Explore Our April 2025 Diversity Calendar

The April 2025 Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) Calendar is attached. We encourage you to print it for communal spaces, share it with the people you support, and keep a copy handy for your personal reference.

Our monthly EDIB calendar is a meaningful resource that brings together significant days in one space: religious and spiritual observances, cultural celebrations, awareness initiatives, and health promotion days. We hope you’ll take a moment to explore the calendar and discover more about the diverse traditions and milestones it highlights. By staying aware of these important dates and integrating them into our activities, we can foster a thriving community where every individual feels valued, celebrated, and included.

At Karis Disability Services, our greatest strength is our people—both the incredible individuals we support and the dedicated team members who provide services. We take pride in honoring the rich, intersectional, and inclusive community we’re part of. This month’s calendar image symbolizes the power of connection: multiple hands holding colorful puzzle pieces, representing unity in diversity. Together, we build environments where every unique voice is heard, celebrated, and empowered to shine authentically. By embracing our individual perspectives, abilities, cultures, religions, and identities, we can foster collaboration, understanding, and growth.

Let’s continue to create a sense of belonging for all. Thank you for being part of this journey.

In April, we celebrate and remember:

• Autism Awareness Month: An annual opportunity for a dedicated conversation about autism spectrum disorder. Around the world, more than 70 million people are on the autism spectrum. Approximately 1 in 50 children and youth are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Canada and this number continues to grow. Come together and raise awareness, foster acceptance, and create a society where autistic people are supported, understood, and empowered. Whether you’re at home, at school, or at work, your involvement can make a real difference. It’s about how you show up – whether you’re supporting your autistic colleagues, students, or family members, your actions can help create an inclusive and accepting world.
• Sikh Heritage Month: A celebration of Sikh art, culture, and heritage. It is a powerful platform for dialogue, understanding, and mutual respect. Embracing the opportunity to build bridges, to learn from each other, and to strengthen the bonds that unite us as a community.
• Celebrate Diversity Month: Initiated in 2004 to recognize and honour the diversity of the world around us. It is a time to recognize and understand our differences, be it gender, race, ethnicity, faith, sexual orientation, and other factors, while honouring the common essence of humanity. By appreciating our similarities and differences, the month aims to get people to foster a deeper understanding of others, regardless of who they are, what they are, or how they live.
• World Autism Awareness Day on April 2: Unanimously declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2008 to highlight the need to help improve the quality of life of those with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society. Autism is a lifelong neurological condition that manifests during early childhood, irrespective of gender, race or socio-economic status. Autism is mainly characterized by its unique social interactions, non-standard ways of learning, keen interests in specific subjects, inclination to routines, challenges in typical communications and particular ways of processing sensory information. The rate of autism in all regions of the world is high and the lack of understanding has a tremendous impact on the individuals, their families and communities.
• International Day of Pink on April 9: This worldwide awareness day hopes to educate the general public on the harmful effects of discrimination, bullying, homophobia, transphobia, and transmisogyny across the world. Wear pink to show solidarity with the commitment to promote a safe and inclusive world for all.
• Palm Sunday on April 13: The Sunday before Easter Sunday, is the start of Holy Week for Christians, commemorating Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem on a Donkey. Its name originates from the palm branches waved by the crowd to greet and honour Jesus Christ as he entered the city.
• Passover from April 12 (sundown) until 20: A significant Jewish holiday. This eight-day festival commemorates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Families gather to share Seder meals, read from the Haggadah, and reflect on themes of freedom and redemption.
• Vaisakhi on April 13: A major Sikh, Hindu festival to mark the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally seen as a spring harvest celebration primarily in Punjab and Northern India.
• Good Friday on April 18: A Christian holiday to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary.
• Easter on April 20: Also called “Pascha” or Resurrection Sunday, is one of the holiest days in the Christian (Western) calendar, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD.
• Canadian Fertility Awareness Week -April 21 to 26: Raising awareness about fertility and its impact on more than 1 in 6 people living in Canada. The event aims to educate the public about the causes and treatment options for fertility and the emotional, physical, and financial toll that it can take on those affected by it.
• Earth Day on April 22: Let’s celebrate Mother Earth. Promote protecting the environment and advocate for sustainable living. This day serves as an important reminder of conservation, recycling, and action to protect the climate and our natural resources.
• National Volunteer Week form April 27 to May 4: A time to celebrate and thank Canada’s 24 million volunteers. The 2025 theme is “Volunteers Make Waves.” It highlights the power, impact and importance of individual and collective volunteer efforts across Canada.
• National Day of Mourning on April 28: Dedicated to remembering those who have lost their lives, suffered injury or illness on the job or a work-related tragedy.