Explore Our October 2025 Diversity Calendar

The October 2025 Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) Calendar is here!

Celebrate the richness of our communities with this collection of dates that honour culture, history, health, and spirituality. This is more than a calendar, it is a call to connect, learn, and grow together. We encourage you to print and display it in communal spaces, share it with the people you support, and keep a copy handy for your own reference.

Invisible disabilities affect millions of Canadians, yet they often go unnoticed. This month’s image is from Statistics Canada (2022 Canadian Survey on Disability) and reminds us that true inclusion means recognizing and supporting all experiences: seen and unseen. Let’s continue fostering environments where empathy, flexibility, and understanding are the norm.

Download the October Diversity Calendar

In October, we celebrate and remember:

• ADHD Awareness Month: Dedicated to raising awareness about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and supporting people affected by it. The month aims to address misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding ADHD, emphasizing that it can affect people of all ages, backgrounds, and genders. The 2025 theme is: “The Many Faces of ADHD.” This theme highlights the diverse experiences of people with ADHD and encourages sharing personal stories to foster understanding and reduce stigma.
• National Disability Employment Awareness Month: An important opportunity to discuss, explore, and collaborate to solve the critical issue of inclusive hiring. We celebrate the contributions people with disabilities make to our workplaces and communities.
• Global Diversity Awareness Month: Celebrating all the ways our different ethnicities, heritages, experiences, abilities, and other attributes contribute to more dynamic, innovative, and efficient workplaces. We live in a multicultural society and embracing the values of various cultures only strengthens our understanding and appreciation of the world.
• Latin American Heritage Month: Hailing from all 20 Latin American countries, Canadians of Latin American origin make up a large and growing community in Canada. They enrich our national fabric with their diverse and vibrant cultures, cuisine, music, dance, and more.
• German Heritage Month: Canada is the proud home of more than 3 million people of German descent, representing one of the largest cultural communities in our country. Whether it’s through business, the sciences, sport or the arts, Canadians of German heritage continue to have an important impact on our society. Events like Oktoberfest are one of the many ways this community celebrates its culture.
• International Day of Older Persons on October 1: A day to recognize the contributions of older people/seniors and examine the issues that affect their lives. This day encourages the enjoyment of their rights, addressing violations, and strengthening solidarity through equity and reciprocity between generations.
• Yom Kippur on October 1-2: The holiest day of the Jewish year, this “Jewish Day of Atonement,” covers a 25-hour fast where people refrain from working, eating, and drinking. Synagogue services are also attended in observance of this sacred day. This day is about asking God to forgive sins, reflecting on past mistakes, accepting repentance, and praying. Many will wear all-white clothing to symbolize purity.
• National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls on October 4: This is a day to stand in solidarity with Indigenous families and communities to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ people whose lives have been cut short by violence.
• World Cerebral Palsy (CP) Awareness Day on October 6: There are over 17 million people impacted by CP. In many societies around the world, people with CP are kept uneducated and hidden away from the rest of the community. We can keep working on improving diagnosis and treatment to promote better quality of life and education. Let’s ensure people with CP around the world have the same rights, access, and opportunities as the rest of society.
• World Mental Health Day on October 10: To raise awareness of mental health issues around the world. An opportunity for people and communities to unite behind the theme ‘Mental health is a universal human right,” to improve knowledge, raise awareness, and drive actions that promote and protect everybody’s mental health.
• National Coming Out Day on October 11: This day serves as an opportunity to celebrate LGBTQ2S+ identities, decrease stigma, increase awareness, and advocate for change. For some LGBTQ2S+ folks this day is an opportunity to celebrate their identities publicly.
• Thanksgiving on October 13: A day of giving thanks for the harvest; marked by family gatherings, feasting, and expressions of gratitude for the blessings of the past year.
• Sukkot on October 6-13: A Torah-commanded Jewish holiday that celebrates the gathering of the harvest and commemorates the miraculous protection God provided for the children of Israel when they left Egypt.
• Invisible Disabilities Week on October 19-25: Bringing awareness to individuals living with invisible disabilities, such as chronic pain, mental health conditions, learning disabilities, and neurological disorders. According to Stats Canada (2022) there are about 8.0 million Canadians aged 15 and older who live with at least one form of invisible disability.
• Diwali on October 20-25: Diwali or Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights and the Hindu New Year. Diwali lasts for 5 days: Day 1 – New Year for business, Day 2 – the triumph of god Vishnu over the evil demon, Day 3 – Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity visits homes lit by lamps, Day 4 – Bali worship day, Day 5 – devoted to brothers and sisters.
• Halloween on October 31: It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, though it shares important ties with various other celebrations from several faiths and cultures, including Día de los Muertos (or the Day of the Dead), All Saints Day, and All Souls Day. Halloween made its way over to North America with British and Irish colonists, eventually becoming the holiday we know today, with traditions of door-to-door trick-or-treating and decorations.

Thank you for being part of this journey at Karis Disability Services, where Belonging is our heartbeat and we make space for every voice to matter!