About Us

Founded in 2004, the International Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation (ICDR) is a centre in the Rehabilitation Science Sector at the University of Toronto, and is committed to advancing research and education in the rehabilitation sciences to improve the lives of people with disabilities worldwide.

Why is this important?

There are over a billion people with disabilities worldwide. Over 80% are living in resource-poor countries. The ground-breaking World Report on Disability released in 2011 by the World Health Organization and the World Bank calls for immediate attention to the challenges and injustices facing people with disabilities. ICDR aims to respond to this need.

What guides our work?

We achieve our mission through authentic long-term partnerships with colleagues and organizations in resource-poor settings. Our education, research and service activities strive to address the priority health concerns of the communities with whom we partner.

ICDR’s work is guided by a critical perspective on global health and on disability, exemplified by six core values.

ICDR’s aims align with and reinforce the Faculty of Medicine’s vision (2011-2016) of “International leadership in improving health through innovation in research and education.” ICDR achieves its impact through integration (e.g., interprofessional education, practice and research) and innovation (e.g., strategic programmes of research to evaluate and inform our practices).

We are driven by a commitment to social responsibility, which dovetails with the Faculty of Medicine’s Roadmap for Global Health (2011), which notes:

Achieving the Faculty’s vision of ‘international leadership in health research and education’ and its mission of ‘contributing to our communities and improving the health of individuals and populations’ requires a broader, interdisciplinary and multilateral world view. A commitment to global health is central to the Faculty’s priority strategic direction for social responsibility.