Amy is currently working part-time, while taking online courses in marketing, social media, and videography.

“In early 2025, I suffered an L5-S1 herniated disk injury that took me out for a long time. I ran my own dog grooming business which I had to close down due to this injury. I needed to learn new skills that weren’t so physically demanding,” she shares. “Although I have made great progress in my healing journey, I am still limited to what I can do on a daily basis — repetitive bending, heavy lifting, and sitting for long periods of time in the wrong chair causes the pain to flare up.”

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Delyn recently embarked on a new career path, training to become a Certified Education Assistant. She has Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), and has limited mobility in some of her joints, including her left knee and right thumb.

“My disorder is degenerative, so I have chronic pain and worsening joint conditions over time,” she shares. “I must be able to sit/stand whenever needed throughout my job to relieve the knee issues. I have a special pen to reduce pain while scribing, although it causes pain regardless so I cannot do extended periods with writing. These conditions definitely impacted my search for work prior to my current career change.”

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Cynthia is looking for work, in particular, a customer service or teaching role, or something else she can do from home. However, she faces many barriers that make finding employment more difficult.

“I was diagnosed with a severely enlarged heart which leaves me very weak and arthritis in my low back, hips and legs. I have poor circulation and swelling in my lower legs and am in pain all the time. Since my mobility has been severely compromised, I use a cane around my home for support and a walker when I am out. I am only able to walk for about five minutes until I need to sit and rest,” she shares.

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Donovon works as a Web Services Manager, which involves managing web services, extensive typing while communicating with clients, and precise mouse work for digital updates. He describes the role as “technically demanding and sedentary,” working up to nine hours a day at a workstation. However, arthritis in his shoulders, as well as ADD, anxiety, and depression, were making it difficult for him to work full-time.

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Debbie is a media and marketing strategist, and the founder of her own company, which provides contract work to about 20 other freelancers across BC and beyond. Much of her job involves work on the computer — including doing spreadsheets, analyzing data, writing reports, drafting proposals, and engaging with the ad accounts of her clients social channels.

“I have a visual impairment that has made it very difficult to see fine detail on the screen,” she shares. “It slows down my work which limits how many clients I can bring on and how much work I can generate for my partners.”

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Liam is currently obtaining work experience and looking for employment in the communications sector, while undergoing career training. He was motivated to switch careers because of an injury.

“I have a severe neck injury which makes getting to and from places very difficult, I am re-training so that I can find work from home or hybrid positions,” he shares.

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Tom is currently looking for work. He has Central Sensitization Syndrome and widespread chronic pain, making it difficult for him to work.

“It severely limits the amount of time I am able to spend up and about, including time spent sitting at a desk. Since 2021, I have been unable to work because of my condition,” he explains.

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Dawn is a bookkeeper, having worked for the same employer for 15 years. She has Inclusion Body Myositis, an inflammatory muscle disease. She is losing the grip strength in her hands, has weakness in her legs, and has significant fatigue. This makes her job much harder, particularly because it involves a lot of typing, and affects her ability to get to and from work.

After learning about WorkBC Assistive Technology Services online, Dawn decided to apply for help. She received an ergonomic and assistive technology assessment to find assistive technology solutions to help her both in the office and to allow her to work from home.

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Leanne works as a manager at a bookstore in the BC Interior. Her job involves taking care of the organization and upkeep of the store, customer service and sales, as well as stocking books.

“I have chronic pain, especially back pain, which makes it difficult for me to be on my feet for long periods, perform repetitive tasks, and bend and lift,” she shares.

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Kari works with a non-profit drop-in resource centre in Vernon that helps people find and understand health services and supports. She runs a monthly chronic pain group for the non-profit, and she also manages their social media and website.

“I do quite a bit of work on the computer, and this has brought great pain to my neck and shoulder area as I have degenerative disc disorder, osteoarthritis, and psoriatic arthritis, along with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and chronic migraines. This makes it very difficult to work for any length of time as I am in so much pain,” she shares.

“I also carry supplies needed for my monthly chronic pain groups and have had to find ways to carry these in an easier filing system with wheels as I just don’t have the strength to carry it from the street into the venue.”

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