About

Carla Qualtrough is the Member of Parliament for Delta, British Columbia. She has been a Cabinet Minister since she was first elected in 2015, having previously served as Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, and as Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility. She currently serves in the senior role of Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. She is active on a number of Cabinet committees, and has been at the center of the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She is responsible for many emergency measures, including the CERB, the CESB, Employment Insurance and the Disability Payment. As Canada works to recover from the effects of this pandemic, Minister Qualtrough is leading the charge on creating jobs, upskilling workers and implementing a historic Disability Inclusion Action Plan.

Prior to entering politics, Minister Qualtrough practiced human rights law at the provincial and federal levels, and was a Vice-Chair with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal. She also has an impressive background in sport, having competed for Team Canada in the sport of swimming, winning a number of world championship and Paralympic medals. She volunteered extensively at the local, national and international levels, focusing on inclusion and equal access for all. She has been inducted into the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame, and has been recognized as one of Canada’s most influential women in sport on a number of occasions.

Minister Qualtrough has been legally blind since birth and is a passionate advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. She led the creation of the Accessible Canada Act and is internationally recognized for her work in disability inclusion. She has received a number of awards for her advocacy, including from the Disabled Women’s Network of Canada, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society, the Abilities Centre and the International Paralympic Committee. She is also the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award.

Minister Qualtrough lives in Ladner with her husband Eron, her 2 youngest children and her mother.