Excerpt
September 2025 marked the official launch of the National Disability Knowledge Forum, a new national Inuit-led organization dedicated to advancing disability research, knowledge exchange, and policy development across Canada. Following several years of disability research and community engagement led by Nunavummi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society (NDMS), the Forum was established to create a dedicated space for Inuit disability knowledge and leadership at the national level.
Summary
The National Disability Knowledge Forum officially launched in September 2025 to strengthen Inuit leadership in disability research, policy, and knowledge sharing. The Forum grew from years of community engagement by Nunavummi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society, which showed a need for a dedicated national organization grounded in Inuit societal values and lived experience. NDKF will work across Inuit Nunangat and with urban Inuit communities so Inuit priorities help shape disability research and decisions from the beginning.
The National Disability Knowledge Forum (NDKF) officially launched in September 2025, marking an important milestone for Inuit-led disability research, knowledge exchange, and policy development in Canada.
The Forum was created in response to a growing recognition that Inuit perspectives remain underrepresented in many of the conversations, policies, research initiatives, and systems that affect Inuit with disabilities, their families, and their communities. While important work has been undertaken across Canada to advance disability rights, accessibility, and inclusion, Inuit voices have often been absent from national discussions or invited into conversations only after key decisions have already been made.
The National Disability Knowledge Forum was established to help address this gap.
The Forum emerged from the work of Nunavummi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society (NDMS), an Inuit-led organization that has spent years advancing disability inclusion, accessibility, employment, community engagement, and research across Nunavut. Through projects focused on accessibility barriers, caregiving, employment, policy development, and community engagement, NDMS consistently heard the same message: Inuit experiences and perspectives on disability needed a stronger presence within national conversations.
Over time, it became clear that there was a need for a dedicated organization focused specifically on disability knowledge, research, policy development, and knowledge exchange from Inuit perspectives. While many organizations provide services, advocacy, or supports, there was no national Inuit-led organization dedicated to bringing together community knowledge, lived experience, research, and policy in one place. The creation of the Forum reflects a commitment to changing that.
Grounded in Inuit societal values and informed by lived experience, the Forum seeks to create space for Inuit voices to help shape disability-related policies, research priorities, accessibility initiatives, and systems development. The organization believes that Inuit perspectives are not simply an addition to disability conversations but are essential to understanding disability in Canada.
The Forum’s work will focus on advancing community-driven research, supporting ethical engagement, mobilizing knowledge, developing policy resources, and creating opportunities for Inuit participation in discussions that affect Inuit communities. Through partnerships with communities, organizations, researchers, governments, and people with lived experience, the Forum aims to strengthen disability knowledge while supporting Inuit self-determination and leadership.
As a national organization, the Forum’s scope extends across Inuit Nunangat and urban Inuit communities. The organization recognizes the diversity of Inuit experiences and is committed to ensuring that regional perspectives, lived experiences, and community priorities are reflected throughout its work.
The launch of the Forum represents the beginning of a long-term effort to strengthen Inuit leadership within disability-related research, policy, and knowledge development. It is also an opportunity to build new relationships, foster dialogue, and create pathways for collaboration across communities, sectors, and regions.
As the Forum grows, it will continue working alongside Inuit with disabilities, caregivers, Elders, families, researchers, organizations, and decision-makers to ensure that Inuit perspectives help shape the future of disability policy and research in Canada.
We look forward to sharing this journey and building a future where Inuit voices, knowledge, and priorities are represented in the conversations and decisions that affect our communities.