We're All Part of Something Much Bigger...

The term ‘Independent Living’ as defined by people with disabilities does not mean doing things for yourself, or living on your own. It means having choice and control over the assistance and/or equipment/assistive devices needed for daily life and having access to amenities that society has to offer such as housing, transport, health services, employment, as well as entertainment, education, recreation and training opportunities.

Independent Living (IL) is a vision, a philosophy and a movement of persons with disabilities. Born on California university campuses in the 1970s, the movement spread to Canada in the 1980s, and has since reached around the globe and changed the way people view and respond to disability.

Independent Living is founded on the rights of people with disabilities to:

• Live with dignity in their chosen community.
• Participate in all aspects of their life.
• Control and make decisions about their own lives.
• The IL vision and philosophy have been articulated through the Independent Living movement, a network of individuals and community-based resource centres across the country, supported by a national organization, Independent Living Canada.

The Canadian IL Movement and the ILRC Thunder Bay were founded on five key principles:

1.     Consumer Control: Those who believe in the IL philosophy insist on the right of people with disabilities to examine possible choices, make decisions, take risks, make mistakes and generally take responsibility of their own lives.

2.     Cross disability: The IL Movement recognizes the fact that people with various disabilities have unique needs and face unique barriers. It also acknowledges that all people with disabilities have the same rights.

3.     Community based: The IL Movement is a grassroots movement. The people who use the Centres in each local community are the ones who decide what needs have to be addressed and the best approaches to deal with barriers.

4.     Promotion of Participation and Integration: Inherent in the philosophy of IL, is the human right to be included; which is the right of citizens to participate in the social, political, economic, academic, and cultural life of their community.

5.     Not-for-Profit: All IL Centres are non-profit organizations, with a volunteer Board of Directors and members who are committed to alternatives to existing service provision. Centres form partnerships with community groups.

The Independent Living Philosophy recognizes the rights of individuals with disabilities and assists them in developing their individual capacity to exercise their rights and manage personal and community resources. Consumers are encouraged to identify and achieve their own independent living life goals.

This philosophy emphasizes and, more importantly, enables persons with disabilities to have access to resources, which ensure that individuals have the right to examine options, make choices, take responsibility to take risks and have the right to make mistakes.

The IL Mission is to promote and enable the progressive process whereby citizens with disabilities achieve their desired lifestyles by taking responsibility for the development and management of their personal and community resources.

The IL movement and the philosophy on which it is based are not abstract concepts. Instead, IL is about a 'way of living' for persons with disabilities who live in a society where many barriers remain. This approach is referred to as the 'IL lens', an approach that is applicable to all supports and services that ILRC Thunder Bay provides.

About Us:

We strive to provide a broad range of comprehensive services through programs to persons with disabilities as well as education and inclusion support to our community and region.

Our focus is the promotion and adherence to the Independent Living Philosophy (IL).  We do not so much believe in doing for others, as we do in educating others to do for themselves.  This is the spirit of IL in our Centre and community. We are proud members of the nationally based Independent Living Canada (formerly Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres) and are thus part of a national network of similar Independent Living Centres throughout all the provinces of Canada.

If you are a person with a disability; a family member or friend of a person with a disability; an employer of a person with a disability; or the general public in need of information and answers related to any disability issue:  Contact Us Today!

Our online presence is our 'dynamic' way to communicate with you.  We update our website frequently, and are continually ensuring the most up-to-date information about our Centre is live.  The programs and happenings of our entire Centre is contained within our website

We are a locally based organization who works directly with the entire community in many capacities as related to persons with disabilities. While we are locally based and directly serve the Thunder Bay community and entire Northwestern Ontario Region, we are proud members of Independent Living Canada (www.ilcanada.ca).  Belonging to this national network of Centres directly links us and our consumers to Centres spanning all of the provinces.  This national strength is focused regionally in the development and delivery of special services and programming unique to our consumers.