includes providing support through job coaches and creating work environments that accommodate the needs of neurodiverse individuals. By focusing on abilities rather than disabilities, auticon aims to unlock the potential of autistic professionals and contribute to a more inclusive and innovative workforce.
The business case for inclusion
Research supports inclusive hiring. Realize Canada reports that 90% of people with disabilities perform as well or better than other employees. Twenty percent of accommodations cost nothing, and 50% cost less than $500. Inclusive hiring reduces turnover, widens the talent pool and can improve community and brand reputation.
Statistics Canada notes that people with disabilities remain less likely to be employed than those without, representing millions of potential hires who want work and often stay longer once hired.
For entrepreneurs, inclusive hiring is both socially responsible and practical: leveraging community resources, providing modest accommodations and setting measurable goals yields benefits for morale, productivity and the bottom line.
Testament of purpose
Judy’s Beach Café isn’t just a café. It’s a testament to the power of purposeful hiring, community engagement and human connection. Through Ryan and his colleagues, the café is bringing real opportunity, confidence and dignity to people who often face barriers — and in the process, demonstrating a business model that works for everyone.
Sources
1. CBC News: ‘I can be myself’: New cafe in Toronto’s Beaches employs people with intellectual disabilities, by Kirthana Sasitharan (August 25, 2025)
2. Stastistics Canada: Canadian Survey on Disability, 2017 to 2022 (December 1, 2023)
3. CHCH: Milton’s Lunchbox Cafe provides opportunity (April 4, 2024)
4. CityNews Halifax: Dartmouth-based nonprofit crafts quality woodwork and opportunities for those living with mental illness, by Matthew Lajoie (August 13, 2021)
5. Ottawa Business Journal: How these four Ottawa small businesses are prioritizing hiring people with disabilities, by Samuel Dunsiger (February 18, 2025)
6. Realize Canada: A WIN-WIN PROPOSITION: The Business Case for Actively Recruiting and Retaining People with Episodic Disabilities
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.