Excerpt
NDKF grew from years of NDMS research and community engagement, creating a national space where Inuit knowledge and lived experience can shape disability policy and research.
Over the past several years, Nunavummi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society (NDMS) has worked alongside Nunavummiut with disabilities, families, caregivers, communities, governments, researchers, and organizations across Nunavut. Through research projects, community engagement activities, accessibility initiatives, and advocacy efforts, one message appeared again and again: Inuit perspectives on disability were not being adequately reflected within national research, policy, and decision-making spaces.
While disability has become an increasingly important area of policy and research across Canada, much of that work has been developed outside Inuit Nunangat. Communities frequently shared concerns that Northern realities, lived experiences, and Inuit priorities were not always visible in discussions that shaped programs, services, and policies.
As NDMS’s research activities expanded, so did the need for a dedicated space focused specifically on disability knowledge and policy development.
The National Disability Knowledge Forum was created to meet that need.
Officially launched in September 2025 and federally incorporated in January 2026, the Forum builds on the strong foundation established by NDMS while creating a national platform dedicated to research, knowledge exchange, and policy development grounded in Inuit perspectives.
The Forum’s goal is simple but important: to help ensure Inuit voices are present wherever disability knowledge is being created and wherever disability-related decisions are being made.